What is vertical transport (VT)?
VT is the Dutch abbreviation for verticaal transport, vertical transport. Broadly, it covers lifts and cranes: all means of moving people, materials and goods vertically, both in buildings and on site. Sometimes the emphasis is on the vertical aspect, sometimes on the transport itself.
Vertical transport in buildings
- Passenger and goods lifts: the ordinary lift in residential and non-residential buildings.
- Paternoster: a continuously moving lift with open cars, now rare.
- Stairlifts and platform lifts: for accessibility in existing homes and buildings.
- Escalators and moving walkways: mainly in shops, stations and airports.
Vertical transport on site
- Tower cranes and mobile cranes for lifting heavy elements.
- Construction hoists and ladder hoists for materials and people along scaffolding or facade.
- Aerial work platforms and telehandlers for work at height and moving materials.
- Jump lift: a construction lift that rises with the building inside the lift shaft of a high-rise.
In practice
- Plan VT early in the design. The location and size of the lift shaft, the machine room (or a machine-room-less lift) and the floor capacity shape much of the floor plan.
- Consider accessibility. Building regulations set requirements for taller buildings that in practice call for a lift. Check your design against the current rules.
- Arrange maintenance and inspection. Lifts and lifting equipment must be maintained regularly and inspected periodically; put this in a maintenance contract.
- On site: coordinate crane position, slewing radius and lifting plan with the surroundings, and let only qualified staff operate cranes and work platforms.
Related terms
- Lift
- Jump lift
- Paternoster lift
- Ladder hoist
- Working load limit
Want to learn more about construction terms? Visit our knowledge base at fredsdiyplans.com.