Lift 92

We first spoke with the owner of this property back in 2008, and in 2019, we finally got the opportunity to build it. We followed the same track line we had laid out back then, and stayed with the original plan to construct a 4-station lift connecting the dock to the lower floor, upper floor, and driveway.

Upper Station, level with the driveway.

The main floor station. The owner opted to have a few steps rather than building a longer platform.

The lower floor station, again with a few steps.

A single pitch track is determined by the top and bottom station locations and the intermediate stations must lie along the line between them.

The dock station. The floor of the car is about 8” off the dock here.

Looking 125’ up the track.

There are 4 station buttons and a STOP button on the button posts at each station.

We had an interesting control problem; the 4-channel remote used to control the lift from the car can have a button assigned to each station but then there’s no dedicated STOP button. And a STOP button is essential for safety. We solved this problem by programming the PLC to treat all the Station Buttons as Station Buttons when the lift is stationary but as STOP buttons when the lift is moving. Problem solved!

In order to keep the track low to the hill and as far off the dock as possible, we transitioned from regular to light track 45’ from the bottom. The light track needs legs every 10’ instead of every 20’.