Advanced power supply of construction hoists for supertall buildings

• This study proposes an advanced power supply of construction hoists for supertall buildings.
• The proposed system transmits power to a hoist by contact with the collector.
• The proposed system decreases the downtime of hoists by over 95%.
• The proposed system reduces the operation cost of power supply up to 22%.

The operational efficiency of construction hoists is increasingly important for successful project completion of supertall buildings. In supertall building construction, the traditional power supply using cable systems for construction hoists not only breaks down frequently from its own weight and wind load, but also reduces the maximum payload capacity of the hoist. This study proposes an advanced power supply system of the contact type to enhance operational efficiency and reduce the operation costs of construction hoists. In a field test, the proposed system required only one repair taking 4 h, whereas the cable systems required 21–41 repairs that caused 20–30 days of construction delay. The proposed system also reduced the total operation cost of power supply by up to 22% over the cable systems. Moreover, it could maximize the payload capacity of the hoists. It is expected that the proposed system can reduce the overall construction period with stable operation of the hoists.