31
CONSTRUCTION HOISTS
Manmade in New York City
I
n New York City, 50 UN is a 44-story
condominium project located on the west
side of 1st Avenue in Manhattan, occupying
the full block between 46th and 47th Streets.
Prices start at $2.8 million for a one-bedroom
unit and duplex penthouses, one of nine,
reportedly are asking for $55 million.
Universal Builders Supply was awarded the
contract for the hoisting and protection work,
which included a four-car hoisting complex,
a two-car subgrade hoist as well as sidewalk
bridge, roof protection and other protection work
associated with the project.
The above grade hoisting complex consisted
of a UBS high-capacity platform solution
positioned on the south face of the building
with two dual Alimak Scando 650 Hoists. The
common platform was extended at the base with
a large loading dock complex complete with
overhead protection, ramps and stairs, and had
landings at all floors from the 2nd to the 42nd
floor. The overall lifting height of the hoists was
approximately 500 feet. The common platform
was erected in conjunction with the building
construction to maintain pace with the top-most
floor under construction to provide protection at
these floors.
The west dual hoist was custom designed and
built to carry 7,000 pounds of capacity, could
run 328 feet per minute as a dual personnel/
GEDA cracks Port Arthur job
The east dual hoist was a standard-length,
7,000-pound capacity, 328 feet per minute,
dual personnel/material hoist with inside clear
cab dimensions of 12 feet, 9 inches long by 4
feet, 11 inches wide by 7 feet by 6 inches high.
All cars were equipped with overload sensing
devices and manual controls with stop-next-
material hoist and had inside cab dimensions
of 18 feet long by 4 feet, 11 inches wide by 9
feet, 2 inches tall. The front and rear gates were
able to open to nearly the full interior height of
the cab, with corresponding custom designed
and fabricated landing gates on the common
platform.
H
ouston-based Century Elevators was
contracted by BASF to provide a
construction hoist – a GEDA PH 3240
650 Twin – recently for a 301-foot steam
cracker tower at the Port Arthur oil refinery in
Texas.
The benefits of this construction hoist were
clear to see, Eric Schmidt of Betco Scaffold
said. The hoist had a lifting speed of 213 feet/
min with a maximum lifting height of 1,312 feet.
A total of up to 30 people or an overall material
weight of 7,054 pounds could be transported on
the 5 foot by 13.1 foot platform.
A PH double car was used on the BASF steam
cracker. That meant that two cars – one on the
left and one on the right side of the mast – could
travel upward and downward independently of
each other.
“The scaffolding and lift must be attuned to
each other with great precision and therefore
the scaffolding was specifically strengthened to
withstand the anchoring forces of the lift with its
two cars,” Schmidt said.
Although most of the maintenance work was
to be completed before the start of the hurricane
season, the scaffolding and lift mast had to be
designed to resist hurricane-style wind gusts.
Since the Gulf of Mexico is one of the world’s
most hurricane-affected regions, the PH 3240
650 Twin was also equipped with a special wind
gauge.
Safety was paramount, Schmidt said. Before
each shift the car, mast and anchorage were
inspected and approved for use. Racks, pinions,
gates, doors, limit switches, brakes and other
electrical and mechanical components were
also checked to ensure the safe and precise
operation of the lift.
Two machine operators and two technicians
were on-site 24 hours a day for the duration of
the work.
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NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013
ALH
MAST AND HOIST SUPPLEMENT
