Uncertainty

by Ricia Sturgeon-Hendrick

In business, uncertainty is a non-starter, literally. Mid-year reports show a slowdown in construction activity, as well as jobs. Approximately 16% of contractors had projects canceled, postponed or scaled back due to tariff-related impacts, according to Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). “It is difficult for developers to launch new construction projects when they don’t know how much the project will cost or how long it will take to finish,” said AGC CEO Jeffrey Shoaf.

Meanwhile, 45% of survey respondents posted delays tied to labor challenges. While finding skilled labor has long been a problem in our industry, raids by immigration officials can make hiring even more difficult. Construction sites are popular targets. Nationally, an estimated 19% of all workers are foreign-born, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). But, in construction, 34% of workers are immigrants, the National Association of Home Builders reports.

In the midst of it all, last week, the BLS reported that job creation was down dramatically and had been for three months. Construction was a small bright spot with a 0.3% increase for non-residential building. It is likely that the Fed will drop interest rates this month, which will help get additional construction moving. Yes, even that is uncertain … but by the time this is published, we will know.

There is nothing uncertain about this issue. We have Features highlighting the tallest tower in the state of Texas in the capital city of Austin, New Era for Austin; a beautiful panoramic lift in a Turkish factory, EKA S1; and smart elevators (with robots) in Singapore’s newest multi-use tower, Where the City Rises.

Our Focus this month is on Brake Systems and Components, with four articles to offer. The first two are from the 2025 ELEVCON event in Lisbon, Portugal. The Focus articles are:

• Enhancing Passenger Safety: A Framework for Assessing and Optimizing Elevator Braking Distances by Shaik Javeed. The author suggests a metric for maintenance companies to use to enhance safety.
• Optimized Elevator Brakes for the New Standards by Alexander Hutler and Sebatian Steinert. New EN ISO 8100 standards to be released at the end of 2025 include new regulations for brakes.
• Beyond the Safety Code by Andy Crowe. The author proposes a secondary rope brake be used to advance safety.
• Dual Plunger Retrofit Brake Kit submitted by Titan. Titan used its long experience with geared machines in the NYC area to develop a redundant plunger brake system.

We also offer a 1-h Continuing Education (CE) article: A Look at A17.4 by Max Stanley. A17.4 2015 is a guide for emergency personnel responding to entrapments. The CE outlines all the tools, training and procedures for safely releasing trapped passengers.

Three events are covered this issue: A European Lift Association meeting in Poland, Coming Together in Warsaw; Russian Elevator Week, including exhibits, a forum and — believe it or not — a beauty contest; and finally, in the U.S., Elevating Talent by Dot Mynahan, who brought elevator industry people from several groups to SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta.

Finally, for some fun, our historian, Dr. Lee Gray, writes about an elephant on a moving sidewalk in When EW Met Ellie the Elephant, which, of course, made the cover of ELEVATOR WORLD back in 1961.

We hope you enjoy this issue, and feel free to let us know your thoughts either way. You can contact me at [email protected].