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thyssenkrupp, Rottweil (Germany)

Test tower in Rottweil – the world’s first cable-free lift system

More and more people are moving from the countryside to cities, and over 70% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, the floor area of buildings is expected to increase by an estimated 85% by 2025 alone as a result, presenting us with one of the greatest challenges of our time: how can we move people from A to B as quickly, efficiently, safely and comfortably as possible? The solutions to this problem are being developed in Rottweil — in the new thyssenkrupp test tower.

Official research activities recently got under way in the tower. At the Rottweil site, future lift innovations for the world’s metropolises are being developed and certified. “The test tower gives thyssenkrupp one of the most advanced research centres for lift technology. Together with our technology park in Neuhausen, it creates an innovation hub for urban mobility in the region,” says Andreas Schierenbeck, Chairman of the thyssenkrupp Elevator Executive Board .

One notable future technology being tested in Rottweil is the latest generation of lift: the MULTI. Three of the twelve tower shafts in the test tower are dedicated to the new MULTI lift system. The magnetic levitation technology from the Transrapid monorail train is used to drive the system. This has a number of advantages: the cable-free construction means that multiple lift cars can be operated in a single lift shaft. This increases the transportation capacity of a shaft by up to 50%, at the same time halving the amount of space that the lift takes up in the building. What’s more, the lifts can move up and down without any limits, as well as sideways, allowing architecture to be developed that has never been seen before.

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A mammoth project of superlatives

– In total 15,000 m³ of concrete and 2,500 tonnes of steel have been used
– 30,000 m³ of material has been excavated
– that is equivalent to the weight of around 60 million filled water bottles
– The land area of 10,000 m² could accommodate 50 tennis courts
– The tower weighs in at 40,000 tonnes; that’s the same as 8,000 African elephants
– thyssenkrupp Elevator is investing a total of 40 million euros in the research facility
– The test shafts in the lift test tower are 2.1 km long in total
– The staircase has over 1,500 steps. The unofficial record for climbing the test tower stairs (starting at -32 metres, going up to 232 metres) is currently around 15 minutes

The test tower is a flagship project for thyssenkrupp.
ANDREAS SCHIERENBECK, Vorstandsvorsitzender Thyssenkrupp Elevator