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Elevator and Escalator Maintenance and Safety Practices (2012)

Chapter: Chapter Two - Literature Review

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Page 6
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Two - Literature Review." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Elevator and Escalator Maintenance and Safety Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21940.
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Page 7
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Two - Literature Review." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Elevator and Escalator Maintenance and Safety Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21940.
×
Page 7
Page 8
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Two - Literature Review." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Elevator and Escalator Maintenance and Safety Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21940.
×
Page 8

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

6 website: http://www.fta.dot.gov/civilrights/civil_rights_ 2360.html. As indicated above, ADA requires accessibility features to be repaired promptly. When an accessibility feature is out of order, the transit agency must take reasonable steps to accom- modate individuals with disabilities who would otherwise use the feature. To prevent claims of discrimination, transit agen- cies are required to make consistent and diligent efforts to keep accessibility equipment, including El/Es, in working order. Compliance with the ADA requires transit agencies to make efforts in every phase of operations including design, policy, training, inspection, maintenance, repair, and monitoring. The FTA website also contains a series of ADA compli- ance review reports that document findings at specific transit agencies, several of which pertain to El/Es (http://www.fta. dot.gov/civilrights/ada/civil_rights_3899.html). ASME A17 The ASME A17 Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators was first published in 1921, establishing a U.S. standard for the design, construction, operation, inspection, testing, main- tenance, alteration, and repair of elevators, escalators, dumb- waiters, moving walks, and similar equipment. The most recent addition, number 19, became effective June 30, 2011. Its purpose is to provide for the safety of life and limb and to promote the public welfare. The 400-plus-page code book also includes the Canadian Standards Association Code B44-10, which builds off of the ASME A17 code by adding require- ments applicable only in Canadian jurisdictions. After covering scope, purpose and definitions in Part 1, Parts 2 and 3 of the A17 code define requirements for electric and hydraulic elevators. Of particular interest are the mainte- nance, repair, inspection, and testing requirements identified in Part 8, which call for the following: • A written maintenance control program to include exam- inations, cleaning, lubrication, testing and adjustments made at prescribed intervals to maintain El/Es equipment in compliance with established procedures (Part 8.6.1.2). This program must be made available to maintenance personnel. • Maintaining detailed records of inspections, repairs, and callbacks (Part 8.6.1.4). This chapter summarizes findings from a literature review of elevator and escalators. TRIS was used to aid the literature search. Found references, however, were either outdated or limited due to the highly specialized nature of this subject. The most useful references reviewed for this study include the following: • ADA of 1990; • ASME A17.1-2010, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators; • Various materials published by APTA; • 2008 Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions and Performance, Report to Con- gress (CP Report); and • Consortium documents to develop a Transit Elevator Escalator Maintenance Training and Apprenticeship program. ADA ADA was established to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities through enforceable standards, and to ensure that the federal government plays a central role in enforcing those standards. U.S. Department of Transporta- tion regulations implementing ADA contain specific require- ments meant to assist persons with disabilities in using fixed route transportation services. Specifically, §37.161 Mainte- nance of Accessible Features states: (a) Public and private entities providing transportation ser- vices shall maintain in operative condition those features of facilities and vehicles that are required to make the vehicles and facilities readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. These features include, but are not limited to, lifts and other means of access to vehicles, securement devices, elevators, signage and systems to facilitate commu- nications with persons with impaired vision or hearing. (b) Accessibility features shall be repaired promptly if they are damaged or out of order. When an accessibility feature is out of order, the entity shall take reasonable steps to accommodate individuals with disabilities who would other- wise use the feature. (c) This section does not prohibit isolated or temporary inter- ruptions in service or access due to maintenance or repairs. Additional detailed information regarding ADA as it relates to public transportation can be found at the FTA chapter two LitErAturE rEviEW

