Rocky Mountain Construction

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Rocky Mountain Construction
Private
Industry Manufacturing and construction
Founded 2001 (2001)
Founder Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon
Headquarters Hayden, Idaho, United States
Area served
 North America
Services Roller coasters, water parks, specialty construction
Website www.rockymtnconstruction.com

Rocky Mountain Construction is a manufacturing and construction company based in Hayden, Idaho, United States. The company is best known for its I-Box track and Topper Track for wooden roller coasters.

History

In 2001, Rocky Mountain Construction was established by Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon. Fred Grubb previously had experience in the construction industry having worked on custom homes and zoo exhibits. The company has worked on several projects including the construction of roller coasters, water parks, steel buildings, miniature golf courses and go kart tracks.[1]

In the 2000s, Alan Schilke of Ride Centerline joined Rocky Mountain Construction.[2] He previously worked with Arrow Dynamics (later S&S Worldwide) to design Tennessee Tornado, Road Runner Express, and X.[3][4][5] As part of Rocky Mountain Construction, Schilke and Grubb went on to design the I-Box track for wooden roller coasters.[6] The first installation of this track technology debuted on the New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in 2011.[7]

In late 2011, Schilke announced that the company would be working on two projects throughout 2012 which would both open in 2013.[8] These were later revealed to be an I-Box retrack of the The Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and a new roller coaster designed from scratch at Silver Dollar City named Outlaw Run.[9][10] The track technology used for Outlaw Run, which allows a square beam of wood to be twisted, took 4 years to develop. It allows Rocky Mountain Construction to design layouts with maneuvers that are not traditionally possible with wooden roller coasters such as heartline rolls. Grubb has stated the technology could be used for new elements in the future.[11] Some new elements were realized with the announcement of Goliath at Six Flags Great America. The ride features a dive loop and a zero-g stall. The ride opened in June 2014.[12]

In 2013, Rocky Mountain Construction signed a deal with Dutch amusement ride firm Vekoma. The agreement allows Vekoma to sell Rocky Mountain Construction's roller coasters outside the North American market.[13] In 2014, Kolmården Wildlife Park in Sweden announced plans to build the first Rocky Mountain coaster in Europe called Wildfire, which is expected to open May 1, 2016.[14]

To cope with demand, Rocky Mountain Construction opened a new factory, twice the size of their existing one, in August 2014.[15]

Technology

  • I-Box Track (also known as Iron Horse Track) – Rocky Mountain Construction's most common product. A formation of steel track for wooden roller coasters. The first installation of this track was on the Texas Giant in Six Flags Over Texas.[16][17]
  • Topper Track – Having been installed on several coasters around the United States.[18][19][20] The track is designed to reduce the maintenance required for a wooden roller coaster and provide a smoother ride experience.[19][21] This steel track replaces the upper layers of laminated wood.[21]
  • Wooden roller coaster trains – specifically designed to run on the company's own Topper Track, however, they could be added to other wooden roller coasters as well. The trains feature steel wheels as opposed to polyurathane wheels found on most trains.[8][9]

Installations

For rides with I-Box trackage, the normal color of the track is orange, while "custom" signifies track of different colors.

The retracked Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas
Name Model Park Location Type Opened Ref(s)
New Texas Giant I-Box - Custom Six Flags Over Texas United States Texas, United States Steel 2011 [7]
Outlaw Run Topper Track - Custom Silver Dollar City United States Missouri, United States Wood 2013 [10]
Iron Rattler I-Box Six Flags Fiesta Texas United States Texas, United States Steel 2013 [9][22]
Medusa Steel Coaster I-Box Six Flags México Mexico México City, México Steel 2014
Goliath Topper Track - Custom Six Flags Great America United States Illinois, United States Wood 2014
Twisted Colossus I-Box - Custom Six Flags Magic Mountain United States California, United States Steel 2015 [23]
Wicked Cyclone I-Box Six Flags New England United States Massachusetts, United States Steel 2015 [24]
Wildfire Topper Track - Custom Kolmården Wildlife Park Sweden Bråviken, Sweden Wood 2016 [14]
Storm Chaser I-Box - Custom Kentucky Kingdom United States Kentucky, United States Steel 2016
Lightning Rod Topper Track - Custom Dollywood United States Tennessee, United States Wood 2016
The Joker I-Box - Custom Six Flags Discovery Kingdom United States California, United States Steel 2016

Other projects

Topper Track
Construction[25]
Repairs[25]
Miscellaneous
The wavepool at Boulder Beach was constructed by Rocky Mountain Construction

[25]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ US patent 6523479, Schilke, Alan & et al, "Amusement rides and methods", issued 25 February 2003, assigned to Morano, S. Joseph 
  6. ↑ US application 2011146528, Schilke, Alan; Grubb, Fred; Bachtar, Dody, "Rolling Vehicle Track" 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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