Attraction Iron Gwazi

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My issue is that the deteriorated state of Gwazi was the reason that BGW went with a steel structure for Invadr; to specifically get around ever having those issues. It's insane to me that SEAS would even consider going with wood when they specifically chose not to with a smaller coaster in a more hospitable environment.
 
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b.mac said:
Don't forget Gwazi has sat for an incredibly long time in a harsh, humid climate with absolutely no upkeep. I imagine BGT and RMC want to play it as safe as possible and put up fresh wood / fresh steel instead of reusing potentially rotten wood.

Also I said before this was going to be a unique half and half RMC. Half conversion, half ground up, something that RMC hasn't done before especially on this scale.
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Humidity and wood are not enemies, quite the contrary humidity actually makes wood stronger. It's the constant leeching of moisture from the wood that makes it inhospitable. Pressure treated woods leech far less, and if you look at Florida construction wood is the primary material for commercial homes, and not because it degrades quickly. Please stop repeating the tired and frankly incorrect assertion that wood coasters are practical for Florida because of the humid environment, any structural engineer will dispel that myth. (Actually dosing the wood regularly would probably have done much more good for Gwazi structure than to let it just dry out in the Florida sun.)
 
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That's for a house that doesn't deal with the stress and movement of a multi-ton rollercoaster train traveling over it over the span of many years. Gwazi has sat for over 5 years without any sort of maintenance for its existing structure and without the daily care a typical wooden coaster receives. There's 100% a conscious decision on BGT's and RMC's part that it'd be smarter to put up fresh wood or steel instead of using existing wood that is possibly past 20 years old.
 
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Aomalley27 said:
Humidity and wood are not enemies, quite the contrary humidity actually makes wood stronger. It's the constant leeching of moisture from the wood that makes it inhospitable. Pressure treated woods leech far less, and if you look at Florida construction wood is the primary material for commercial homes, and not because it degrades quickly. Please stop repeating the tired and frankly incorrect assertion that wood coasters are practical for Florida because of the humid environment, any structural engineer will dispel that myth. (Actually dosing the wood regularly would probably have done much more good for Gwazi structure than to let it just dry out in the Florida sun.)
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sorry to say but cinder and stucco is the most common construction material in Florida...

Here's a paper that talks about how moisture degrades wood by creating areas conducive to mold:here

Here's one that talks about the deformation as well:link

Treated wood will reduce the issues here but will not eliminate them. When SEAS stated that the reason that they closed gwazi was due to roughness and being vastly more expensive than the other rides, I don't think there's any other suspect than the structure itself.
 
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nice, but NOT what happened to Gwazi's structure. It was dried out and rehydrated too much, not the excess humidity, but the constant cycle of moisture rich wood supports, getting excessively dry then being inundated with moisture, expansion and contraction, buckling the track, loosening of bolts etc. Treated woods are far less susceptible to these effects as the moisture content of the wood stays relatively constant. It's not just a florida problem to combat. Temperature extremes and humidity extremes are far worse in Chicago. Six Flags has let American Eagle stand for almost, 40 years. But...…..there is the constant upkeep of the ride. I'm positive it was the maintainence costs of upkeep on Gwazi that made it expendable. Corrosive salts can also be a factor, but that's highly unlikely seeing as how far inland BGT is.
 
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Aomalley27 said:
nice, but NOT what happened to Gwazi's structure. It was dried out and rehydrated too much, not the excess humidity, but the constant cycle of moisture rich wood supports, getting excessively dry then being inundated with moisture, expansion and contraction, buckling the track, loosening of bolts etc. Treated woods are far less susceptible to these effects as the moisture content of the wood stays relatively constant. It's not just a florida problem to combat. Temperature extremes and humidity extremes are far worse in Chicago. Six Flags has let American Eagle stand for almost, 40 years. But...…..there is the constant upkeep of the ride. I'm positive it was the maintainence costs of upkeep on Gwazi that made it expendable. Corrosive salts can also be a factor, but that's highly unlikely seeing as how far inland BGT is.
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BGT is not that far inland. So salt is definitely a factor in Florida. Also comparing a coaster in Chicago that doesn't see the level of constant humidity that Tampa does to Gwazi is not an apples to apples comparison.
 
Aomalley27 said:
nice, but NOT what happened to Gwazi's structure. It was dried out and rehydrated too much, not the excess humidity, but the constant cycle of moisture rich wood supports, getting excessively dry then being inundated with moisture, expansion and contraction, buckling the track, loosening of bolts etc. Treated woods are far less susceptible to these effects as the moisture content of the wood stays relatively constant. It's not just a florida problem to combat. Temperature extremes and humidity extremes are far worse in Chicago. Six Flags has let American Eagle stand for almost, 40 years. But...…..there is the constant upkeep of the ride. I'm positive it was the maintainence costs of upkeep on Gwazi that made it expendable. Corrosive salts can also be a factor, but that's highly unlikely seeing as how far inland BGT is.
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So what you're saying is that the harsh, humid climate was the problem? the fact this is an argument is kinda ridiculous. moisture is an enemy to wood, and Florida has tons. Also has more damage from the sun and plenty of rain to soak and dry over and over and over. Sure there's other factors, but all ANYONE is claiming, is that the climate in Florida causes excess degradation of wooden structures, which I'd challenge anyone to find evidence to the contrary.

I don't want to be rude but I just don't see what you're trying to prove other than nit picking somebody's valid statement.
 
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It comes down to maintenance. Salt air, humidity and extremes in weather will create issues that, if not continually addressed, will have adverse effects. Look at the oldest coasters in the world...all wood...many built over 100 years ago. And some are almost literally sitting on an ocean beach. The Giant Dipper on Santa Cruz Boardwalk has 4 full time mechanics just for the old woodie. It costs $300k in labor and materials just to paint it. So sure, the wood, left unattended, is going to have issues. But, so will steel. I think BGT decided it was cheaper (in the long run) to rebuild than it was to try to revitalize the existing structure, especially after years of preventative maintenance neglect.
 
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We also have to consider that this thing is going to be twice as tall as it originally was and hit speeds over 20 mph faster than what it was originally built for, no way you can utilize most of the existing structure for that. Steel Vengeance got away with it because they already had 75% of the height in the structure, and were able to design elements that didn't stress the structure with too many lateral forces.
 
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Gavin said:
And I thought Invadr was bad...

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View: https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/bfo5vf/sea_world_files_potential_new_names_for_rmc_gwazi/

EDIT: This actually might be fake, as I can’t find any of this in TESS myself and Sea World shouldn’t be two words in the filing.
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So I added this to the Abyss thread as well but it seems appropriate for here as well. SeaWorld has split the company into two names on previous filings. This is the filing for Sea Swinger in San Antonio. I got this from TESS.
 15092

This name appears to be fake though as when you search for it TESS says it can't find anything.
15093

This is some of the other recent filings that you can see when your search for Sea World as the owner

15094

For reasons that I can't understand they seem to be using two different company names for filings.

So this name is probably fake but not because of the company name.
 
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