Old ride question

i remember reading something last week about vertigo and it failing or something. I looked at the pictures of it in the historical section. What ever happened to it, and does anyone have a pic or 2 of what happened. I figured i would ask cause im curious. thanks

http://www.rideaccidents.com/2002.html#jan14
Thats what happened and most likely the reason why they took it down. Hope this helps you.

at least nobody was there to get hurt or anything. are there any photos still around of the collapse?

I don't think any photos were ever taken, at least none that were released to the public (I'm sure the insurance company took some as well as S&S for inspection).

ok thanks for the help. I was just curious

I had a picture off of a news web site after they announced they were taking the ride down. It was just a very blurry image of the three towers (one being much shorter than the others). The image didn't show any of the damage.

I have some pictures of the bent tower pieces sitting inside disaster transport, but I am not sure how to post them on here.

I'm not sure you'd be allowed to post them on here. I'd send Walt a PM first.

There were a few pictures that leaked out from people trespassing, but it was nothing special. Just two regular sized towers and one short stubby one. The unassembled towers sat in the EVC parking lot out by the dorms for a season or so before disappearing.

It's too bad this mishap caused almost all of these rides to disappear. It was a really amazing ride in terms of delivering a great thrill.

I think its scary some of these still exist. Obviously there was a design flaw with the ride or parks wouldn't have just scrapped the rides. Every time I walk past ErUPtion at GAdv, I get nervous.

Where bouts was this ride located?

Challenge Park - near Magnum and the Go-Carts.

http://pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=5867

I don't think there was ever anything more than speculation as to why the tower collapsed. At least, I can't recall any "official" explanation. It very well could have been a design flaw, but there are also a slew of other possibilities for why the failure occurred. Several other parks that removed their models of the ride decided to do so within days of the incident, which wouldn't have been enough time to get any sort of conclusive test results regarding the failure.

That being said, if Magic Mountain's version of the ride had been open when I was there in January, I would have gone on it.

I saw a similar ride in Orlando in August of 2005. It was in Old Town, a small amusement area with a hotel. I was located very close to Disney World, I had large light shinning on it at night. You could see it from along way away. It was fun to watch, but not for me.

I don't know if what I read was an "official" conclusion, but I do remember reading something to the effect of the concrete not being the right mixture or something like that. It developed some cracks which filled with moisture and froze during the winter. And as most of us know, freezing moisture in concrete, then melting and refreezing again several times is not a good thing. I think I remember something to that effect as being the reason behind the collapse. I know the article I read talked about weakening concrete for the above reason, I just can't remember if they said that was what the real problem was.

I'm not sure how an inferior mix of concrete in the foundation of a ride (not in operation) would snap off a steel column above ground level. Without knowing anything about the collapse, I'm thinking it had more to do with cold temps and wind than foundation. I doubt the "carriage" was even attached during the off-season.

I did not know were to post this because it's not about CP but Ithink it will fit in here, look what I found on youtube!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2z7RCzhVMQ:)
*** Edited 4/10/2007 12:23:06 AM UTC by GB93***

Wait...I thought part of the columns above ground were concrete? At least, that is what I am remembering from what I read, almost 5 years ago. So I'm probably mixing up the story. Now I'm thoroughly confused.

^Yeah you're mixed up.

The final explanation had something to with the vibration in the steel and a design flaw. Similar to WT's issue before the yellow supports were added.

After CP and Knott's took the ride down, SFMM closed their's and shorten the towers.

As I recall, the wind coming off the lake forced the tower to resonate (see Tacoma Narrows Bridge) Under normal operating conditions, I think the car would cause enough damping to prevent the tower from swaying too much. However, I think they removed that for the winter.