Press & Media

Ellis Island, Wow!

Hurricane Sandy's flood waters caused approximately $77M worth of damage in October of 2012, $59M of that being to Ellis Island. The four elevators servicing the island were badly damaged, to the point where only one could be repaired and returned into service. AES was asked to engineer a custom overhead arrangement to fit in the existing overhead dimensions. Two of the four hoistways were originally designed to accommodate low overhead hydraulic elevators. The new specification called for gearless MRLS. Though an excellent specification for the condition (majority of the equipment housed in the overhead, far from flood waters), MRLs traditionally require more overhead to accommodate the permanent magnetic motor.

Liberty and AES worked closely with The National Park Service and Perini Management Services to develop a custom non-proprietary MRL group one arrangement designed specifically to accommodate the existing 13'2" overhead. After hours onsite and days in the office the AES' team developed an arrangement utilizing the low profile of the Torin machine (provided by Delaware Elevator Manufacturing) and custom built cab designed by Columbia Elevator Products.

The project is slated for completion in the Spring of 2016, keep checking back... I'm already excited to write the follow-up article.

Travis