New elevator lighting system installed

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by Vikki Otero

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New 110-volt light system innovators have been installed in elevators in 14 buildings across campus. They will flood the elevators with light in the event of a power fail- ure.

According to Maintenance Planner and Coordinator Mark Wells, the change is a result of a letter received from the City of Houston on Feb. 15, 1995, alerting Rice to new nationally-accepted elevator and escalator regulations.

The buildings affected are Anderson Hall, Anderson Biological Laboratories, Brown College, Dell Butcher Hall, Fondren Library, Keith-Wiess Geological Laboratories, Jones College, Lovett College, Lovett Hall, Physics Laboratories, the Student Center, Sewall Hall, Sid Richardson College and Rice Stadium.

"Our elevators have always been inspected ... but some cities did not have the detailed inspections that Houston has," Wells said. In response, the state of Texas adopted regulation ASME A17.3, which regulates elevators and escalators at a statewide level.

After adoption of the regulation, a list of items that needed to be addressed was made following a routine inspection. Rice agreed with the city that the necessary changes had to be made as fast as possible, and a target date of June 1 was set for completion of the project. Routine quarterly elevator inspections will continue.

Wells did not indicate that any other major elevator changes were planned at this time.

This item appeared in the News section of the May 17, 1996 issue.

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