thyssenkrupp Elevator and Brasfield & Gorrie use Innovative Technique to Build Elevator Test Tower

March 6, 2020

On Jan. 22, Brasfield & Gorrie began constructing the core of thyssenkrupp Elevator’s Innovation and Qualification Center (IQC), future home of the tallest elevator test tower in the Western Hemisphere and the crown jewel of thyssenkrupp Elevator’s new three-building North American headquarters next to The Battery Atlanta.

Utilizing a process known as slip-form construction, Brasfield & Gorrie is creating the framework for the IQC, building up at a pace of more than 7 feet per day. Working around the clock, the IQC will reach 100 feet in February (and be visible from both I-285 and I-75) and will reach its full height of more than 400 feet by April 2020.

Slip-form construction is a popular European-based system, commonly referred to as the core or skeleton of the building. It uses a moving formwork system that is set down on the foundation and involves the continuous pouring of concrete into a moving form 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Relatively rare in the U.S., this process was used in the creation of thyssenkrupp Elevator’s state-of-the-art 800-foot test tower in Rottweil, Germany.

Learn more about the IQC and thyssenkrupp Elevator’s adjacent Corporate Headquarters in a release from thyssenkrupp.