Kinsburg, California, Fall 2019

Série SEL

Replacing old elevators is not that easy

In 2015, Fraco was involved in the replacement of a traction elevator that was built in 1970. The elevator was made of wood and installed in a concrete shaft that didn’t allow a regular rack and pinion elevator to be easily installed.

The replacement project was completed at the Sun-Maid production facility in Kingsburg, California. The functions of the new elevator were to move the sugar to the production line. The Fraco elevator was going to become a strategic element for the raisin production chain and we had to make sure that it did not slow down the production process and did not cause downtime.

After collecting the exact dimensions of the elevator shaft, our project team designed a solution that fit seamlessly into the existing elevator shaft. The proposed solution is as follows: we used a narrow panel mast and attached it to a new steel beam structure. We had to fix it to the floor and the roof, in order to avoid placing the wall ties on the concrete floors that would not have been able to support these new loads. We also had to design special doors and screenings because there was already a cage and walls that could not be removed from the structure. The project has been approved without problem by the Californian authorities.

This article was written by Anthony Grégoire.
Anthony has been with Fraco for almost 18 years and is responsible for the development of Fraco's industrial elevators. You can contact him by writing to anthony.gregoire@fraco.com or calling (514) 442-1987.