B&M Lift Support Placements...

This isn't a very big thing, but I just thought I might bring it up.

Have any of you noticed that certain B&M rides that are built in either non-flat land or above other rides have lift supports placed in an abstract and strange looking manner? Contrast Iron Wolf (www.rcdb.com/full/six-flags-great-america/iron-wolf1.jpg), Batman The Dark Knight (www.rcdb.com/full/six-flags-new-england/unknown7.jpg) to The Riddler's Revenge (http://americacoasters.com/Photos/SFMM/814riddler5.jpg) and Nitro (www.rcdb.com/full/six-flags-great-adventure/nitro6.jpg).

Actually, it's probably just that Nitro and RR are much taller than IW and BTDK.

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I prefer the pears in the heavy syrup. They're just good.

Which support looks strange for Iron Wolf? The one with three supports on the loop?

No he's saying Nitro and RR look strange compared to IW and BTDK nice, straight, organized, supports.

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I prefer the pears in the heavy syrup. They're just good.

*** This post was edited by S00perGIR on 11/12/2002. ***

Height doesn't have anything to do with it. RR is as tall as B:KF and it has abstract supports.

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"Enjoy your voyage to the sun on the wings of Apollo's Chariot"

Yikes. Just posted this seconds ago and three replies already! haha.

Yeah, I was saying how no other (to my knowledge) coaster producing firm does thi with their coaster lift support columns. The B&M coasters with lifts set up on uneven terrain (Superman Krypton), or built above large sections of water (Nitro), or above other rides have that abstract line-up of supports (Mantis, Riddler), while the others have a nice "clean" set-up.

Then there's the other opposite. Superman Ultimate Flight (www.rcdb.com/full/six-flags-over-georgia/superman-ultimate-flight24.jpg).

Yea its definitly a height issue.

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Im the #1 Canobie Lake Park Fan!!!These are my top 3 coasters:
1. S:RoS @ SFNE 2. Yankee Cannonball 3. Cyclone/B:TDK

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, for whatever reason, they probably chose to use a smaller number of footers, resulting in the odd support structure...

Yeah I noticed that on Raging Bull. When It goes over the Viper line look at the supports there all a big mess when they come together at the ground. It is so odd looking you have to look at all the diffrent places where there put http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery535.htm?Picture=7and and http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery535.htm?Picture=5 there not very good pictures to show what Iam talking about but you kinda get the idea.

You're right, Kraxel...

On Nitro, at least, the supports would have to go in the water if they were straight. I wonder if there is any advantage to having them at an angle? Re: the whole idea about triangles being stronger supports than squares and straight lines...

Hmmmm...

MikeMir87 said... "Yea its definitly a height issue. "

Ummmmm.... No. Look at the pics. Especially of Nitro.

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"Getting on Iron Wolf is kind of like going in a blender and pressing PUREE"

*** This post was edited by du8die on 11/12/2002. ***

JoNoJ27

Well, if you look at what's below or what kind of terrain the lift is straddling, then you can see it has nothing to do with footer or height reasons.

Look at the Nitro photograph above. Look carefully at the lift support colum set-up. Then look below the lift and you can figure out why it was set-up that way. Same for The Riddler's Revenge (Tidal Wave under the lift), Mantis (Iron Dragon under lift), and all other "abstract lift support" B&Ms.

*** This post was edited by kRaXLeRidAh on 11/12/2002. ***

Suspended Andrew -

Actually, BKF has a more "normal" support column setup than RRv. The swamp-like terrain under BKF is still very much "flat" in a sense, and the ride's lift support columns don't lean at different angles like it can be seen on RRv, Mantis, Nitro, SKC...

Well, in Nitro's case, you have the water acting as an obstacle,so the supports are angled.

Suspended Andrew: Riddler's Revenge is 30 feet taller than Batman: TDK, and judging from this picture, there are several things that would restrict the straighter supports as seen on Iron Wolf or Batman: TDK.

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Never Has Gravity Been So Uplifting.

*** This post was edited by BullGuy on 11/12/2002. ***

Wow I must have had RR confused with something. I always thought B:KF was weird but now that I look at others your right it is even more normal then some....

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"Enjoy your voyage to the sun on the wings of Apollo's Chariot"

It's not a height issue. RB has straight supports and is taller than RR.

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You must be this dumb to ride Viper. -SFGAdv.

Another B&M coaster with angled lift supports: http://www.digital-coaster.com/~ft/bm/dragon24.jpg

A great coaster by the way ;)

Maybe it has to do with land type, and cost effectiveness... If the land isn't too good, you want to minimize the amount of footers, which would explain Nitro's lift supports (body of water under lift).

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.:| Brandon Rodriguez |:.
http://www.coasters2k.com

Don't know if it would be considered cost effectiveness, maybe just ease of construction. Yeah you save money by not dredging the water out but you also spend more on longer supports (the angled part of a right triangle is longer than the either of the two straight pieces). Though I don't know the differences in those two costs.

The cost of the longer supports would be minimal compared to putting footers in a wet location. In the case of Nitro, there were also environmental considerations in avoiding putting footers in wetlands areas.

Angling supports can have significant structural advantages. Remember that in most cases on rollercoaster design, the vertical loads don't govern the structural design. It's the lateral loads from the trains turning, wind, and in some cases earthquake that govern the design.

*** This post was edited by Jim Fisher on 11/13/2002. ***

Chang at SFKK and Kumba at BGT both have angled supports too. Although Kumba is understandable due to the loop, but why Chang?