6A • TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2014OMAIN NEWS MAHA WORLD-HERALD “Necessity is the mother of invention. We had to make a crazy ride just to get it to i t on the site.” Shop the largest &most economical thriftthri storeinthe area. Great prices Alan Schilke, designer of the record-setting Goliath roller coaster &genuine customer service. CALL OR E-MAIL TODAYTOMAKE ARARRANGEMENTSRRANGEMENTS FOR YOUR GARAGE OR Fearsome Goliath rises in park ESTATESALES “FREE” PICK UPS. &H& Harrisonara ririsoon BellevueBeBelllleve ueue •4• 402-731-9311020 -7-73131-9931311 [email protected]@s@nen wlw iffetethrifft.t.nneet Revolutionary construction M-Sa:M-Sa: 8:30a-8:00p8:8 3030a-a 88:000p •C• ClClosedososedd SundaysSunu daaysy methods help the roller coaster NewLifeThrift.netNNeewLw ififeTeThrhrifft.t nenet i t on a tight site — and make it a record-setting ride, too THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE CHICAGO — Alan Schilke’s job is to make people scream. As a hotshot roller coaster designer, Schilke promised to build a record-set- ting wooden coaster at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. When he saw how the construction site was crammed between a railroad track and other rides, he knew he would have to do back fl ips to squeeze shrieks out of his customers. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” he said. “We had to make a crazy ride just to get it to fi t on the site.” The resulting attraction will set three records for wooden roller coasters. Goli- ath will be the fastest and steepest wood- en coaster in the world, with the longest drop. It will hurtle riders at 72 mph down an 85-degree, 180-foot cliff before rocketing them into hairpin curves, two upside-down twists and a zero-gravity stall to make passengers feel momentari- ly weightless. "!$%#& Goliath is the latest creation in a Every Thursday Night revolution in roller coaster construction, aficionados say. Its patented construction technique manipulates wooden tracks into shapes never before seen, with inversions, over-banked curves and whip- crack reversals of direction. The coaster is still under construction. Goliath is due for its public opening May 31, with a preview for season ticket hold- ers the day before. “We are definitely excited to ride this thing,” said Scott Heck, a spokesman for American Coaster Enthusiasts. “I know a lot of people across the country want to come. I can’t wait.” The coaster is being built by the MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS upstart innovator in wooden coasters, Rocky Mountain Construction Group, out Rob Finney is one of the workers assembling the new Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Season ticket holders will be among the fi rst to ride it, on May 30. of Hayden, Idaho. Before launching the business with his wife, Suanne Dedmon, error over 40 feet of track. Since September they’ve worked 11- co-founder Fred Grubb was a carpenter That technique allows the track to hour days, six days a week through the Pick up a and welder, building coasters at Silver- wood Theme Park in Idaho. Frequently bend in ways traditional wooden rides snow and cold, missing only two full days Camp Guide working to repair old wooden coasters, wouldn’t. The company used its new of work because of weather. But with the at any Y which often wore out where the wheels design to retrofit two coasters in Texas wind chill and snow numbing workers’ location or — though a passenger died in a fall from hands and making footing on high struc- made contact, he and his engineers decid- visit our ed that there must be a better way. one of the coasters last summer. tures treacherous, the crew members had Traditional wooden roller coasters such The company wowed riders last year to stop frequently to recover in warming website for as the American Eagle or Little Dipper at after it built the Outlaw Run coaster at shelters, cutting down productivity by moreinfo! Great America have simple steel plates Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. more than half. MAKING lining the track where the wheels go. The ride won a Golden Ticket Award Crews still must fi nish building the Rocky Mountain instead built a steel trap from Amusement Today as the best new track and installing the mechanicals, that encases the wood track and is much amusement park ride of 2013. such as the chain that lifts the cars and stronger. The construction crew of about 35 men the magnetic brakes that stop it. Then FRIENDS The company then developed a method from Idaho included former tradesmen, will come hundreds of test runs, featur- of building new wooden coasters that loggers and rock climbers who had ing water-filled dummies. SummerDay Camps prefabricates computer-designed tracks. worked in more commonplace forms of Despite the winter work, crew mem- Rather than building tracks on-site, as commercial and residential construction. bers say building coasters is a lot more YMCA Camp Platte was done in the past, Rocky Mountain The workers are accustomed to winter rewarding than constructing an office cuts, fl exes and welds the steel into what- temperatures in northern Idaho that of- building or a sewage treatment plant. ever shape is needed and fastens it to ten drop below zero, but even they were “It’s better,” Matt Whiteman said, “be- laminated pine in the shop, while curving taken aback by the latest Chicago winter, cause when you’re done, you get to ride it to within a 16th-of-an-inch margin of one of the worst on record. what you’re working on.” YMCA OF GREATER OMAHA www.metroymca.org Policeaddtextingto crisisnegotiations Low Home Oficers receive training ting in his training sessions. 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