Two Huge Wayne-Dalton Rolling Doors Installed
at New York Power Plant
LEWISTON, NY - Wayne-Dalton recently had two of its Titan rolling steel doors installed
at the Power Vista plant, a part of Niagara Electric Power in Lewiston, New York.
These were no ordinary rolling doors though. Both were 50’ wide by 50’ high and took
special processes to produce and install them. After being constructed through some
innovative manufacturing and assembling processes, two large cranes loaded the doors on
a flatbed trailer at the Wayne-Dalton rolling door plant in Dalton, Ohio. A 630 ton gantry
crane, which can lift generators from 60’ below the deck, was used to install them at their
new home in Lewiston.
The doors were replacements for two existing ones of the same size that were
manufactured in 1956 by Kinnear, the original inventor of rolling steel doors. Wayne-
Dalton acquired Kinnear in 1994 and merged it with its own rolling door facility. An
interesting human element of the doors relates to the irony that one of the designers who
helped with the originals was the lead engineer for the project in 2008.
Alvin Eiterman, senior design engineer for Wayne-Dalton, started with Kinnear in 1954
and had a small role in working with the original project. Fifty-four years later, Eiterman
led the design team that pulled together a wealth of knowledge and specially made parts
to make the replacement doors a reality.
The building that the doors drape houses a large mobile crane that can move over any of
14 generators and turbines that generate the power and lift them to be taken in for service.
The crane brings them back to the building, the rolling doors are shut, and repairs or
maintenance can begin.
The original doors were still operating but the curtain had sustained enough damage and
corrosion over the years to warrant new ones.
The new doors have many interesting facts associated with their design and construction.
It takes seven barrels loaded with springs to lift each door, which weigh approximately
24 tons apiece. It takes a 15 horsepower operator to provide the lifting power needed to
get each one moving. Heavy duty articulating wind locks, an original Kinnear invention since
redesigned by Wayne-Dalton, allow the massive doors to operate in the “virtual wind
chamber” in which the doors are located. Because the power plant sits in a gorge on the
Niagara River, there is a steady wind that blows through the area. These doors not only
have to withstand the wind force that can reach 75 MPH, but also operate efficiently in
those conditions. Each of the windlocks weight seven and a half pounds apiece and each
of the 105 slats that make up each curtain have one on both ends.
Special safety brakes were designed to stop the doors from free falling should a
catastrophic event happen during operation, which is no small task considering the
amount of weight that must be stopped.
Because of the mist that arises through the gorge and the havoc that it can cause,
especially during winter, the guides and brakes are heated to prevent freezing of any
parts. Another detail that had to be met due to these conditions and the sheer size of the
doors included all stainless steel fasteners, of which each was set according to
predetermined torque specifications.
Hamburg Door, a long time Wayne-Dalton dealer located in Hamburg, NY, facilitated
the purchase and delivery of the products. Installation was performed by Hohl Industrial
Services and supervision was done in conjunction with Wayne-Dalton technical
representatives.
Mike Mendez, Wayne-Dalton National Service Technician who assisted with the
installation, said, “I was truly amazed at how smooth and quietly this door dropped on the
very first try. The cooperation between the engineers at Wayne-Dalton and Hohl was
virtually perfect.”
The Power Vista plant supplies power for the east coast and Canada. The Niagara River
flows from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario as it feeds Niagara Falls.
