Monorail beam cleaning in Epcot - looks fantastic

WDW Vacationer

Active Member
Very carefully. :lol:

Once the hatch is open they attach a verticle bar from the inside. They can walk about 30' from the top without needing to hang on. Once they cross that 30' mark though they are on their own.

On a side note, the hatch at the top of SSE isn't directly centered in the inner core. It's over the elevator and they have to take a scissors lift to the hatch, then crawl between the inner and outter core for about 20' until they reach the outter hatch.
Whew! Does not sound like my type of job. Although the opportunity to scale SSE would be great! I did not know there was 20ft between inner and outer!

In EPCOTPluto's update,there is pics of the beam cleaning!
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
Very carefully. :lol:

Once the hatch is open they attach a verticle bar from the inside. They can walk about 30' from the top without needing to hang on. Once they cross that 30' mark though they are on their own.

On a side note, the hatch at the top of SSE isn't directly centered in the inner core. It's over the elevator and they have to take a scissors lift to the hatch, then crawl between the inner and outter core for about 20' until they reach the outter hatch.

That is amazing. I'd love to see that happening. :lol:


And the fact that there is room from shell to core totally supports my idea that LEDs and Strobes can be embedded in SSE to make it be lit for effect on the inside and regularly on the outside. :D
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
It's over the elevator and they have to take a scissors lift to the hatch, then crawl between the inner and outter core for about 20' until they reach the outter hatch.
Good to know. I was told the scissor lift was broken.
 

Est1971

Member
Yea last few times i was there my fiancee and i were discussing how they are well over due! Can't wait to see the finished product! Way to go!
 

soarin' cisco

New Member
Lets send SSE cleaning to Mike Row for a good episode of Dirty Jobs. :lol:
Now that would be an awesome job to see! Heck I think it would be cool to see him cleaning the EPCOT beams as well.

Thank you Steve, those pictures really made my day. :sohappy: I am so glad that they are finally do this. It really does look like it's as close to brand new as you can get.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
Now they just need to add lighting effects. Sylvania?

Awesome job BTW.

1 down, 2 to go.

Communicore plaza clutter and tombstone removal.
 

dismedic

Member
SSE is cleaned twice a year by utility workers repelling from the top. It takes about a week to clean the entire building.



In order for a vehicle to run on the beam after hours (and after the power has been turned off) it would need to be diesel powered. Water can't be applied while there is power to the beam. Having said that AND how loud the existing diesel tow is, I can't imagine guests would be too happy for it to go through their resort at odd hours of the night.

Also in oder for the scrubber to do much good it needs to stay on a portion of track for a while so the vehicle would go very slow. I drive a floor scrubber once in a while on the concrete queues for Soarin' and it takes a full hours to do (entrance to blue floors in all 3 queues plus the exit queue). Removing gum each day adds another 2 hours.

Raven

Just would like to say Thank you for keeping a part of the world clean and good show , Too many times we forget about those folks that make the appearance of the world better for all of us
TY
 

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
It's about time, I had been thinking it for several vacations now.

Does look fresh, but never should be allowed to get as bad as it did.
 

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
My guess is with a better materials lift.

Only guessing right now, but over concrete they can use a scissors lift. Thats what I would use. The kind that goes straight up and down.

Over the water you would need one with a boom. Those are larger and take a bit more to get into place, then you have to brace them as well. Which if you are operating them on guest areas means you have to put down wood to protect the concrete.


-dave

Actually, not necessarily. I've used knuckle type boom many times to reach out and over to unreachable areas. With the correct type lift, no external bracing is required.


Also if the tires don't tear up the carpet in a Church, they surely won't hurt the concrete of an amusement park.

For example the Genie S-120:
Platform height max = 125 ft 2 in
Horizontal reach max = 80 ft
Lift capacity = 750 lbs

genie_banner_s.jpg
 

raven

Well-Known Member
Actually, not necessarily. I've used knuckle type boom many times to reach out and over to unreachable areas. With the correct type lift, no external bracing is required.


Also if the tires don't tear up the carpet in a Church, they surely won't hurt the concrete of an amusement park.

For example the Genie S-120:
Platform height max = 125 ft 2 in
Horizontal reach max = 80 ft
Lift capacity = 750 lbs

genie_banner_s.jpg

Yep, they have a few of those.
 

WDW Monorail

Well-Known Member
I never really minded the look but when you start cleaning a few sections and compare it to the dirty sections, there is a big difference and one realizes that the cleaner beams are much more pleasant.

My father got a pressure washer a couple of years ago and I started cleaning the limestone infront of the house. The difference between clean and dirty was pretty great. It looked much better afterwards, however, if no cleaning had been done, no one would have noticed that the stone was dirty.
Another prime example was when I cleaned the white siding. It looked white, just had a couple of green streaks where the gutter had gotten clogged and overflowed. When I started cleaning it, so much dark water fell on to the groun, and me, that I was almost completely disgusted.
One does not notice until a significant change is made.
 


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