Environmental impacts » Case study » Materials

One gauge for six

Health checks for escalators

Smart Step, a clever new device for testing the condition of escalator steps, is being patented by Tube Lines. “The trials of the technology carried out so far have given us invaluable data,” says Dr Ali Albadri, Tube Lines Escalator Services Lead Engineer and Smart Step’s designer. “For instance, we can confidently determine if a step has worn out before reaching its life expectancy and why…In future Smart Step will provide a useful health check during routine servicing.”

One clever tool designed and tested in 2006 is a new multipurpose track gauge that will make points and crossings inspections easier, safer and more accurate – and make six existing gauges obsolete.

“The old-world gauges are good but the new gauge is great,” says Gordon Harding, who leads the Operations’ P-Way innovation team that invented the tool. “By replacing six gauges, the new piece of kit makes inspectors’ jobs more straightforward and they have to carry less with them. Each of the old gauges measured a different type of wear but all six of these checks can be done using the new single tool. Accuracy is being improved as there is less error factor and because the new gauge shows the rate of wear, not just ‘pass/ fail’. This means that more preventative maintenance can be planned.”

Boosting innovation

Tube Lines’ culture of innovation was given a boost in 2006 with the ‘Make us Outstanding’ programme, encouraging people to challenge conventional ways of working and come up with new ideas to solve problems, increase productivity, improve safety and save money. Tube Lines is also forging links with a number of academic institutions in order to tap into their expertise in sourcing environmentally-friendly engineering solutions for some of the technology challenges facing the organisation.

Because each person now has only one gauge there will be fewer to replace in future and as the new gauge is made of stainless steel it will last a lot longer than its predecessors. The old gauges will be sent back to the depot to be recycled.