Mitsubishi Electric subsidiary Mitsubishi Electric &
Electronics, USA, Inc. has been selected winner in the
Elevators, New Construction category of Project of the Year
2012, sponsored by Elevator World, Inc.¹ The company was
awarded the accolade for its installation of elevators in the
phase two vertical expansion of the Blue Cross Blue Shield
Tower, the Chicago headquarters for the Health Care Service
Corporation. When it opened in 1997, the 33-story building
rose approximately 440 feet, and 23 elevators and 8 escalators
installed by Mitsubishi Electric provided vertical transportation.
Growing the building to 57 stories, the vertical completion
phase (VCP) was started in 2006 and completed in December
2010 with the installation of 16 new passenger and three
service elevators. Challenges Mitsubishi Electric had to
overcome during phase two included the fact that the VCP
had to be constructed in a fully occupied building and without
disrupting the existing structure. Also, the design of the original
building provided no landings for any of the 16 new passenger
traction elevators and no hoistways between the lobby and
top occupied floor. The three new service elevators had to
replace the existing service cars in hoistways constructed
directly above the existing equipment with precise rail accuracy
throughout the entire 800-foot hoistways in what were two
separate structures. This required the extension of the guide
rails upward from the original top-most service car rails, around
the existing overhead sheaves and support steel carrying the
“live” service elevators, then up into the phase two portion of
the building.
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| The Blue Cross Shield Tower
(center-left) in which Mitsubishi Electric
installed new elevators |
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| Note 1: Now in its 15th year, Elevator World’s annual POY Awards highlight vertical, horizontal or
inclined transportation systems of innovative design and special applications or approaches
that have solved a major problem or overcome a unique challenge; it attracts entries
from across the globe. Winning entries are published each year in the January issue of
ELEVATOR WORLD magazine, and the winners in each category are acknowledged with an
award of recognition. |
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