Elevator World recently featured Hill Hiker in a project spotlight about special application lifts.
The featured special application lift project took place right in Hill Hiker’s local area of Maple Lake, Minnesota. Our team encountered the challenge of a tricky shoreline that would not allow the bottom landing to be built three to six steps higher than ground level, a typical requirement for residential inclined elevators along the Minnesota waterfront. This particular homeowner’s site also had steep elevations in his already existing landing stations.
In typical Hill Hiker fashion, we created a solution for each challenge ahead of us and even negotiated with the state to make this the most comfortable and functional inclined elevator for this family.
The first Hill Hiker solution for this project was to cantilever the car. Our team affixed the chassis uphill to allow the car to reach a lower elevation at the bottom landing station. The chassis was placed further uphill instead of directly below the car.
We also used hydraulically pounded support posts (link to 6 types blog post), pounded to the point of refusal to construct this residential inclined elevator. Next came the negotiations.
It is Minnesota code for all inclined elevators to be permitted and inspected by the state. So, we received special permission from the State of Minnesota Department of Elevator Safety and the AHJ to provide an elevator car with 18 square feet of usable space. The current code limits the usable interior floor space for residential inclined elevators to 15 square feet. We hope to continue to work with the ASME Elevator and Escalator Standards Committee to increase the typically allowable car size to this size and allow people in wheelchairs to be able to use a car comfortably.
Now, this local family and its member who is in a wheelchair can enjoy the waterfront for some boating, fishing, and R&R, together.
Contact Hill Hiker today for a free consultation and estimate on your residential inclined elevator.