7 requirements will improve customer safety, satisfaction, and convenience, resulting in an increase in the public’s confi- dence in a transportation system’s ability to meet their needs, and thus, increase ridership. Heavy-Duty transportation System Escalator Design Guideline This guideline specifies requirements for the design, fabrica- tion, installation, and testing of escalators. Included are oper- ational, structural, and environmental requirements; vibration levels; fire protection; job conditions; quality assurance; sub- mittals including as-built drawings; training; and warranty. Part 2 addresses product requirements, including controls and safety devices; balustrades, skirt panels, and decking; electrical equipment and controllers, truss wiring, and con- duit; materials and finishes; and various requirements for mechanical equipment. Heavy-Duty Machine-room-Less Elevator Design Guideline This guidance document was prepared specifically for the machine-room-less elevator (MRL), a newer technology being developed by all major elevator manufacturers. As with other APTA design guidelines, agencies will need to make changes to suit their unique specification needs. The guideline has been established for traction elevators and can be used at any rise. As was done with other APTA heavy-duty elevator guidelines, the Working Group recommends increasing the capacity of MRL elevators above and beyond that of the ASME A17 code required minimums. Table 2 shows the APTA-rated minimum load recommendations that should be incorporated into the design decisions for all elevators used in transit applications. Heavy-Duty transportation System Elevator Design Guideline This APTA document provides design guidelines for the fabri- cation, installation, and testing of low-rise (under 40 ft of travel) elevators intended for use in a public transit environment. The objective is to address the specific heavy-duty elevator needs of North American transportation systems. The guideline also • General maintenance methods and procedures that pro- hibit making safety devices inoperative or ineffective and require parts to be properly lubricated and up-to-date wiring diagrams to be maintained (Part 8.6.1.6). • General repair requirements that address parts usage and repair of specific El/Es equipment (Part 8.6.2). Parts 8.10 and 8.11 detail El/Es requirements for accep- tance and periodic inspections and testing. These sections address persons authorized to make the inspections and tests, unique or product-specific procedures and methods, inspection frequency, and several other topics. Requirements contained in ASME A17 are comprehensive and extremely detailed; all agencies operating El/Es need to have a copy and become familiar with all stated requirements. APtA DocuMEntS APTA has published four known documents related to El/Es that are summarized below (there is also a guideline for mov- ing walkways, which is not reviewed here). The objective of this work is to address the specific heavy-duty escalator needs of North American agencies to help them provide safe, reliable service in harsher, heavy usage and high-abuse transit environments. The APTA design guidelines are not intended to be a complete technical specification applicable for all transit agencies. Each agency may find it necessary to make changes to suit its specific needs. However, the more stringent provisions are the result of the members’ combined experiences and reflect the need for improved safety and reli- ability for public transit El/Es applications. Design guidelines developed by APTA are the result of the combined efforts of the members of the APTA Elevators and Escalators Technical Forum. Membership of this forum includes transit agencies, consultants, and elevator and esca- lator component manufacturers. Authors of the guidelines readily note that some manu- factures will claim that additional transit requirements will increase equipment costs, but state through past experience that paying “more up front” will be more than compensated for by the overall reduced life-cycle costs. Most impor- tant, the APTA guidelines claim that added transit escalator Platform Width (ft) Platform Front to Back (ft) Inside Net Platform Area (ft2) A17.1 Maximum Inside Net Platform Area (ft2) A17.1 Rated Min. A17.1 Rated Nominal (lb) APTA Rated (lb) @ 1.5 over A17.1 Minimum 6.00 5.00 24.08 24.2 1,993 2,000 3,000 7.00 5.00 28.33 29.1 2,425 2,500 3,750 7.00 5.50 31.67 33.7 2,781 3,000 4,500 7.00 6.17 36.11 38 3,278 3,500 5,250 8.00 6.17 41.53 42.2 3,920 4,000 6,000 6.00 8.83 45.81 46.2 4,455 4,500 6,750 6.00 9.38 48.88 50 4,853 5,000 7,500 TABLE 2 ELEVATOR PLATFORM SIzE VERSUS RATE LOAD CHANGES

