Scott Ashmore of Clintonville, Ohio, has been spending his lunch breaks at the top of the new 1 World Trade Center building. The 51 year old elevator adjuster likes to admire the view of Manhattan and beyond. Ashmore and his fellow union workers have been working diligently to complete the elevators and escalators of the skyscraper.

Ashmore said that the view from the top of the 1,776 foot tall building was unbelievable. “The Statue of Liberty was right down below, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building to the north – you could see 100 miles.” Ashmore is one of thousands of workers who have had the honor to work on 1 World Trade Center.

The $88 million contract for 73 elevators and 11 escalators was awarded to ThyssenKrupp. Hundreds of the company’s employees are working on the project, including Ashmore. “This was the chance of a lifetime. Not many people can say they worked on the World Trade Center,” he said. Ashmore has been working with elevators since he graduated from high school in 1979. He followed in his father’s footsteps, who also worked in elevator construction.

The project includes five express elevators that will travel about 2,000 feet per minute, or 23 miles per hour. This makes the express elevators of 1 WTC the fastest in the United States. Even with their incredible speed, they are expected to give a smooth ride. “They have a lot of innovation,” said Joe Braman, ThyssenKrupp’s vice president for new equipment. “At that speed, they require aerodynamic shrouding, like when you design a wing on the back of a car.” The elevators also have systems in place that prevent swaying during storms.

Ashmore said that the elevators are all based on counterweight systems. The counterweight, which hangs opposite of the elevator cab, must equal 50 percent of the weight of a fully loaded elevator car. Each elevator also has a safety cable connected to a governor. This is a safety measure that automatically puts on the brakes and disconnects all the circuits to the motors if the elevator overspeeds.

The elevators will also use destination dispatching instead of elevator buttons. This will allow you to register for the floor you want to go to from the lobby on a touch screen television monitor. It will then direct you to which elevator you will be taking.

Ashmore has returned home from his work at 1 WTC, but hopes he will be asked back to work again in the future.

It happens every day. Visitors and employees in healthcare facilities wait for the elevator only to find that a patient bed is occupying it when the doors open. Not only is this annoying for those waiting for the elevator, but now the patient has to wait longer to get to the operating room or other destination.

For the patient in the bed, the constant opening of the elevator door when no one can enter can be embarrassing. If people do decide to cram in the elevator car around the bed, the patient could feel even more awkward. The system used at every hospital is not efficient and there needs to be a way to eliminate the unneeded elevator stops.

CEDES has created a solution to this problem. The system uses sensors that identify that there is a patient bed on board and the elevator will go to the desired floors with no stops. The simple, yet effective, system uses three TPS sensors in the ceiling of an elevator and an evaluation unit mounted on its roof.

The triangulation sensors monitor the inside of the elevator car and emit two independent beams. This allows the sensors to distinguish between passengers and beds – based on the differences in height. Once a bed is detected, the sensors tell the elevator controls to send the elevator car directly to the floor pressed. This eliminates any unnecessary stoppages along the way.

The TPS bed detection system increases privacy and comfort for hospital patients who are bed-bound and traveling between floors. No key switch, transponder card, or destination selection control is necessary with this system. This new elevator technology will make hospital elevators more efficient for everyone.

Many people think of elevators as just a way to get from one floor to another. In many building throughout the world, elevators are also unique centerpieces that catch the eye. Many businesses spend the extra money to go above and beyond to have an elevator that is unique to their building. Here are some of the best looking, and sometimes odd, elevators from around the globe.

Hammetchwant Lift, Switzerland

This breathtaking elevator, or lift as they say everywhere but the U.S., is the highest exterior elevator in all of Europe. It takes riders along a rock path between Lake Lucerne and the Hammetschwand lookout point above, creating amazing views.

Falkirk Wheel, Scotland

Not all elevators are for people!! This giant elevator was built in 2002 to transport boats between two canals. It is the only rotating boat elevator in the whole world!

