Thanks to problems with elevator-cable girth, weight and sway, supertall-building specialists often get hung up on the ropes when designing towers taller than 500 or 600 meters. That's why ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG is moving full steam ahead to cut the ropes out of su-pertowers. By 2020, the company expects to offer a long-awaited, cable-free vertical transportation system, with cabs that ride a rail and travel vertically, horizontally or on an incline. The system is named Multi because it contains multiple independent cabs in the same shaft-much like a subway tunnel on end. The key is linear drive technology, adapted from magnetic levitation systems used for high-speed rail, which TK also makes. "This is the most revolutionary development in elevators in 160 years," says Markus Jetter, TK's head of development. Jetter is leading the Multi team, which has swelled to 50, including 15 TK engineers and various consultants.
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