Aerial ladder

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The aerial ladder or aerial truck is a fire service vehicle in the United States . The task of the aerial ladder is through with the German fire service turntable ladder over.

history

An aerial ladder with a turntable ladder driven by the vehicle engine was first presented by Pirsch in 1931. In 1935, Seagrave Fire Apparatus introduced the first fully hydraulic aerial ladder. Also in 1935, Pirsch brought the first 100 ft (approx. 30 meters) all-metal turntable ladder onto the market. With the development of aerial ladders, hook-and-ladder trucks became obsolete .

Types

Tractor-drawn design

The first aerial ladder were made according to the tractor-drawn design. These are vehicles that consist of a tractor and a trailer. This construction method was chosen because the complete ladder set consisted of only two parts and therefore the individual ladder sections were very long. As with the front-mounted design, the ladder is placed at the rear. One advantage is the good maneuverability of the vehicle. There is a steering stand at the rear of the trailer for this purpose. With this steering stand, the axle of the trailer can be controlled independently by a helmsman called Tillermann . This type is the most maneuverable of the three types and is often used in large cities with their narrow streets. The driver and helmsman have to coordinate well with each other in order to steer the vehicle well together. As a rule, vehicles with a 100 tf ladder are used today.

Front-mounted design

From around 1914 the first front-mounted aerial ladder emerged . It is a two-axis chassis with a ladder that is placed at the rear. The turntable of the ladder is located behind the driver's cab. The advantage of this design is that it can be built very flat. Today vehicles with a 100 tf ladder are mainly used.

Rear-mounted design

The first rear-mounted aerial ladder was not developed until 1963 in the United States and the first vehicles were delivered in 1967. With this type of construction, the ladder park is placed forward over the cabin roof. The turntable ladder's turntable is located at the rear, which corresponds to the European construction of the turntable ladder. The climbing height of this type is usually between 75 and 135 ft, but vehicles with 150 ft (approx. 45 m) have also been manufactured.

Tower ladder

A tower ladder is a turntable ladder with a basket . In this version of a turntable ladder, a basket is attached to the top of the ladder. The first tower ladder in the United States was manufactured by the Sutphen Corporation in 1963, three years earlier than the first comparable vehicles from Magirus-Deutz in Germany. The vehicle was based on a turntable ladder of the front-mounted design with a basket at the top of the ladder, with a load capacity for 4 people, a hose connection and a water cannon . The company Sutphen Corporation brought the quint design tower ladders onto the market from 1966 . In this combination, the vehicle was able to carry out the first attack without further assistance.

equipment

See also

  • Quint , special form of a turntable ladder

source