THE GETTY ADVENTURE BEGINS WITH A TRAM RIDE.Probably the first visible feature of the new Getty Center Getty Center, art museum complex in Brentwood, Calif. operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust. It consists of six buildings on 124 acres (50 hectares) located on a spectacular promontory overlooking Los Angeles. is the bright, white tram that curves up the hill toward the six-building complex. The three-car tram has been running for more than two years and is one of only seven in operation worldwide. At 3,960 feet long, the Getty tram is the longest in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and the third-longest in the world (behind systems in Sun City, a casino in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. , and a ski resort in Serfaus, Austria). It is also the only one of its kind on the West Coast. The tram was designed by Otis Transit Systems, a subsidiary of Otis Elevator elevator, in machinery elevator, in machinery, device for transporting people or goods from one level to another. The term is applied to the enclosed structures as well as the open platforms used to provide vertical transportation in buildings, large ships, Co., and is essentially a horizontal elevator The term horizontal elevator is used ambiguously. It might be something which acts like a person conveyor (similar to Moving walks or Moving sidewalk) or might consist of little vehicles travelling automatically on a (single)rail or road surface horizontal People mover. that is pulled up the hill by a steel cable attached to a drive system that generates 350 horsepower horsepower, unit of power in the English system of units. It is equal to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute or 550 foot-pounds per second or approximately 746 watts. . It doesn't run on wheels or tires, but rather runs along a concrete guideway and is lifted about -1/8 inch off the surface by blowers that generate a cushion of air. There have been some minor glitches as the system begins to carry the load of employees now working up at the site full-time, but most have been minor, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Getty and Otis officials. The train has stopped in the middle of its run on a couple of occasions, for example. Part of the problem is that construction is still in progress, and the trains are designed to stop if anything or anybody gets down on the guideway and interrupts the electronic beam. ``We've detected a few bugs,'' said Curtis D. Williams, director of construction and facilities for the Getty, who acknowledged that part of the problem is that the Getty team is still getting used to the system. ``We've had a few short outages, ... (and) there are built-in safety controls that shut the system down. A piece of paper can break one of the electric eyes and cut the power.'' One of the challenges of building the tram was to make it as earthquake-proof as possible, so special reinforcements reinforcements reinforce npl (Mil) → renfort(s) m(pl) were built into the system. Engineers got a surprise test during the Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. , which - although it brought down a section of freeway not far away - did not damage the tramway. There are two trains, each with three cars that have 14 seats plus standing room, with a total capacity of about 35 people per car. The tram runs at 20 feet per second, or about 15 mph, and rises 200 feet from start to finish, an average grade of 7.2 percent. Each trip takes roughly four minutes. Two trams run on the same track except on a bypass halfway down, where the trains can pass each other. Officials estimate the trains will make 44,000 trips per year and will ferry as many as 1,200 people per hour. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) The three-car tram has been running for morethan two years and is one of only seven in operation worldwide. (2) At 3,960 feet long, the Getty tram is the longest in the United States and the third-longest in the world. Tom Mendoza/Daily News |
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