thyssenkrupp recently opened its newest plant in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China. The focal point of the new facility is an 813-foot tower (31 floors above ground) that will be used to test new concepts and product pilots.
The tower includes 13 shafts and an Active Mass Damper (AMD) system meant to significantly reduce the extent of tower swing caused by changes in weather conditions. The AMD system can also mimic motions of extreme meteorological conditions, like earthquakes and typhoons.
A new high-speed elevator capable of reaching 40 miles per hour and MULTI, the world’s first rope-less elevator system, will be among the first technologies tested in the new tower. MULTI uses the power of linear motor technology to move multiple cars in a single shaft both vertically and horizontally with a much smaller footprint, substantial weight and mass reduction, and increased capacity.
The test tower is thyssenkrupp’s second. The first was completed in Germany, where the company is headquartered, last October.
Courtesy thyssenkrupp.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Special Recognition: Triple Bridge Gateway, Port Authority Bus Terminal New York, N.Y.
Judges saw the Triple Bridge Gateway in Midtown Manhattan as more art installation than building project, but they were impressed at how the illuminated ramps and bridges—14 years in the making—turned an ugly intersection into something beautiful. The three bridges span 9th Avenue at the juncture where vehicles emerge from the Lincoln Tunnel heading to the Port Authority of New Yor...
| Aug 11, 2010
American Tobacco Project: Turning over a new leaf
As part of a major revitalization of downtown Durham, N.C., locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company decided to transform the American Tobacco Company's derelict 16-acre industrial plant, which symbolized the city for more than a century, into a lively and attractive mixed-use development. Although tearing down and rebuilding the property would have made more economic sense, the greater goal ...
