News: Cedar Point blog shows footers at WWL site

These footers make me beg the question, when do you think we will see supports go up if it is any kind of a roller coaster?

I don't see what was so ridiculous about my post on when the supports would arrive and be erected. I was expecting a time like August or September for them to arrive (if it is a roller coaster). Just because they started early on what ever it is that they are building does not mean it is going to be huge. What I am trying to say is that I don't believe it will be the 500 foot coaster nor do I want to see a 500 foot coaster yet.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't most B&M footers square and Intamin circle? I'm not sure about the other companies. This was the first thing I noticed

Not always true, here is one of TTD's-
http://www.pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=1569

CP_bound said:
When was the last time footers had been poured for a ride in early March at CP a whole 14 months in advance? I'll answer that with a big NEVER!

So, anyone want reconsider bashing the 500 footer rumor yet?

ummm, well not cedar point
But didnt' six flags Great America pour the footers for their tornado an year+ ahead of when they were going to put it in.

It is probably a big ride and just takin short cuts to get it done faster but what do I know i'm only a coaster fan/rider

flip

It's official. These guys are pissing me off.

MrScott

Bear? Footers? Polar Bear Club? Polar Bear Plunge? Maybe it'll be a water coaster that can run in the winter and the Polar Bear Club will be riding it for the debut next March. This is one that I wouldn't ride in the winter in the snow! Well maybe not, on the other hand, it depends...BRRRR!

I would still like to see a 500 footer, but space is limited. Does this mean a diving machine at 500 ft? They are very compact considering the height.

Just throwing around ideas...

The S&S 4D idea makes sense. Nice work, Broseph.

MichiganRollerCoast said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't most B&M footers square and Intamin circle? I'm not sure about the other companies. This was the first thing I noticed

I will never forget riding the train and seeing the sheeer size of the footers for the lift hill of Millenium Force, they were huge, I think they were something like 50-60ft wide! Besides with footers people forget that just becuase they see cement above ground its easy to forget how much is underground for these footers.

It's official. These guys are pissing me off.

MrScott

Well said Mr. Scott. You guys need to chill out, a year plus away and your going nuts. Relax have a coffee and a marlboro everything will be all-right. (or maybe a valium)

Just the footers for the huge 100 foot wall they're going to built to block the site...

Then the speculation will REALLY begin.

Why is the footer so big anyways? Looks like alot of useless concrete to me....

The footer is big because it more than likely will hold a big support. I'm not exactly sure what the scientific reason is behind the size of footers but I would say it might be how much force/weight is being exerted in an area or on a specific support. The depth of the footer would also be determined by those factors.

You won't see a 500 foot dive machine. B&M does not build coasters that go over I believe 250 feet.

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Cory Marshall

People just do the math it not that hard. New fresh footers + before the season opens = A new roller coaster that will be the next tallest and fastset. If you say this isn't true look around WWL's site when you go in the season. Plus something tells me we know the name for it already and we should know what company and how tall and fast. Don't you think so? Its only far to see what is coming next year early.

TTD 120mph said:
The footer is big because it more than likely will hold a big support. I'm not exactly sure what the scientific reason is behind the size of footers but I would say it might be how much force/weight is being exerted in an area or on a specific support. The depth of the footer would also be determined by those factors.

Too get a little scientific think of it this way. An elephant puts all its weight on an area the size of a cd. Then imagine that same elephant putting its weight on a 6ft X 8ft sheet of metal. Which one has more pressure on the ground? The small cd, because it has less surface area to spread the weight over. There is a formula to calculate this. Can't recall the exact formula from top of my head though. About them being deep. My only guess whould be that the deeper it is the less chance of the footer tilting off perpendicular to the ground. If it were only lets say a foot deep it might be real easy to lean over.

^^^

Haha you could have just used the same idea but talked about rollercoasters on footers instead of elephants on CDs. :) It's not that hard of an idea to grasp.

Not poking fun, just find it amusing. :)

jkoaster, Although I agree with you on most of your points, I will have to say that a 500 foot coaster may not be the only "Big" thing possible. Now we have said in above posts what is possible and what is not. Just try and be more open minded.

Also I think we have guessed the right kind of coaster that will be going in, it's just a matter of which one.

Who said a coaster is going to be built there?

The size of that footer doesn't really say much to me. The soil that they are building on is pretty much sand and it doesn't look like the footer goes down very deep until it reaches its aggregate base. Personally it does look like it has a rather large surface area which could mean that soemthing big will be placed on it, however it seems like they wouldn't backfill around something that will receive a very large load.

At the same time maybe they are making the large surface area footers to stay out of the water table. Until I see more footers I'm not going to speculate on what will be placed on this one footer.

MantisBrian the formula is P=F/A. Pressure=Force/Area

Well, did anyone else besides me see that second footer in the top-lefthand corner of the picture?

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Physics Day 2006: Thursday, May 18