Kennywood begins adding new columns to Steel Curtain roller coaster

It is incredible how stuff like this happens in a world of CAD, but good to see them fixing it. I am sure some people would like it to have been done quicker, but perhaps that wasn't possible.

Linking to the Vekoma thread ... I know they have certainly had a reputation at times with regards to comfort, largely deserved, but I can't recall many instances of their rides having issues like this.

Who picks up the tab for this ? S&S for the full fix ?

I still find it fascinating that Sansei own both S&S and Vekoma, I am not sure I fully understand why they continue to operate as independent organisations. Interestingly, S&S has one new coaster opening next year (the first Axis), Vekoma is currently confirmed to be building twelve.

*Apologies for all the Vekoma chat.

Yeah, I don't get how this gets wrong, though how many S&S rides are built every year? Looking from afar, I'm surprised at how "not structural" the track seems. Almost everyone else uses track that has a "thick" component it to it with short ties, whether it be the box spine or truss structures. Even Intamin uses the double spine on longer spans between supports with rides like Velocicoaster. I mean, Valravn looks like it needs more support, and it's a lot taller. Steel Curtain already has a mess of support structure, and it apparently needs more.

The legacy of Arrow in S&S, perhaps.

I have a few observations from the midway. I am not an engineer so these are just one dork’s POV.

There is no noticeable sway in the structure.

I’ve always felt like the ride was “heavy”. If you’ve ridden it maybe you’ve noticed but it just has a heft to it that no other roller coaster I’ve ridden has had.

Local response can generally be grouped into “but the log jammer,” “hell yeah, let’s get it fixed,” and “Kennywood can’t get anything right.”

"When you visit the park this weekend, you will notice we have begun the next phase of work on this project, which includes adding additional columns to the structure. These enhancements and others will increase the coaster’s reliability and longevity, maintaining it for generations of riders to come."

This quote reads like the ride was built in 1950 or something. Not that it ran for a couple season sporadically.

"Public Relations message puts positive spin on situation. Film at 11."

"We're screwed! This whole thing is gonna come crashing down!" said no PR team ever.

eightdotthree:

There is no noticeable sway in the structure.

There's a ton. Too much. Because the entire ride is basically one structure, the lift hill sways back and forth whenever the train is going around. The track on the banana roll sways back and forth a ton when it's going through there.

I never noticed it.

I don't know if there's a ton, but there's a video on YouTube of the sway:

You ever notice how on most rides, most supports form a triangle? This one has triangles, but it's mostly a square tower.

It’s in my Top 5…ugliest (and not just because of the colors, although they’re not helping)!

That movement in the video doesn't seem all that bad. You ever watch the traffic light mounted on those long poles wing up and down in the wind, they move far more than that tower appears to be moving.

To be fair, they don't have to support the dynamic load of a heavy coaster train.

And the wind doesn't blow every four minutes, ten hours a day, for months at a time.

I'm pretty sure no one is doing this because "well, maybe we should? I don't know if it's really that bad or not."

Well obviously they need to do it, and it’s not a maybe we should type deal. But when I watched the clip I was expecting way more movement than what was there.

Also, regarding those light mounts, they oscillate here for many hours per day for many days per week, I’m surprised they don’t stress crack and fail. They bounce up and down at the far end a good foot plus. But we also have steady winds of 10-20mph for 8+ hours per day especially in winter months. What this has to do with roller coasters I don’t even know anymore.

TheMillenniumRider:

I’m surprised they don’t stress crack and fail

Proper engineering, is all.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the structure for a steel coaster has to be signed off by a civil engineer / architect in the same manner that the steel frame for a building needs to be signed off on?I would think yes, but then again, I could also argue no.

I'm surprised they are pouring footers, and not just placing the new supports on top of cinder blocks. (Almost a joke too obvious to post.)