TKE Elevator Test Tower and IQC Honored by ENR Southeast

Engineering News-Record Southeast (ENR) recently honored TK Elevator’s (TKE) 400-ft-tall elevator test tower and Innovation and Qualification Center (IQC) at the Battery Atlanta with the Best Project/Engineering/Industrial Award. General contractor (GC) Birmingham, Alabama-based Brasfield & Gorrie submitted the project for the award, observing that tight specifications for the elevator shafts were among the toughest challenges. The GC partnered with Salzburg, Germany-based Gleitbau to design a formwork system and streamline structural design. “The 400-ft-tall elevator shafts had to be light and nimble, starting 60 ft underground, requiring Brasfield & Gorrie to become familiar with European slipform systems to minimize the system’s footprint and reduce over-evacuation,” ENR stated. Thousands of “lift drawings,” were created, with the foreman, field engineers and management teams all taking part. Additional challenges included having to work around an existing marquee sign on Interstate 285 only 2 ft from the structure and numerous gas pipelines within approximately 12 ft of blasting areas.