Reaching New Heights is Safer than you Think
Reaching New Heights is Safer than you Think
Citywide Elevator Consulting provides clients the peace of mind that comes from knowing every aspect of their vertical transportation system is safe and compliant with industry codes and regulations. CEC has expertise in servicing nationwide brands to standardize their vertical transportation using our national standards and centralized data management. Citywide values safety. You may not know this but, elevators are one of the safest modes of transportation!
Within the elevator industry there are many codes and regulations that elevator owners must abide by in order for their systems to remain in operation. Elevators are held up by six to eight thick steel cables. These cables are a vital safety feature. Each cable can support the full weight of the elevator car and then some. The cables have a set of counterweights on the opposite end that work to balance out the movement of the car. Even if one of the cables were to break the elevator would still be suspended. Every cable would need to snap for an elevator car to plummet. This is an extremely rare occurrence and has only been documented twice in history.
The first time an elevator car plummeted was in 1945 after a B-25 bomber crashed into the empire state building. Luckily, there was only one passenger in the car and that person survived due to the cables underneath the car. The cables underneath allowed the car to slow down its descent before hitting the bottom floor. The second time an elevator car plummeted was on September 11, 2001 when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers. The impact from the crash severed elevator cables which caused the cars to drop.
Brakes are another safety feature found within all elevator systems. Any alerts in the safety chain will force the brake to clamp down which prevents any further motion. Power failures will also engage the braking system. Beneath the car, there is another safety brake. In the unlikely case that a car would be falling downwards, this metal brake would go into the guiderails to stop the elevator softly rather than stopping with a jolt. Due to industry code requirements and safety features, elevators remain one of the most common and safest means of transportation. At Citywide Elevator Consultants safety is essential which is why we offer comprehensive reporting when elevator equipment is inefficient, non-compliant, or not performing up to industry standards.