Vertical Construction Has Begun!

In all the animations, the keyholes are connected. So, unless it was a last minute fix, I'd think they would be connected.

If they wanted to make the keyhole easier for track install, wouldn't they keep the section that the track wouldn't connect to out, and install it after the track was fed through?

That's what I had thought, BleauxJays.

JuggaLotus said:
How would the gap running up the middle of the column 20 feet below the location of the track aid in installation?

I wondered the same initially. Perhaps the gap would allow for the crane's cables to sneak through, thus the track piece could be more easily threaded into position.

I have a question. Now I don't know if I dreamt it; saw a video for it; or read somewhere, that during the plans of Gatekeeper, they took into consideration of where they're going to put the gift shop at the exit for the souvenirs and photos. It almost sounded like you had to walk through the gift shop in order to fully exit onto the midway like Diamondback and Batman/Dominator at Geauga Lake. Can anybody confirm this by any chance?

^That's exactly what I though. How else would they be able to lower into position the track using a crane? The wire the track is connected on needs to have room to fit somewhere.

TwistedWicker77 said:
It almost sounded like you had to walk through the gift shop in order to fully exit onto the midway...

Probably. Maverick and Shoot the Rapids (the two most recent major ride installations) both have such setups, correct? Though you're not necessarily forced into the gift shops. They just make it incredibly convenient to walk through them on your way out.

Most rides that have gift shops require you to walk through it to exit.

^^^ There are ways to install steel where you don't have to be directly over where your setting your piece. Plus if they designed it well they would have had their connection on the end of one of the track pieces so you'd only have to pull a small piece of the the track into the opening.

TTD 120mph said:

What makes you think they wont? :)

Well the reason I asked that is because they have done so much work to the towers and everyone is talking about how much they like the view being completely open. So I was confused thinking they changed their mind on the roof.

Does anyone know if any large steel was hung today? Dang web cams down since 8 AM.

BleauxJays said:
If they wanted to make the keyhole easier for track install, wouldn't they keep the section that the track wouldn't connect to out, and install it after the track was fed through?

Not that it matters anymore because both parts are in place, but if they erected the towers this way it would make it much more difficult. The point being, that the half of the tower that the tract connects is closest to the parking lot. Therefore if they did that method they would have to lift the other half of the tower up and over the track or swing it around the boat harbor side.

Point is, every pick was carefully laid out and planned. They are lifting in what they feel is the most efficient manner possible.

djDaemon said:

JuggaLotus said:
How would the gap running up the middle of the column 20 feet below the location of the track aid in installation?

I wondered the same initially. Perhaps the gap would allow for the crane's cables to sneak through, thus the track piece could be more easily threaded into position.

Is the crane also emitting an antigravity field (see bolded word)? I guess I could see how the gap at the top could be utilized as such, as there is no flange in the middle that would impede a crane cable. And after installation, it could very easily be covered over by a panel as, again, there is no flange that needs checking.

The ones below, however, will need to be accessed regularly (at least once a season) to check the bolts on the flanges holding the tower together. And that is much easier done if it is left open rather than having a worker trying to do it in a confined space provided by a door.

More than likely, whoever did the ride animation made the towers solid because it was easier to animate and wasn't terribly important to the overall goal of the animation.

Of course, with the gaps (particularly the bottom one) the opening does look more like a keyhole.

Whoever did the ride animation managed to put all the track seams in exactly the right spots. And put the control booth in the station, even though it's barely in the video. The attention to details in the animation is pretty high to make such a glaring omission in the steel.

Rather than a glaring omission from the renderings, I am hoping we are seeing a stunning architectural reveal of the final details coming into view ( assuming the web cams are back up soon).

Also I am seeing the tuning fork design to be of engineering value in that the forks are both different length and mass which would aid in dampening of the sideways dynamic load since the natural resonance of each of the forks is different.

I may be way off on this but that is my take as someone with a moderate engineering background.

I love the open fork look.

The animations are very detailed, but they are not perfect. You'll notice the lift hill catwalk at the top is not accurate, and the brake run catwalk is shown as starting at the same point on both sides. Also, the storage tracks aren't built properly. Point is even Virtual Image Productions isn't perfect. There is also the possibility that the keyhole designs weren't finalized on the materials Virtual Image Productions was given.

JuggaLotus said:
More than likely, whoever did the ride animation made the towers solid because it was easier to animate and wasn't terribly important to the overall goal of the animation.

liebevision said:
The attention to details in the animation is pretty high to make such a glaring omission in the steel.

I seem to recall the original plan was to have the flyover use standard cylindrical supports, covered with some sort of structure. Then it was decided to simply make the structure be the supports.

In other words, the animation is accurate to the original plan, but the original plan has changed.

Anybody know what's up with the webcams?

New blog is up! Two notes: 1. The towers will be painted a "white aluminum" and 2. The gaps are staying in the towers for future inspection of the bolts.

http://www.cedarpoint.com/blog-article/online-fun/Keyhole-Tower-Con...ion-Update

If you look at this 1st pic:
http://www.cedarpoint.com/blog-article/online-fun/The-Keyholes-Arrive
I think you can see the little door in the bottom part of the keyhole tower that will be accessed by the workers during the year to inspect the bolts. I'm sure there is some type of ladder inside the structure itself (just like there was in Space Spiral) to climb up and check the top circle also. interesting.