“A study conducted on the wreckage at the scene immediately revealed that the cable connecting the two cabins gave way at its attachment point inside the upper casing [a connecting piece] of cabin No. 1 (the one that began the journey at the top of Calçada da Glória),” states the Informative Note (NI) of this organization, published today and accessed by Lusa agency.
The investigation found that “the remaining cable” and the entire system, including “the reversal wheel and the pulleys where it operates, were lubricated and without apparent anomalies,” adding that “the cable in the upper casing of cabin No. 2 [located near Praça dos Restauradores] was also found without apparent anomalies.”
The NI notes that the cable used consists of six strands of 36 steel wires with a fiber core, with a nominal total diameter of 32 millimeters (mm) and a breaking load of approximately 68 tons, and this type of cable has been in use in this elevator for about six years.
“It has a designated useful life of 600 days for this usage, and the one existing at the time of the accident had been installed for 337 days, leaving it with a remaining useful life of 263 days until replacement. The system’s operating entity considers the defined useful life for the cable to have a significant safety coefficient,” explains GPIAAF.
Regarding the maintenance and conservation of the Glória lift system, the investigation states that “the operating entity [Carris] contracts it out to an external specialized service company, with the existing contract terms defining that the first is responsible for supplying the cables and the second for their installation under the supervision of the first.”
The GPIAAF “found that the elevator is not under the supervision of the Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes, I.P.,” adding that it does not currently possess “reliable and confirmed information on the legal framework of the Glória elevator nor which public entity is obliged to supervise the operation and safety of this public transport system, aside from the intervention of an accredited entity.”
This entity, “on the initiative of the concessionaire and operator company, inspects the equipment during major repairs every four years,” this organization emphasizes.
The Glória elevator in Lisbon derailed on Wednesday, resulting in 16 deaths and 22 injuries.
The Glória elevator is managed by Carris, connecting Restauradores to the São Pedro de Alcântara Garden in Bairro Alto, with a 276-meter route, and is highly frequented by tourists.
