RAXTAR and HYDRO MOBILE JOIN FORCES TO OFFER EQUIPMENT AT THE ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER

RAXTAR and Hydro Mobile are very proud to have been selected by Atlantic Hoisting and Scaffolding (http://www.safwayatlantic.com/) to provide hoists and mast climbing work platforms in order to help build One World Trade Center formerly known as the Freedom Tower. Both companies have joined forces, with New York's premier hoist provider Atlantic Hoisting and Scaffolding,  in order to create an access solution that allows transport of men and material the each floor of the projected 1776 feet high structure.

This high profile project represents a significant logistical challenge for Atlantic Hoisting and Scaffolding. Indeed, moving over 1300 workers plus tools and material daily to each floor of the structure required the design and production of a custom made solution. With this in mind, the Atlantic Hoisting and Scaffolding  team developed the specification for a new evolution of the common tower.

What is a common tower?

The common tower is a structure typically made from a 4 pole configuration of shoring and scaffolding components decked at each entry level to allow exit of the hoists and access to the building under construction to minimize the interference with the curtain wall installation. This allows the building to be closed in earlier than in conventional configurations of the hoists. In the case of One World Trade Center, the extreme height and concern for workers safety was bringing an additional challenge to the traditional conception of the common tower. Atlantic Hoisting and Scaffolding’s (http://www.safwayatlantic.com/) team came up with an idea to address the construction process.

RAXTAR provided 6 dual and 1 single (13 cabins in total) RX3245SFT and RX3240SFT Rack and Pinion non-counter weighted Construction elevators which reach speeds of 300’ per minute with a 7,000lb capacity. Each of the cars had special requirements to meet the demands of Atlantic Hoisting and Scaffolding‘s design criteria and the regulations of the City of New York Department of Buildings code.

Two years after being put in place, each RAXTAR hoists had travelled the equivalent of a trip around the WORLD! Just to put some numbers in perspective, during the 2 first years of use, each car ran approximately 6 days a week for an average of 12,5 hours a day. At a speed of 300’/min (92 m/min) (300 fpm), this means that each car has travelled approximately 26,718 miles (43,000 km) or a little bit more than the Earth circumference!

It is expected that the common tour will have been used for approximately 5 years at the end of the project.

Hydro Mobile contribution to the project

One of the main challenges related to Atlantic Hoisting and Scaffolding (http://www.safwayatlantic.com/)  new concept of common tower was the fact that the motorized system which would be traveling up and down during the installation and tear down processes could not interfere with the already installed deck levels and hoists.

Hydro Mobile already had, in its product offering, the perfect solution to accomplish this specific task. Indeed, the F-series mast climbing work platform uses a system that allows operating two independent platforms on a single mast or, in this case, a platform on only one side of the mast.  Apart from being the most flexible platform on the market, Hydro Mobile’s F-Series also offers the highest speed to capacity ratio in the industry.

In order to accomplish the job required for the One World Trade Center, Hydro Mobile supplied two standard F-Series units.  These two platforms were combined with a custom bridge and non-conventional configuration in order to provide a work platform for material delivery to each of the landings of the common tower.This system combined with a custom motorized scaffolding platform that Atlantic Hoisting and Scaffolding (http://www.safwayatlantic.com/) built have been integral parts of the safe and efficient work process in the common tower construction.

Technical features of the One World Trade Center access platform:

• Traveling speed of 38' min (11.6 m/min);
• Lifting capacity of 9,000 lb (4082 kg);
• Electrically powered;
• Fully guarded enclosure;
• Interlocked doors for loading / unloading ( front and rear side);
• Levelling system controlling travel speed of each motorized units to keep bearing section levelled;
• Two independent control panels;
• Emergency descent system to bring the platform down in case of power failure.