Extreme statics: Escalator installation with special girders at Frankfurt airport

Lifting without lift-off: Some projects require the SCHOLPP fitters to render the truly impossible possible. Heavy components have to be lifted where they really can’t be lifted at all. A major feat. Schindler Deutschland AG from Berlin commissioned the SCHOLPP Berlin team to replace six escalators that connected several floors of the terminal building at the Frankfurt am Main airport in a cascade. Load-bearing suspension points for attaching lifting equipment were lacking however, making this a job for an experienced installation team.

Schindler is a world-leading manufacturer of elevators, escalators, and moving walkways, and has entrusted escalator installations to SCHOLPP for over 20 years. All the more so when the project is technically highly demanding. “It was one of the most difficult escalator projects in my 45-year career,” says SCHOLPP project manager Karsten Stoppel, looking back. “The team was constantly challenged to think proactively and stay highly focused.”

The technical difficulty was that load-bearing suspension points for attaching lifting equipment were lacking in the airport terminal. Electric chain hoists anchored directly to suspension points in the escalator shaft are used here as a rule. Real technical expertise and precise engineering were now required.

Technical solution with special static constructions

“We had to have special lifting equipment made to lift the escalator components out over several floors,” says Stoppel, explaining the solution. This consisted of beams, 16.5 meters long and weighing more than 3 metric tons. They can be dismantled into individual sections and bolted together, but can still bear the load of the 10-ton escalator components. The beams had to be in sections to fit into the narrow escalator shaft.

The beams were pulled up to below the roof structure and installed there. Steel and aluminum supports were used to secure the structure. Movable trolleys for the chain hoists were installed on the beams so the escalator sections could be maneuvered. “Heavy components, confined space, complicated statics, special beams – we really pulled out all the stops of our technical skills for this project,” says Stoppel.

Next escalator replacement planned at the airport

The entire project took six months to plan and coordinate with the client and the airport, two months to implement, and was completed in several stages in night shifts by six to eight fitters. Due to high volumes of passenger traffic, space and safety considerations made it impossible to work here during the day. The installation work was nevertheless completed a week earlier than planned.

“The customer Schindler and the Frankfurt airport operator were highly satisfied with our team’s work. We were immediately awarded the contract for the next project at the airport. Three huge escalators are going to be replaced,” Stoppel reports, summing up the team’s achievement. Special lifting equipment from SCHOLPP will then go into action once again.