• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

[The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation

Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Dave said:
Alastair said:
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that this might not even open in May. Close to nothing has been visibly done in the past 1 and a half months. There are no signs of construction speeding up either, nor any indication that anything of note has been going on.
Click to expand...

Your not wrong but on the other had we have had no real idea of what ground work is happening at the top of the site and we know there was nothing up that side of the site before Christmas.

Or this is just going really really slow.
Click to expand...

True, but that last aerial image by Tattenhill basically showed the same as what was there in October last year. Mounds of dirt with 2 diggers sitting there, seemingly having achieved nothing in 3 months.
 
I would be 70% certain that there has been a lot of groundwork happening. In TowersTimes pictures this would not be so visible from high above. I know from experience myself that landscapes look flatter in a picture from above than they do when you're looking at ground level. In their last set of pictures too there was clearly footers starting to be added on the outdoor sections of the ride as well as some retaining walls. So I'm sure there is a lot happening groundwork wise.

Due to the amount of retaining walls that are being added on site I would jump to the assumption that they have found some problems with the soil, and this has resulted in the land needing to be reinforced - it would certainly fit in with the slow progress and why the landscape has been changed so drastically.
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
I personally think it is very concerning that The Smiler will unlikely open until May, there is going to be hardly any time at all (in fact none really) to break the ride in and iron out teeting problems before the busy half term and then the summer holidays. Then again, the easter holidays can't be much after the 16th March so even if it did open on time it would still be hit with large crowds very early on but the point still stands that there will be considerably less time to sort out potential operational issues before summer.
Click to expand...

I believe the plan is to complete the ride in April before the May opening and iron out any potential issues.

They will be able to close the ride halfway through the day and let Gerstlauer tweak things, something which doesn't usually happen as once the ride is open it is open and work happens only in the evening.
 
James said:
Due to the amount of retaining walls that are being added on site I would jump to the assumption that they have found some problems with the soil, and this has resulted in the land needing to be reinforced - it would certainly fit in with the slow progress and why the landscape has been changed so drastically.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. There are still lots of concrete slaps for retaining walls over in the car parks waiting to be moved over to the site (by lots, I mean lots!) so there are clearly going to be more of these walls than the plans depicted.

:)
 
Alastair said:
Dave said:
Alastair said:
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that this might not even open in May. Close to nothing has been visibly done in the past 1 and a half months. There are no signs of construction speeding up either, nor any indication that anything of note has been going on.
Click to expand...

Your not wrong but on the other had we have had no real idea of what ground work is happening at the top of the site and we know there was nothing up that side of the site before Christmas.

Or this is just going really really slow.
Click to expand...

True, but that last aerial image by Tattenhill basically showed the same as what was there in October last year. Mounds of dirt with 2 diggers sitting there, seemingly having achieved nothing in 3 months.
Click to expand...

Yup i don't deny it (though some concrete walls had started going up). I suppose my only hope lay in the fact we havevn't seen anything of that side of the side in about 2 weeks but i may be grasping at straws.
 
GaryH said:
Maybe they printed the opening date wrong, maybe it was 16th March 2014..... ;)
Click to expand...

Oh come on, I mean, this is speculation and all, but there's no need to be that optimistic... ;)
 
The worlds first coaster.... never to be finished???

Joking aside, the area was floodlit again tonight leaving me to believe that work does carry on until late each night. Also my dad has been working in Alton and says that constant banging and drilling can be heard most days.
 
Another amazing picture just tweeted by Alton Towers!

BCb59kNCcAA8HW0.jpg


I am LOVING all these new angles that they are giving us, we even get a bit of the indoor drop on this one too <3

I have to say though, the station structure with all the supports weaving in and out of the frame work is just one of the most confusing and ridiculous things I have ever seen :p
 
Perhaps just a stock one on flat ground like Speed at Oakwood could, but I think this one is more technical than that. Look how the supports go through and inside the station framework! A seriously good piece of engineering this is turning out to be :D
 
There is a difference between building a coaster on a piece of flat, stable land to one at Alton Towers.

Even if you ignore the fact that the site has relatively restricted access, Alton Towers itself is a nightmare to get to. Top of a hill, down winding country lanes and relatively in the middle of nowhere. It all stacks against them when it comes to construction - not only were the conditions pretty poor for construction over the snowy period, but actually getting to the construction site was a pain as I had the unfortunate task of negating roads near to Alton myself!

Plus, the supports just seem to get more and more mental as the pictures are released! It's a monster of construction.
 
It's going to be interesting to see how the rest of the ride interacts with its surroundings if at all. Really interested to see what happens with the ground work further up.
 
Sammy said:
Another amazing picture just tweeted by Alton Towers!

BCb59kNCcAA8HW0.jpg


I am LOVING all these new angles that they are giving us, we even get a bit of the indoor drop on this one too <3

I have to say though, the station structure with all the supports weaving in and out of the frame work is just one of the most confusing and ridiculous things I have ever seen :p
Click to expand...

Possibly my favourite shot so far! <3
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top