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Carowinds: General Discussion

I take it the track in that area will need thoroughly checked for stress fractures due to it flexing more than normal? That's going to be closed for a long time.

I remember watching one of the steel supports out on the lake at IOA on the original Hulk track lifting and then dropping again on the concrete footer again every time a train went round. It made a small splash every time as the water was at the same level as the top of the concrete. I wondered should they really let it run like that? It was closed the next year for retracking.
 
From the angle of the two pieces post-crack, it looks like the footer might've been misaligned/poorly positioned - thereby causing unintentional stress on the support. It's a high stress corner too so if that was the case, it's not necessarily that surprising that it eventually gave way at the weakest point.
 
Steel coasters cracking isn't a problem as such (not ideal mind you) but to shear is awful. I would assume that track piece is toast and also the mating surfaces at the ends on the other pieces will need to be checked.
 

From: https://twitter.com/eltororyan/status/1675151273870479361?s=46&t=mCg0bo5DBuIf9-b-mFfz7g


some work has taken place, but I’m very unsure about it. Surely this support should have been replaced rather than repaired, but I’m no expert🤷🏻‍♂️. Also to add I’m unsure if this a photoshop click bait as it almost doesn’t look real… maybe it shouldn’t be real

Edit: It seems after a bit of searching about, it could be that the support has been wrapped to prevent any water getting inside and causing rust. So this is not a repair if that is true.
 
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Yeah I don't think pallet wrap will hold for all that long and wouldn't be an approved B&M fix 😂 - definitely just to prevent water getting in while they check out the rest of the ride and sort out what they're going to do.

I doubt we'll see the ride for a good few months now - possible not until 2024 with the repair work that's likely required topped off by the investigations and inspections needed elsewhere.
 
Connor98 said:

From: https://twitter.com/eltororyan/status/1675151273870479361?s=46&t=mCg0bo5DBuIf9-b-mFfz7g


some work has taken place, but I’m very unsure about it. Surely this support should have been replaced rather than repaired, but I’m no expert🤷🏻‍♂️. Also to add I’m unsure if this a photoshop click bait as it almost doesn’t look real… maybe it shouldn’t be real

Edit: It seems after a bit of searching about, it could be that the support has been wrapped to prevent any water getting inside and causing rust. So this is not a repair if that is true.
Click to expand...


Of course it’s not a repair!
 
Connor98 said:

From: https://twitter.com/eltororyan/status/1675151273870479361?s=46&t=mCg0bo5DBuIf9-b-mFfz7g


some work has taken place, but I’m very unsure about it. Surely this support should have been replaced rather than repaired, but I’m no expert🤷🏻‍♂️. Also to add I’m unsure if this a photoshop click bait as it almost doesn’t look real… maybe it shouldn’t be real

Edit: It seems after a bit of searching about, it could be that the support has been wrapped to prevent any water getting inside and causing rust. So this is not a repair if that is true.
Click to expand...

I know this isn't a fix, but it is slightly funny to imagine Carowinds slapping plastic wrap on it and saying, 'Ok, time to open back up'.
 
Amazing thats held as long as it did. Thank goodness it was a B and M. I suspect their coasters have multiple layers of redundancy for their structural integrity.

I think they will call for a worldwide inspection of all their coasters just to be on the safe side.

They need to know if this is an installation or steel fabrication issue. If it is the latter, the entire process will need to be audited from beginning to end.

I still trust B and M more than any other manufacturer.
 
Makes a crazy weird resonance through the track in that first video aswell.

Surely it doesn't run with that kind of noise normally?
 
Seeing how small those people look shows just how massive Fury is and beefy that B&M track is.

It is a blessing that B&Ms are so well built. I'd imagine even with a complete failure of that support, the structure would still hold together without incident. Obviously it should never come to that mind.

Can't imagine this will be a quick fix. They need to understand why it happened before anything else, as just fabricating another support as it was will likely result in the same problem happening in another 8 years time.
 
Rob said:
...I'd imagine even with a complete failure of that support, the structure would still hold together without incident...
Click to expand...
I mean, technically it did completely fail. That support isn't currently taking any load at all.

As you said, it just goes to show how well engineered B&Ms rides are.

The question is now:
- How did that cracked form in the first place. Poor load positioning (which does go against the previous point of B&Ms great design) or a fault in the fabrication.
- How did it run for a week before that was noticed. If this was in the UK (and I suspect US rules are similar) maintenance (and maybe even operations) have to walk the route of the track each morning looking for problems and obstructions. Which means that despite having been checked at least 7 times (likley more) since the crack had formed no one noticed it.
 
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