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Six Flags Great Adventure
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Golden Kingdom
and Kingda Ka Construction Photos
Go
to the Kingda Ka & Golden Kingdom 2005 Construction and Preview Page
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Almost done! |
Update December 30, 2004 With one day until the end of 2004, the tower's final section is taking shape. Track extends past the top of the eighth section and most of the ninth section's structure is in place. The weather forecast looks to be decent on Friday, so the tower may be completely finished for a great start to the new year!
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View from Route 526 & Old Noah Hunt Road |  |
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View from KFC on Route 537 |  |
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The view from icy Prospertown Lake |  Click the above image for 1024x768 Wallpaper Image |
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With
the eighth section in place, the now 400' tower finally appears taller
than Nitro.
It now also is far above the trees. |
Update December 24, 2004 Even with the terrible wind and rain of the past day or two, the eighth section of the tower is nearly complete, with the last catwalk in place. The tower now stands at about 400', with the top section making up the final 50' +for the record height. Workers appear to be getting a well deserved Christmas break today, with construction suspended on Christmas Eve.
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The
view from Route 526 and Old Noah Hunt Road continues to give the best
perspective of just how tall the tower stands.
By the end of next week, the last tower section should be completed, and the track in place. |
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The tower is visible to people turning into the Jackson Outlet Village from Route 526. | The
view from KFC's parking lot (right) becomes more impressive every week!
The view of the parks ever evolving skyline from Prospertown Lake is always a beautiful sight to coaster enthusiasts in the off-season! |
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The tower is now also visible over the McDonalds on Route 537 |  |
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 A picture-postcard view across the lake |
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Two sections have been added in the past week (about 100' of tower!) |
Update December 11, 2004 The tower continues to rise, and the back
leg has begun to taper inward as it reaches the top. |
The less than perfect weather doesn't seem to have slowed the upward progress |  |
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The cranes are visible above Prospertown Lake, and the tower sections are just becoming visible through the second hill of Nitro. These pictures were taken on Saturday, and
workers were hard at work on the tower. |
Update December 5, 2004 Views of the construction as it reaches
above the trees |
From
Route 526, you can see the view the lucky neighbors will have of Kingda
Ka!
Season pass banners have been placed on the Route 537 overpass, where the Winter Lights displays used to be :-( |
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The
view from the Safari parking area.
From this angle the tower already looks HUGE! |
Update October 31, 2004 Construction seems to be progressing rapidly, with the second catwalk added. They seem to be progressing at one level a week, which should mean the tower will be topped out before the end of December. In addition supports for the pullouts are starting to be placed, which means track should start being placed soon as well.
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The dark blue supports for the launch pullout, along with the supports coming off the tower are ready for track placement. |  |
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The supports for the pullout into the speed hill are starting to take shape as well. |  |
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Four
cranes are now in place to jockey all the support structure into place.
The two largest cranes still have not been assembled to their full height. |
The
tower is just beginning to become visible over Rolling Thunder.
The tower will be perfectly framed by Rolling Thunder, the Fort, and the lake. |
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View of the tower from the soon to be demolished Bugs Bunny Land over Rolling Thunder's final turn. |  |
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One of the "smaller" cranes stands at the tower site. The two "big" cranes have not been assembled yet, but all their parts are on site. |
Update October 17, 2004 Kingda Ka went vertical this week, with the first three column sections of the tower being installed. The crane sitting at the tower site gives some great hints at what to expect in the Great Adventure skyline next season. My guess is the crane currently there is about 200'-250' (the two BIG cranes have not been assembled yet). The tower will be positioned straight ahead as you drive down the main entrance road. This ride is going to be visible from all over (inside and outside the park)!
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Another view of the columns as Rolling Thunder rumbles by. |  |
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The base sections of the three tower legs are in place. | This gives a rough idea of the view of Kingda Ka from the Western Section. The crane is sitting on the tower site, and appears to be about half of the coasters 456' foot height. |  |
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The first cross piece with it's catwalk supports has been assembled, and lays near the tower waiting to be lifted into position. | Two really neat looking sections of twisted track for Kingda Ka's twisted decent. |  |
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The catwalk pieces sit next to the crane. | The parts are piling up waiting to be assembled, with tons of track and supports (as well as many crane pieces) fill the storage area. |  |
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Two of the three footers appear to be nearly finished, with the third coming along quickly. |
Update September 25, 2004 With only a few days left until the official announcement of the new coaster, construction is moving along quickly. From the look of the supports, this could be a more complex layout than that of Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. There are several large supports which don't fit the Launch-Tower-Brakes layout of Top Thrill. All will be revealed on Wednesday, September 29!
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The footers for the launch, brakes and station continue to take shape. |  |
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The two light poles in the middle of the site have had the light rings dismantled in preparation for their removal. | These metal frames have arrived on site, and appear to be for the rides elevator. |  |
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More sections of the parking lot have been marked with the existing utilities (this is an electric line). My guess is this being done in preparation for running additional utility lines to the new ride site, as well as additional power to the top of the Boardwalk where it is badly needed. | So many supports and track pieces are on site now, including several of the tower supports with their unique arrays of cross bracing connectors, and the pull-out for the launch track. |  |
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Temporary catwalks have been placed atop the footer for directing the concrete pumper nozzle. |
The first tower footer has had more work done on it, but apparently no concrete has been poured yet. The second and third footers have made progress as well, but are no where near ready for concrete. The Season Pass Entrance is finally closed, and the fence has been expanded to the full length of the site. Bugs Bunny Land remains
open, but one of the rides has been removed (Daffy's Ducaneer) and many of
the trees and bushes have been tagged for removal or
relocation. The trees marked stretch from one side to the
other across the back edge of Bugs Bunny Land. |
Across
the back edge of Bugs Bunny Land the bushes have pink or green ribbons
placed on them.
