Lift Towers or Elevator Testing Towers

With the construction craze for high rise buildings escalating, the lift manufacturers are required to design and build safe but high speed lifts for such buildings. Lift towers (aka Elevator Testing Towers) are towers used to test prototypes of lifts and their new drives, gears, cables and other systems under controlled conditions.  Few such notable towers around the World are;

1. Hyundai 'ASAN' Tower, Icheon, S. Korea	205 m
2. Mitsubishi 'SOLAÉ' Inazawa, Japan	173 m
3. Nippon-Otis Tower, Shibayama, Japan	154 m
4. Otis Elevator Tower, Bristol, CT, USA	117 m
5. Express Lift Tower, Northampton, UK	127 m

A brief description of each of these is given below;

1. Hyundai Asan Tower, Icheon - World's Tallest Lift Tower

In April 20, 2009 Hyundai Elevator Company's Test Tower known as Asan Tower, located at Icheon, South Korea surpassed its Japanese rival Mitsubishi Electric Corporation's Lift Testing Tower at Inazawa City, Japan, (see #2). With a height of 205 metres (673 feet) it now holds the record of being the Tallest Lift Tower in the World.

Source of Info and more info: http://joongangdaily.joins.com / Official Web Page of Hyundai Elevator Co. 

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2. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation's - SOLAÉ - World's Second Tallest Lift Tower

Image from Panoramio is by S_Mori

Image from Panoramio is by yamagen1701

The 173 metres (567 feet ) tall lift testing tower located in the Mitsubishi Electric's complex at Inazawa City, Japan, is known as SOLAÉ. Completed on September 26, 2007 it started functioning on January 25, 2008. Till recently it was the tallest of its kind but Asan Tower (See #1), located at Icheon, South Korea has overtaken it now. Its height is equivalent to a 40 storey building. However in terms of total shaft length Otis Elevator Test Tower, Shibayama, Japan may be longest as it's shaft extends about 27 metres (89 feet) below ground. (See #3)

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Credits: Special thanks to S_Mori for informing me about the correct location of the lift testing tower.

Source of info: BBC News More info: Official Release (pdf)

3. Nippon-Otis Elevator Test Tower, Shibayama, Chiba, Japan.

Image from Panoramio is by sheridan_gray

Located in Nippon-Otis factory at Shibayama, Chiba, Japan, this lift tower is second tallest in the World with a height of 154 metres (505 feet). However its shaft goes down another 27 metres (89 feet) below ground, thereby making it longest in terms of shaft length with a total of 181 metres (594 feet).

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Source : http://www.otisworldwide.com

4. Otis Elevator Test Tower, Bristol, Connecticut - America's Tallest Lift Tower

Image from Flickr is by MarkKristenBenEve

The lift tower of Otis Quality Assurance Centre at Bristol Research Centre, Bristol, Connecticut, USA is America’s tallest elevator test tower. It stands 117 metre (383 feet) high equivalent to a 29 story building and started its operations in May 1987. Though this tower is shorter than the historic Express Lift Tower at Northampton, England (see #5) but I have placed it at at #4 because the Northampton tower is currently not in use.

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Info Source : http://www.otisworldwide.com and http://www.nytimes.com/

5. Express Lift Tower, Northampton - Europe's Tallest Lift Tower

Image from Flickr is by JohnGreyTurner

This 127.45 metres (418.1 feet) tall Lift testing Tower of Express Lift Company, located in Northampton, England is the tallest tower of its kind in Europe and ony one and first of its type in England. The tower was a land mark in the country and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 November 1982.

In January 1997, the tower fell out of use after Express Lifts was taken over by Otis and subsequently closed. It is understood that after some renovation and repairs the tower will soon be restored to its original purpose.

Update September 24, 2009:
The tower has now been renovated and is reopening as The National Lift Tower. More info at: http://www.nationallifttower.co.uk/ (Thank you Anonymous for this feed back.)

Source of Info: Wikipedia

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