Wood's Powr-Grip Lands at O'Hare International Airport

Wood's Powr-Grip Lands at O'Hare International Airport

by David Peters When he signed into law the O'Hare Modernization Act on August 6th, 2003, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich had a lot on his mind. Some 433 acres of land had to be acquired by the city of Chicago, and the St. Johannes Cemetery would have to be relocated. Perhaps furthest from his mind was the question of how the glass in the new control tower would be installed. After all, it was just one detail, one simple detail. Simple? Yeah right. In March of 2007, Trainor Glass Company of Chicago approached Wood's Powr-Grip's sales staff with a what-if type of scenario. What if we wanted to lift a 4,000-lb piece of glass, tilt it backwards 35°, hoist it 243 feet into the air and hit a tiny distant hole right on the money....what would it take? In July of 2007, Trainor Glass contracted Wood's Powr-Grip to manufacture the behemoth necessary to accomplish this daunting task. Wood's Powr-Grip Design Engineer Keith Bevan was assigned the responsibility of making this vacuum lifting equipment become a reality. He grabbed his protractor, his slide rule and his abacus, put them in the bottom drawer of his desk and went straight to the computer. Dimension, design, capability, capacity, angle, weight, delivery method - all things were considered, discussed and reconsidered. This lifter had to fit a specially constructed c-shaped lift frame and lifted (along with each control tower window) by crane 243 feet into the air. Because of the tight timeline, design and manufacturing went hand in hand. The whole project cooked along smoothly - 2 lbs of power (12 volt DC and 24 volt DC power supplies), 4 liters of back-up (4 vacuum reserve tanks in case of power failure), 28 cloves of muscle (28 eleven inch lipped and spring-mounted vacuum pads), a dash of versatility (45° powered tilt with 8" of powered lateral travel) and a sprinkle of longevity (designed to have a service life of at least 20,000 lifting cycles). Let simmer for four months and voila! The PT2811LDCS was done. On November 8, 2007, this enormous Power Tilter was carefully loaded, courtesy of a forklift with extended forks, onto the flatbed trailer of a waiting semi-truck. Weighing in at 4,300 lbs, this tool of mass construction was carefully positioned on the truck. The precious cargo was then sent on a journey to Chicago. So, next time you happen to fly into O'Hare International Airport, take a look to the north at the new tower. Muse to yourself, "It's yet another seemingly impossible project completed through the use of world famous equipment from internationally renowned Wood's Powr-Grip."
David Peters had more than 30 years experience in sales and marketing. He was the marketing associate for Wood's Powr-Grip Co., Inc., responsible for interactive marketing, tracking, market research and new product introduction.