chrisbevan

By chrisbevan

Going Down

Many people are anxious about travelling in lifts.
Wikipedia however is quite reassuring on the subject of safety:
'All elevators in the modern era have been fitted with several safety devices which prevent the elevator from simply free-falling and crashing. An elevator cab is typically borne by six or eight hoist cables, each of which is capable on its own of supporting the full load of the elevator plus twenty-five percent more weight. In addition, there is a device which detects whether the elevator is descending faster than its maximum designed speed; if this happens, the device causes copper brake shoes to clamp down along the vertical rails in the shaft, stopping the elevator quickly, but not so abruptly as to cause injury. This device is called the governor, and was invented by Elisha Graves Otis. In addition, a hydraulic buffer is installed at the bottom of the shaft to somewhat cushion any impact.'

Next floor please.

Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.