Elevators, Escalators & Vertical Transport Equipment worked example

Guide Rail Length Planning with hoistway travel height per rail of 83 ft: a worked example

Suppose hoistway travel height per rail falls to 83 ft. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate required elevator guide rail length from hoistway travel assumptions, rail runs, unit conversion, and waste allowance.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Hoistway travel height per rail: 83 ft (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 165)
  • Number of guide rail runs: 4 rail runs (held at the documented default)
  • Rail length unit conversion factor: 1 x (held at the documented default)
  • Cut, splice, and waste multiplier: 1.08 x (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Base rail footage before waste = hoistway rail height basis × guide rail runs × rail unit conversion.
  • Required guide rail length works out to 359 ft at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Base rail footage before waste works out to 332 ft at these inputs.
  • Cut, splice, and waste multiplier works out to 1.08 x at these inputs.
  • Rail height times rail runs works out to 332 ft at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where hoistway travel height per rail sits at 165 ft and the headline result is 713 ft, this scenario comes in 49.7% below the baseline at 359 ft.
  • It multiplies hoistway travel height by the number of rail runs and a unit conversion factor to get base footage, then applies a waste multiplier for the total length to order. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Required guide rail length: 359 ft (headline result)
  • Base rail footage before waste: 332 ft
  • Cut, splice, and waste multiplier: 1.08 x
  • Rail height times rail runs: 332 ft

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Guide Rail Length Planning calculator, set hoistway travel height per rail to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.