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Amazing Lifts from Around the World

THE HIGHEST LIFT

The highest lift (above sea level) is held in the Burj Khalifa Tower, United Arab Emirates, which also holds the world’s tallest building record at a staggering 828m (2,717 ft)!

The lift inside the building is equally as impressive, and is the highest lift in the world. You might think you’d be travelling for a while, but to run the whole length it takes just 1 minute 22 seconds – thats 22mph (35km/h)!

THE TALLEST LIFT

You may think the tallest lift and the highest lift are the same thing – but this elevator in the Mponeng Gold Mine (owned by AngloGold Ashanti) travels 2,283m down – that’s 7,490 ft!

It also hits around 35-40mph on the journey – that’s a speedy descent of just 3 minutes to reach the bottom.

The mine also has problems with “Ghost Miners”. These are people who secretly – and illegally – get in to the mine shafts in order to steal the gold for months on end. They get called ghost miners because the lack of sunshine turns them ghostly white!

And they even have a species in the mines that isn’t found anywhere else…

Find out more about Mponeng Gold Mine and some of it’s mysteries here >>

 

THE FASTEST LIFT

The fastest lift is housed in the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan. At a height of 509m (approx. 1670 ft), the tower isn’t the tallest, but the lift is incredible.

The lift operates between the 5th and 89th floors, taking people up to the viewing decks.

To travel from the bottom to the top takes just 37 seconds – that means travelling at a whopping 37mph (60km/hr) the whole way!

To put it another way, it’s 1,010 metres a minute. For perspective, Gartec platform lifts travel at around 9m per minute!

The Taipei 101 building was also the tallest building in the world between 2004 and 2010, but lost the title a number of times since to the huge buildings popping up across Asia.

Learn more about the Taipei 101 building >> 

 

 

THE MOST TECHY LIFT

A new concept for lifts has arrived – the ThyssenKrupp Multi is a magnetised, rope-free system that can travel up and down, as well as side to side – think Willy Wonka and you won’t be far off!

By using the magnetised system, the lift tracks work a bit like train tracks, where the direction of travel is changed by turning the track.

Try this curious video to see what they plan to do with it…