Rocky Mountain Construction (also abbreviated as RMC) 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.
Video Rocky Mountain Construction
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.
In 2009 Alan Schilke of Ride Centerline began providing design and engineering work for Rocky Mountain Construction. He previously worked with Arrow Dynamics (later S&S Worldwide) to design Tennessee Tornado, Road Runner Express, and X. Working with Rocky Mountain Construction, Schilke and Grubb designed the I-Box track for wooden roller coasters. The first installation of this track technology debuted on New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in 2011.
In late 2011, Schilke announced that the company would be working on two projects throughout 2012 which would both open in 2013. These were later revealed to be an I-Box retrack of The Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and a new roller coaster designed from scratch at Silver Dollar City named Outlaw Run. 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. 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.
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. In 2014, Kolmården Wildlife Park in Sweden announced plans to build the first Rocky Mountain coaster in Europe called Wildfire, which opened on May 1, 2016.
To cope with demand, Rocky Mountain Construction opened a new factory, twice the size of their existing one, in August 2014.
Maps Rocky Mountain Construction
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 New Texas Giant in Six Flags Over Texas.
- Topper Track - Having been installed on several coasters around the United States. The track is designed to reduce the maintenance required for a wooden roller coaster and provide a smoother ride experience. This steel track replaces the upper layers of laminated wood.
- 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 polyurethane wheels found on most trains.
- T-Rex Track - Rocky Mountain Construction's first true steel roller coaster, the T-Rex track is a single rail track.
- Raptor Track - Very similar to T-Rex track, but Raptor track only runs trains that are one seat wide instead of two seats wide, and tend to be smaller.
List of roller coasters
As of 2018, Rocky Mountain Construction has built or refurbished 19 roller coasters around the world and 12 of them are currently operating and 5 coasters being constructed and 2 are being planned.
Other projects
- Topper Track
- Cyclone at Six Flags New England
- Georgia Cyclone at Six Flags Over Georgia
- Medusa at Six Flags México
- The Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas
- Tremors at Silverwood Theme Park
- Le Monstre at La Ronde
- Thunder Run at Kentucky Kingdom
- Construction
- Aftershock at Silverwood Theme Park
- Corkscrew at Silverwood Theme Park
- El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure
- T Express at Everland
- Timber Terror at Silverwood Theme Park
- Tremors at Silverwood Theme Park
- Villain at Geauga Lake
- Timberhawk at Wild Waves Theme Park
- Repairs
- The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis
- Corkscrew at Silverwood Theme Park
- Cornball Express at Indiana Beach
- Hoosier Hurricane at Indiana Beach
- Hurricane: Category 5 at Myrtle Beach Pavilion
- Mega Zeph at Six Flags New Orleans
- Predator at Darien Lake
- Psyclone at Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Thunder Run at Kentucky Kingdom
- Timber Terror at Silverwood Theme Park
- Tremors at Silverwood Theme Park
- Twister II at Elitch Gardens Theme Park
- Hurler at Kings Dominion
- Blazing Fury at Dollywood
- Miscellaneous
- Boulder Beach - water park
- Great Escape - Skycoaster installation
- Six Flags America - Skycoaster installation
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - Skycoaster installation
- Kentucky Kingdom - Skycoaster installation
- Stoneridge Golf Course - miniature golf course
- Triple Play Indoor Water Park - water park
- Utah Olympic Park - zip rider
- Wild Water West - water park, go kart track and miniature golf course
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia