3 Lifts that Carry More than People
When we think of lifts, we usually think of small box lifts designed to transport people up and down the floors of office buildings, hospitals or shopping centres. However, most of the lifts in the world are actually used to transport goods rather than people. Here we take a look at three unique lifts.
The Falkirk Wheel
Located in Scotland, the Falkirk Wheel is the only boat lift of its kind in the world. It is used to transport boats between the Clyde Canal, the Forth and the Union Canal. Its unique rotary action is achieved using ten hydraulic motors that are able to fully rotate the huge wheel in eight minutes. As the wheel rotates, diametrically opposed caissons turn at exactly the same time, only in the opposite direction. This keeps the whole apparatus level as it rotates and means that only around 30 horsepower is needed to spin this 600-tonne engineering masterpiece.
The Trampe Bicycle Lift
The Trampe Bicycle Lift in Trondheim, Norway was built in the early 1990s to encourage the citizens of Trondheim to cycle to work. It is still the only dedicated bicycle lift on the planet. Passengers approach the lift and place one outstretched leg on to a moving footrest. They are then carried (along with their bicycle) 130 metres (around 426 feet) uphill at a speed of around five miles per hour. The lift means that many people can now cycle to work without having to deal with this 20% gradient hill.
The Autostadt Silos
The Autostadt Silos lift in Wolfsburg, Germany is another unique lift. It exists to transport newly built Volkswagen cars from the end of the production line to one of VW’s 200-feet-tall storage silos. The car arrives at the silo after a half-mile journey on a conveyor belt. It is then transferred to a lift and raised at a speed of five feet per second until it arrives at an open storage slot in the silo, into which it is then placed. This means that when a buyer collects the car from the silo there are zero miles on the clock.
Although we haven’t installed any of these lifts ourselves, our platform lift range includes internal and external solutions.. We are also the UK’s leading installer and supplier of platform lifts designed to improve disabled access as well as stair lifts and scissor lifts
In terms of passenger lifts, we are able to offer low pit, traction and hydraulic solutions and internal and external options. Again, we lead the way in passenger lifts in the UK.
Our range of goods lifts includes lifts capable of carrying anything between 50kg and 3000kg, as well as service lifts and dumb waiters. Because most of our lifts are free-standing, they can be installed without the need for any major building work and with a minimum of disruption.
As well as offering ready-built solutions from all the leading manufacturers, at the Platform Lift Company we are also able to manufacture lifts to your exact specifications. Of course, all of our lifts conform to all of the relevant safety standards.