8 in refurbishing and replacing physical assets, and parentheti- cally emphasizes the importance for agencies to include El/Es in their asset management planning process. ELEvAtorS AnD EScALAtorS trAininG conSortiuM The Transit Elevator/Escalator Maintenance Training and Apprenticeship Program is a national consortium consisting of BART, MARTA, SEPTA, NYCTA, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) along with their respective union partners to share resources and develop a uniform El/Es training program. The project is supported with matching funds from FTA and administered by the Transportation Learning Center with participation from APTA. The El/Es training program is being established on a joint labor–management basis where collective resources are pooled to develop training materials consistent with nationally established training standards. Once completed, courseware materials consisting of standard curriculum out- lines, lesson plans, student textbooks, and instructor guides will be provided to each of these agencies. Although documents are not yet complete, preliminary drafts have been reviewed. Once completed, a nationally stan- dardized El/Es training program with input from both labor and management will greatly improve the skills and knowledge of El/Es workers and help improve equipment availability. SuMMAry The literature review supports the initial observation that while there is much information on safety compliance and equipment specifications available through ADA, ASME, and APTA, there is not a significant body of work docu- menting the repair and maintenance of El/Es in transit appli- cations. Nor are there many materials regarding passenger communication strategies and providing alternative trans- portation when transit El/Es equipment becomes disabled. The reference materials identified in this chapter are, how- ever, important resources to agencies operating El/Es and served as a useful starting point for this study. The next two chapters present in-depth case studies and successful practices gleaned from those studies. Material taken from the survey collectively offers a snapshot view of what transit agencies face in providing vertical transporta- tion services to their customers. establishes certain design parameters for elevators to be consid- ered for transit applications, as shown in Table 3. The guideline does not recommend the use of telescop- ing hydraulic elevators in transit applications. It also rec- ommends increasing the capacity of the elevators above and beyond that of the ASME A17 code required minimums as shown in Table 2. Mid- to High-rise, Heavy-Duty traction Elevator Design Guideline Approved back in 2004, this document provides design guide- lines specifically for the fabrication, installation, and testing of traction and rack-and-pinion elevators. Like the other elevator guidelines developed by APTA, this one also recommends in- creasing the capacity of the elevators above and beyond that of the ASME A17 code required minimums as shown in Table 2. cP rEPort The 2008 Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions and Performance, Report to Congress, also known as the CP Report, provides decision makers with an objective appraisal of the physical conditions, operational performance, and financing mechanisms of highway, bridge, and transit systems. The report is based both on the current state and projected future state of these systems under a set of alternative future investment scenarios. The 2008 edition is the eighth in the series that combines information on the nation’s highway and transit systems. The transit investment analysis is based on the Transit Economic Requirements Model, which identifies the invest- ments needed to replace and rehabilitate existing assets, improve operating performance, and expand transit systems to address the growth in travel demand. FTA uses this model to forecast estimates of total capital investment needs for the U.S. transit industry over a 20-year period. The CP Report reveals that U.S. transit agencies spent $9.3 billion in 2006 to rehabilitate and replace antiquated and/ or worn equipment. To maintain current average transit asset conditions into the future, however, providers of transit services would need to spend $11.4 billion annually on rehabilitation and replacement projects. Although El/Es are not specifically addressed, the study does highlight transit’s financial shortfall Elevator Type Direct Plunger Single-Stage Holeless Roped Hydraulic Rack and Pinion Maximum rise 40 ft 16 ft 40 ft 40 ft Note: Applicable for this document only. TABLE 3 MAxIMUM RISE OF ELEVATORS PER TYPE

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TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 100: Elevator and Escalator Maintenance and Safety Practices documents elevator and escalator maintenance activities, safety practices, and passenger communication efforts at five U.S. transit agencies.

The five agencies where information was gathered are MARTA (Atlanta, Georgia), NYCTA (New York, New York), SEPTA (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), CTA (Chicago, Illinois), and BART (San Francisco, California). These five agencies together operate 1,418 elevators and escalators throughout 850 rail stations.

Together, they are part of a U.S. Federal Transit Administration-sponsored consortium with the American Public Transportation Association, Amalgamated Transit Union, and the Learning Center, engaged in developing a Transit Elevator/Escalator Maintenance Training and Apprenticeship Program.

The following four appendixes to TCRP Synthesis 100 are available in electronic format only. Links to the appendixes are below.

BART Elevator PM, 59

BART Escalator PM, 254

BART El-Es Training 1, 507

BART El-Es Training 2, 556

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