A Mutually Beneficial Alliance

USACE holds Elevator Industry Day on updated specifications that incorporate South Korean elevator code. 

by Rachel Napolitan

Every day, approximately 1,000 elevators take people up and down on U.S. military installations in South Korea. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) — Far East District (FED) is working to streamline the design, construction and maintenance of these lifts by updating their design specifications to incorporate South Korean code, opening the door for local manufacturers to supply products for future projects.

The FED team dedicated to making the changes presented them to stakeholders and industry partners during an event jointly held with the Korean Lift Association (KOLA) and the Korean Elevator Safety Agency (KoELSA) in Seoul, South Korea, on May 3. District Commander Col. Heather Levy said:

“Thanks to the diligent efforts of experts across the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the U.S., I’m thrilled to announce that we have received approval to integrate Korean elevators into Corps of Engineers projects. This achievement marks a significant milestone and is a true win for the ROK-U.S. Alliance.”

More than 100 stakeholders and industry partners participated in the event in person and virtually. Attendees learned about the technical requirements of the updated specifications, and FED provided an overview of how to do business with the district. FED Engineering Division Chief Sarah Woo stated: 

“The updates intend to cut costs and timelines for construction of U.S. Forces — Korea (USFK) facilities by sourcing materials locally. In addition, maintenance will be faster and less expensive as replacement parts and experts will be locally available.”

Denny Headrick, project manager, spoke about how the effort, at its heart, was focused on the people who live and work on the installations. “We often think of installations as just service members, but we also have families who use facilities like schools and housing that need to be able to use elevators for Americans with Disabilities Act purposes and strollers,” he said. He told a story about how long maintenance timelines directly impacted a student at school on U.S. Army Garrison Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, who needed it for accessibility.

Elevator Industry Day was the culmination of more than two years of effort from the team at FED. The team reviewed Unified Facilities Criteria and Korean elevator code side by side before proposing the adoption of Korean code except for life, health and safety features. On April 16, FED received Tri-Service Working Group (WG) approval to use updated specifications that include Korean-manufactured elevators and safety codes. On April 18, the district signed a Memorandum for Record approving those updates for use in USACE projects in South Korea moving forward.

FED worked alongside KoELSA on these changes to ensure a seamless inspection process for projects that incorporate the changes. At the event, a representative from the Korean agency said that all inspections of elevators for U.S. military installations will be conducted by their headquarters. Headrick said:

“This has been a challenging process, but thanks to engineering expertise from within FED, KoELSA and the Tri-Services WG, we’ve been able to create a new elevator specification that will help alleviate many of the challenges that USFK has faced throughout the peninsula. We look forward to the response from industry and the manufacturing of locally sourced, reliable elevators.”

Moving forward, FED can include Korean elevators in its project designs and future construction efforts, adjusting the updated specifications along the way as they learn lessons from the implementation. They will look to their industry partners to create updated products to safely transport future service members and their families. Levy said:

“Your participation in Elevator Industry Day is appreciated as we continue to innovate to deliver better-quality projects to our stakeholders at a lower cost. Thank you to KoELSA, KOLA and the FED team for getting us here today. And thanks to representatives from the Korean elevator industry for taking us into the future.”