New skyscraper technology allows lifts to reach over 1 km

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From one of my favorite internet sites (futuretimeline.net):
New skyscraper technology allows lifts to reach over 1 km

A new elevator has been designed to reach 1,000m or higher in a single trip – double the previous limit.



Engineering company KONE has announced the "UltraRope" – a completely new hoisting method that eliminates the disadvantages of conventional steel rope. This new elevator technology is set to break industry limits and enable future travel heights of 1,000m (3,280 ft), twice the distance currently feasible. It opens up a world of possibilities in high-rise building design, an important consideration as urbanisation brings increasing numbers of people to cities.

The Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building at 830m (2,722 ft), requires passengers to switch lifts to go above the 500m mark. But lifts in the next generation of supertall towers – such as Jeddah's Kingdom Tower – could use this new technology to zoom to the top in one go.

Antony Wood, of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in Chicago: "UltraRope is one of the biggest breakthroughs since the advent of the [Otis] safety elevator 150 years ago. The biggest limiting factor in building higher until now has been the steel rope weight – and we have reached the limit of that technology at 500 metres."

Comprised of a carbon fiber core and unique high-friction coating, the UltraRope is extremely light, meaning that elevator energy consumption is cut by 11 per cent. The drop in rope weight means a dramatic reduction in moving masses – everything that moves when an elevator travels up or down, including the hoisting ropes, compensating ropes, counterweight, elevator car and passenger load. Due to the significant impact of ropes on the overall weight of elevator moving masses, the benefits will increase exponentially as travel distance grows.

Read more here: http://futuretimeline.net/blog/2013/...m#.UcEPQ-CmwRk


futuretimeline.net