World's Tallest Elevator
There seems to be conflicting reports as to what country can claim to have the tallest elevator in the world. The problem is that there are two different words that are being used to describe the length of a specified object: "tallest" and "longest."
So here we would ask:
- What is the "tallest" elevator in the world?
- What is the "longest" elevator in the world?
The implications are that the term tallest could be the height of an object "above ground," and longest could mean the height of an object "below ground."
Let's examine the definition of the two words "Tallest" and "Longest."
The Random House Webster's Dictionary describes these two words accordingly:
- Tallest: Having a relatively great height (p. 732)
- Longest: Having considerable extent in space (p. 425)
The two definitions are arguably the same, right? Let's take a look at separate descriptions by different sources as to both the "tallest" and "longest" elevators in the world.
The Guinness Book of World Records declares that the tallest elevator in the world is an underground lift system in Africa....
"The world's tallest elevator is at AngloGold Ashanti's Mponeng Gold Mine in South Africa, which in three minutes drops an astonishing 2,283 m (7,490 ft) in a single descent - more than 4.5 times further than those in the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. A second elevator then takes miners even lower, to 3,597 m (11,800 ft). Each day the lift ferries 4,000 workers down to the mine - 120 workers at a time in three-level steel cages, at speeds of up to 40 mph. It first operated in 1986."
Yet, BBC News says...
"The tallest elevator in world is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom Tower stands a full kilometer in height, and boasts the world's tallest lift at 660m (2,165ft)."
Skyscraper? Mineshaft? Both have moving operations that are referred to as "lift systems." So whether they are above ground or below ground, the title of "Tallest Elevator in the World" would arguably go to the AngloGold Ashanti's Mponeng Gold Mine in South Africa.
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