ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas Provides Fastest Elevators in North America for 1 World Trade Center Building

ALPHARETTA, Ga., Aug. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas, the world's premier manufacturer, installer and service provider of vertical and horizontal transportation technology, today announced that the 1 World Trade Center building in New York will house the fastest elevators in North America. Located in the J Bank, these high-rise express elevators will travel up to 2,000 feet per minute at approximately 23 miles per hour. And it will take approximately one minute on the express elevator to get from the bottom of 1 World Trade Center to the very top (102 stories), assuming no stops.

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"ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas is honored to manufacture and install the fastest elevators in North America for a national landmark and a symbol of pride for our country," said Steve McClendon, ThyssenKrupp's lead manufacturing engineer for the project. "Our company believes in 'safety first' so we have gone to great lengths to ensure the safety of passengers and technicians. And we've employed innovative technologies to enhance ride quality, aerodynamics, sound suppression, optimizations of rides and call registration."

Of the 70 elevators (64 passenger and six service) ThyssenKrupp is manufacturing and installing in the building, five will be the express elevators. The elevator technology will include 64 conventional-gearless traction, five conventional-geared traction and one hydraulic elevator. All of the equipment will debut groundbreaking features such as a public address system used to provide instructions to persons inside the building in case of an emergency. And the elevators have the capacity to transport 15 percent of the building's occupants in a five-minute period.

"ThyssenKrupp Elevator is the only manufacturer that still creates the major components of all its elevators to ensure that the highest standards are met," said McClendon. "We're proud that nearly four hundred ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas employees have been involved in the manufacturing process. And this project represents a global engineering effort for ThyssenKrupp Elevator with participation from many countries, including Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Switzerland."

In 2007, ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas was selected as the exclusive elevator and escalator provider for 1 World Trade Center by the New York/New Jersey Port Authority based on its bid, as well as its reputation as a global leader in safety, service, technology and a proven track record in project management. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP, the construction of the building began in 2006 at the site of the former World Trade Center. The building is scheduled for completion in 2012 and Tishman Construction Corporation of New York is serving as the construction manager.

About ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas

The ThyssenKrupp Group, based in Essen, Germany, is a global materials and technology company which consists of eight business areas.  In fiscal 2009/2010 the company had annual sales of euro 42.6 billion ($58.3 billion) and employed over 177,000.

Globally, ThyssenKrupp Group's activities in passenger transportation systems employ 44,000 persons in 900 locations. With sales of almost 5.2 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in fiscal year 2009/2010, ThyssenKrupp Elevator is one of the world's leading elevator companies.

ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas is the largest producer of elevators in the Americas, with more than 13,500 employees, more than 200 branch and service locations, and sales of more than $2.7 billion. ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas oversees all business for the operations in the United States, Canada, Central and South America. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG.

ThyssenKrupp USA, Inc. and its subsidiaries account for approximately 17,500 employees and annual sales of $6.7 billion in fiscal year 2009/2010. Through its predecessor companies, ThyssenKrupp has been part of the U.S. business landscape for more than 170 years.

SOURCE ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas