3D Scanning for Elevator Shafts

Stuck in the Elevator

I’d like to tell you something that happened to me years ago. One of the scariest experiences that I had as a child was getting stuck in an elevator shaft. I was about 6 years old and it was an Easter morning. Our family was traveling for some reason I can’t remember and so we were staying in a hotel. I was with my brother that morning. We went to the elevator, pressed the button and got on. After pressing the “1” button, the elevator started to move. As it started to descend, I remember that feeling of a sudden stop, like people putting on the brakes suddenly on a car. It was only my brother and I. We were scared. To make a long story short, we were eventually rescued. Whew! That was my childhood story.

3D scanning services gets you out faster

I told you all that, just so that I could introduce another story about people getting stuck in the elevator. This story gets played out every day by engineers who have to go in and measure the as-built dimensions of an elevator shaft. Those guys get stuck in the elevator shaft doing all that data collection the hard way. The good news is that now they don’t have to. Good ‘ol 3D scanning services has a solution to get them out fast.

The old slow way

Traditional means of doing as-built surveying is kind of slow going. Imagine having to climb to every floor and get a measurement of the shaft opening area. That is what they have to do. They cannot just assume that the shaft walls are the same from the first floor up to the top. There will need to be some adjustment when they put in the rails for the elevator. All of those measurements will need to be determined by the engineers. That is not a quick wrap it up before lunch job. Safety is also a big concern since they have to continually be climbing in and out of the shafts.

Do it fast and safe with 3D scanning services

The solution to the slowness and safety of the project can be solved through 3D scanning services. 3D scanning technology is being used by engineers for all kinds of as-built surveying projects. If it can work for cars, homes, and airplanes, then why couldn’t it work for a simple elevator shaft. The job is a simple as going in with a 3D scanner and collecting the data points for the entire shaft. This can be done super fast and it also can reduce injury. That is not all either. It not only is faster and safer, but it does a much more thorough job. Which do you think would be better? Would you like a measuring tape survey that can only get the the opening part of the elevator shaft? OR would you like a comprehensive complete 3D scan of the whole shaft that can be digitally reproduced for analysis of site? The choice seems clear.

Thanks to 3D scanning services, engineers lo longer need to be stuck in that elevator. Just like I wanted to get out and be with my family, so do all of those engineers.

Keep reading: more articles about 3D scanning

Leave a Comment