Globen SkyView, Stockholm

The people of Sweden and tourists can enjoy taking a ride in a gondola made of glass that takes them over the largest spherical building in the world. The elevator takes the riders 426 feet above sea level and gives them a spectacular view of Stockholm.

Bailong, Zhangjiajie, China

This incredible outdoor elevator was built into a cliff. Riders take the elevator up 1,000 feet and get to view quartzite sandstone pillars.

Mercedes-Benz Museum Elevators, Germany

At this museum in Stuttgart, there is automotive memorabilia and one of the most unique looking elevator cabs. Sleek, pill-shaped elevator cabs bring passengers up the atrium to the roof.

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With approximately 3.5 million visitors a year, the Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons in the world. With such high traffic and tourism, it was time to give the iconic landmark a few upgrades. The Statue of Liberty went through a $30 million renovation that was completed in October of 2012. “Life and Safety Upgrades” were conducted by the National Park Services, which included a rescue elevator, upgraded bathrooms and fire suppression systems, and new mechanical and electrical systems for climate control.

For the first time ever at the Statue of Liberty, people in wheelchairs or with accessibility needs are able to visit one of the observation decks at the top of the pedestal. The new renovations are estimated to allow for 26,000 more annual visitors because of better traffic flow.

More Crown Visitors

Thousands of people visit the Statue of Liberty every day, but only a small portion of them will be able to visit the top of the crown. Reservations are limited to three groups of 10 per hour, meaning a total of 240 guests will get to visit the crown each day. Tickets to reach the crown are normally sold out months in advance, and 393 steps must be climbed to reach it. The stair rails and protective glass on the spiral staircases were upgraded in the renovation. Another major part of the renovation was the rescue elevator that was installed. The rack and pinion elevator is custom made and similar to those used in mines, steel mills, airports, and manufacturing facilities.

Rescue Elevator Design

The rescue elevator was installed for emergency personnel and maintenance purposes. It is the only elevator installed inside the statue and travels from the pedestal to the crown. It is installed adjacent to the spiral staircases, allowing emergency personnel to reach distressed guests at four different intervals. The carrying capacity is three, but the elevator’s much enhanced safety feature allows a visitor to be transported safely to the main elevator for complete egress from the monument without having to navigate the tight and crowded stairwell. The elevator is custom designed to work specifically for this application and location and is the only elevator of its kind in the world.

The Statue of Liberty is now a safer, more convenient attraction that can accommodate more guests than ever before. With the new rescue elevator, people who are unable to use the stairs will not be restricted from reaching the crown, and emergency people will be able to reach guests in need quicker and more efficiently.

The Barclays Center just had an upgrade so cool to their parking garage that even the Nets are impressed. The Brooklyn NBA team’s new elevator and parking system are the buzz around the league. Players’ cars and team buses are easily transported from the street into the underground parking area of the stadium.

Denver Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler, after using the innovative elevator system for the first time, recently said, “Just pulling up to it is just crazy. It’s very futuristic.” When you pull up to the arena along Dean Street, you will enter one of two, 14 ½ foot by 81 foot freight elevators that are manned and gated. The giant commercial elevator then takes you down 2 ½ stories underground to the private parking area. Once your ride is over, there is little room to maneuver your vehicle. To alleviate this problem, a turntable was installed at the bottom of the elevator. The massive turntable will rotate a vehicle to an angle that allows the driver to pull out and park. It can hold up to 100,000 pounds and rotate a full 360 degrees within four minutes.

The turntable is able to rotate away teams’ buses and is always impressing visitors. Daniel Brooks drives the visiting teams’ buses and said he can’t even count how many jaws have dropped after experiencing the new parking system at Barclays.

The high-tech system was created to save space and was used instead of huge driving ramps that are typically used at other sports venues. Los Angeles Laker forward Antawn Jamison said, “I wish I would have thought about that when I built my house, because that’s some 007 stuff.” It seems like everyone around the league is impressed with the innovative new elevator system.