The Smiler - General Discussion

[Dave]

You have to laugh, eh?

The irony is there are gaps like that all over Saw, I get the feeling it's the falling bolt that's the bigger concern if reports are true.

Never seen anything like that on Saw... Where are these gaps I'm quite intreaugued!

Quite a large gap in the spine on the pull-out of the first out-door inversion on Saw, you can see the bolts running through the gap quite easily from near Samurai.

 

[Andrew]

Did a bolt fall from The Swarm last year as well or was that just a cruel joke played by a rider?

If one did, this may also be a question of Merlin's lack of maintenance as well as poor build quality and manufacturing...

 

[simps100]

You have to laugh, eh?

The irony is there are gaps like that all over Saw, I get the feeling it's the falling bolt that's the bigger concern if reports are true.

Never seen anything like that on Saw... Where are these gaps I'm quite intreaugued!

Quite a large gap in the spine on the pull-out of the first out-door inversion on Saw, you can see the bolts running through the gap quite easily from near Samurai.

Ah not sure, I couldn't tell from the angle of the smiler picture if the gap was the rails or the spine.

Swarm did pop bolts last year, I beleave it reopened a few hours later. The ground will still be settling along with heat things will slightly move and bolts will pop.

 

[Sazzle]

We all know steel is designed to flex, and that roller coaster structures are build with some 'give' in mind.. I'm not so sure this is as major as we might think?

A massive screw fell off my office chair last week.

I was fine.

My colleague fixed it.

I LIVED!

 

[cotda]

We all know steel is designed to flex, and that roller coaster structures are build with some 'give' in mind.. I'm not so sure this is as major as we might think?

A massive screw fell off my office chair last week.

I was fine.

My colleague fixed it.

I LIVED!

Quick question, does your office chair invert 14 times?

 

[HaydenCR]

We all know steel is designed to flex, and that roller coaster structures are build with some 'give' in mind.. I'm not so sure this is as major as we might think?

A massive screw fell off my office chair last week.

I was fine.

My colleague fixed it.

I LIVED!

To be fair, I doubt your office chair was 20ft in the air....

 

[Sazzle]

We all know steel is designed to flex, and that roller coaster structures are build with some 'give' in mind.. I'm not so sure this is as major as we might think?

A massive screw fell off my office chair last week.

I was fine.

My colleague fixed it.

I LIVED!

Quick question, does your office chair invert 14 times?

Depends how angry/insane I'm feeling. Usually once a week!

Edit: Oh I love how people get my light hearted humour

 

[Harv]

Should've just saved all this hassle and bought a Volare tbh.

 

[Poisson]

Was on it yesterday, no bolts fell off, even though the damn thing tried to knock my head off (Wasn't expecting to get a whack to the back of the head mid-way through the first part)

 

[Tom]

A shearing bolt projected with considerable force is easily capable of seriously injuring someone and is a dangerous occurrence in itself. Rollercoasters are designed to flex and absorb stress, but they are not designed to do this by having bolts fail. It's a major engineering mess up by Gerst, indeed much of the whole thing has been.

 

[Dave]

Just a question as i have been out most of the day but, has anything other than the incredibly in-accurate Twittersphere said a bolt flew off?

Don't get me wrong thats probably what happened but are we making assumptions at the moment?

 

[Oatcakedodger]

Just a question as i have been out most of the day but, has anything other than the incredibly in-accurate Twittersphere said a bolt flew off?

Don't get me wrong thats probably what happened but are we making assumptions at the moment?

a bolt has just landed in my garden so therefore it's true :twirly:

 

[Towseriv]

Lets not forget that in this "eye witness account" the bolt in question was a foot long!

 

[Rob]

This is rather concerning. It's hard to tell but it looks like the gap in the track is indeed one of the rails. Then it sounds like the bolt was fairly large and landed very close to people in the queue. If anyone had been hit then there would have been a very serious injury. A major H&S investigation will be need for various different reasons.

Admittedly it is just things on Twitter at the moment that are saying all of this, but the photos are fairly conclusive and Towers aren't going to come out and say what happened so you have to take the word of those that were there. I've seen a fair number of different people on Twitter say that a bolt did come out.

I suppose the 'official' way of finding out is to wait and see when The Smiler next opens. If it opens tomorrow morning then what was said on Twitter was probably inaccurate. If it's not open for a few days or a week then what's been said probably is accurate.

 

[Alastair]

I'm pretty sure that if the bolt shearing story is true, then they have no option but to reprofile? I mean, they can't just put another bolt on and wait for the next incident surely?

 

[Tom]

The bolts are fairly hefty, a foot long is only 30cm.

 

[Anonymous]

Can I just ask, why is everyone so quick to blame Gerstlauer?

What if it was that the footers were slightly out of place? That'd cause issues fitting things together, which would in turn cause stress on the structure in ways that they've not pre-calculated... A mere few MM's can make a huge difference.

Gerstlauer are good at what they do, far better and more calculated than all the wannabe ride designers that live on these forums. So, unless you know how the rides are designed, built and fabricated, your blames, guesses and estimates are based on nothing more than pure speculation.

Just sayin'

 

[Vik]

By chance, we got talking to a chap who was in the same gondola with us on the Sky Ride late on in the day. He had just come back from Guest Services. He had been in the queue when the bolt sheared. Claimed there was a loud bang after the train passed over, and the bolt dropped straight down to the floor, not far from the queue line. Staff were suggesting though the ride will be back open tomorrow.

Make of that what you will, was purely by chance this chap started a conversation with us about The Smiler, and first mentioned he had been given free tickets for a return visit.

 

[Tom]

Gerstlauer designed, oversaw the construction of, tested and commissioned the ride. Who else can you blame? These things don't happen with correct engineering practices.

 

[Anonymous]

Gerstlauer designed, oversaw the construction of, tested and commissioned the ride. Who else can you blame? These things don't happen with correct engineering practices.

Gerstlauer didn't do the ground work. External contractors did.