SEATTLE — Four elevators in four buildings have been shut down and the manufacturer plans to replace Kevlar ropes on elevators nationwide following a mishap at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, officials said.
Newer-model ISIS elevators, made by ThyssenKrupp Elevator, were closed for immediate rope replacements at Northwest School, a private academy, and in three apartment buildings because a protective covering was damaged enough to expose the rope, Alan Justad, a spokesman for the municipal Planning and Development Department, said Tuesday.
In addition, rope replacements have been ordered within 10 days on two elevators in which the covering was damaged, but not enough to expose the rope, Justad said.
Damage has been found on elevator ropes installed within the past six months, he added.
The problem came to light after one of the ropes suspending an elevator in the ambulatory care building at Children’s Hospital separated on Oct. 9, causing the other two suspension ropes to fail somewhere between the sixth and fourth floors.
A braking system slowed the elevator almost immediately and it stopped near the fourth floor, where all five occupants were evacuated without injury, hospital spokeswoman Teri Thomas said.
“All of the safety equipment that is designed to stop an elevator worked perfectly, and it did not fall,” said Stuart Prior, executive vice president of product sales and marketing for ThyssenKrupp Elevator, part of Germany-based ThyssenKrupp Group.
Inspectors have yet to determine whether the first rope, installed with the elevator in March 2006, snapped or separated at a connection, Prior said. It probably caused the others to fail by wrapping around them after it broke, he said.
The elevator and a neighboring Isis model remained out of service during the investigation, Thomas said.
ThyssenKrupp has inspected the 1,000 to 1,500 ISIS elevators, nearly all in the U.S., and deemed them safe, Prior said.
Isis is among the newer generation of elevators that operate without machine rooms, saving space. They use Kevlar ropes, which are lighter, more flexible and much stronger than steel cables, according to ThyssenKrupp’s Web site.
No other Isis rope has failed after installation, but some have been replaced because of wear, Prior said.
ThyssenKrupp sent customers a letter Oct. 19, calling for biweekly inspections of all ISIS ropes and stricter criteria for rope replacement. The letter also said the company intended to install devices to continuously monitor rope tension and immediately stop an elevator if a rope loses tension. It said the company expected to complete development of the devices within 30 days of the letter and then would need local regulatory approval before installing them.
Finally, the letter said, ThyssenKrupp will “aggressively pursue” development of replacement ropes made of different material, but company officials could not yet say which alternatives they were considering.
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