As a growing number of municipalities across North America tackle complex construction projects associated with their new vehicle maintenance facilities, in-ground vehicle lift engineers are increasingly focusing on new designs that substantially reduce costs and expedite the construction process, according to vehicle lift manufacturer, Stertil-Koni.
“Fueling the change are multiple factors,” noted Dr. Jean Dellamore, president of Stertil-Koni. “The requirements for modernization, cost-savings and compliance with OSHA are also intersecting with the realities of an aging fleet of heavy duty in-ground vehicle lifts that are now reaching the end of their usable lives.”
Recent innovations in the company’s increasingly popular telescopic piston lifting system, Diamond Lift, provide a glimpse into how transit agencies and fleets across North America are designing the next generation of vehicle maintenance facilities.
Explained Matthias Lennemann, a trained engineer and sales manager at Stertil-Koni, “One major source of savings in materials and labor with new construction is to implement a substantially more robust heavy duty lift containment system that incorporates high-strength material with optimized design and strategically placed reinforcements. In that way, the lift containment does not have to be suspended from a grade beam and loads are more efficiently transferred into the base slab.”
A review by Stertil-Koni shows that such an approach can deliver cost savings up to 25 percent in the construction process associated with installing heavy duty in-ground piston lifts in new facilities. “In essence,” continued Lennemann, “the new approach is to build from the bottom up rather than suspending these large containment structures, which allows us to realize substantial savings in time and expense.”
In-ground lifts such as the Diamond are engineered to leverage the best of an old-world lifting approach while integrating modern materials and the latest engineering approach for optimal performance and safety. In this case, the Diamond piston rods are hard-chrome plated for maximum protection against corrosion and wear, and the lift utilizes biodegradable oil. In another effort to build a more eco-friendly lifting system, the upper portion of the steel containment is hot galvanized, which provides corrosion resistance at floor level. Finally, the containments are coated with DiamondGuard to help prevent hazardous fluids from entering the environment.
