Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Scott And Carol Present - A Look at GateKeeper




Only one more weekend to see Cedar Point's present entrance configuration. Even the ticket booths will be moved off to the side for 2013.


No more Space Spiral and the giant 12E building that housed Disaster Transport has also been completely removed.


This year Cedar Point has followed the lead of other parks with signage showing the new ride and giving the pertinent statistics.



The assembly crane was brought in and assembled just last week. It was put together in the guest parking lot and moved to the site before the park opened for another Halloweekend.


There are lots of big holes in the asphalt parking area, some they haven't even started digging  and some holes are dug and ready to begin assembling the rebar.

The temporary white shelter is being used for on site storage of things that work better when dry. And, of course there are more holes in the asphalt.


Here is some of the rebar that is destined to be buried deep in the sand  not be seen again after pouring until Gatekeeper has thrilled its last guest.


Another view of the crane with its boom. It's not really needed right now but it was convenient for Adena, the assembly company to get it on site early. The plan at this time is to start assembling the lift hill first, because there is lots of work to do on the entrance plaza.


Many of the smaller footers are already complete but around half of the concrete work is yet to be started.


Here you can see a poured footer with the bolts set in place. Once the support is raised to the correct height, more concrete will be used to fill in around the bolts.


A closer look at the footer next to the beach. Cedar Point was fortunate that the lake level is low this year and they haven't had to deal with any water issues digging holes for the concrete.


The two footers in the foreground have the temporary wood forms built up ready for pouring.


Remember, it's not going to be a wood coaster. These material are just for the temporary concrete forms.


A close up view of the beach, albeit at over 50 mph, will be had by all the Gatekeeper riders. It won't be quite this tranquil. A big thank you to Brian, Larry, and Annie of Cedar Point for making the tour happen. 



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