From the looks of it, the pink ribbons seem to be bushes being kept and moved, and the green for ones being disposed of. The fact that it only seems to be the back edge of BBL being worked on leads me to believe that the entrance for the new coaster may not be through the Western section, but instead located in the Boardwalk section. This would require quite a lot of work, since the service road from Gate 2 to the First Aid and Security Building runs through there (unless the First Aid and Security Building is moving). |
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Even more supports have arrived, some with very interesting angles to them. |  |
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The
Season Pass Entrance is closed (but dozens of pass-holders kept walking down there and having to turn around despite the sign posted). |
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The construction fence now encompasses most if not all of the new ride construction site. | The former site of Daffy's Ducaneer. |  |
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Rebar is in place for the pour, including the ring for bolting the tower to the concrete footer. Note how high above ground level it seems to be positioned. |
The first of the three tower footers has been formed up, and the rebar installed. It appears the concrete will be poured soon, while the other two tower footers are still being formed. Now that the Season Pass gate will be closed, the construction site can expand to the full length of the ride. Another week or two and
some of the supports for the brake run and launch should be going
vertical. |
These are the mysterious "infield footers". There seem to be three, but only these two seem to line up with each other (the third is closer to the tower and off center). |  |
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Many of the launch footers are complete, and ready for steel to be placed (soon!) |  |
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There are still dozens of rebar footer skeletons waiting to be placed. Each one is tagged with its size and footer location, so they are ready to go once the construction fence expands to the full site. | View down the launch towards the tower. |  |
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An overview of the infield site. |  |
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The base of the footer was poured as one large slab, with expansion joints built into it. |
The concrete base layer of
the tower footers has been poured, so framing for the large concrete
masses should start next week. |
Stacks of rebar framework wait for the remainder of the footers to be dug when the construction area expands to the Season Pass gate. |  |
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Is it just me, or does it look like the Intamin engineers played with a lot of LEGOs? |  |
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Work
continues at full speed on the brake run and launch footers.
The above grade sections have been formed and poured on several, including the "mystery footer" |
The footers are rising above ground level, and more supports are arriving every week. Still no work has been done on the large footers, but the bottom of the holes is dry now.
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Supports
of all lengths and diameters have arrived over the past week. A couple of the dark blue footers are massive, and have sloped tops indicating they are for the up and down slopes to the tower. |
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A couple of strange boxes have arrived along with the rebar. | A sign notifying guests of the imminent closure of Bugs Bunny Land has been placed at the entrance. |  |
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Footers are taking shape with the rebar frame works sitting all over the site. Concrete is arriving daily, but no work has been done to the tower footers yet aside from site prep. The Season Pass Entrance
was still open as of today, but fencing is moving into place as more rebar
arrives and is set next to the fence along Rolling Thunder.
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The portable fence has been placed along the roadway, ready to go into place when the SP Entrance closes. Huge stacks of rebar line the fence waiting to be turned into footer framework. |  |
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Pipes have been laid in the large footer holes to carry away ground water. The water table is very high right now from all the rain. |  |
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Lots of supports and track pieces have arrived at this point. There are about a dozen pieces of launch track, as well as the transfer track rails and buffers for the ends of the maintenance tracks. A stack of very small supports in the dark blue color has arrived as well. | Here is a picture of the much talked about "odd footer". It is in the infield of the track, but off center, and has no other footers running toward it or away from it (lighting tower?) |  |
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The brake run [below] and launch [right] are making great progress with the footers taking shape. |  |
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Update August 14, 2004 Just a small update with more pictures of the supports and tracks which arrived on Tuesday. It appears the footers for the brake run will be dug next week, with a digger on site, and the rebar frames sitting next to the footer cut-outs.
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| A couple of additional footer cut outs have been created (right up to the fence), and the digger and rebar stand waiting. | The three column bases and what appears to be brake run track all sit waiting for concrete footers to be poured. |  |
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Launch track in turquoise and green. |
Update August 10, 2004 For anyone still doubting the coasters manufacturer (Intamin) or type (Rocket), Intamin Rocket coaster track is now on site. Also, some of the curved track for the back turn around has arrived. The track is green and blue. More supports in varying heights for the brake run have also arrived in the dark blue and turquoise colors. |
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Brake run supports in turquoise and blue | The third
column base for the tower is unloaded from the container. Column
number one arrived in the first shipment, and number two arrived today,
but is out of camera range behind the trailers. |
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Sections of turnaround track in turquoise and green | The rebar
skeletons for the footers have been welded and are waiting to be placed. |
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The displaced dirt from the large footer holes has been dumped in the Safari (and the buffalo seem to like it!) |  |
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Update August 7, 2004 Tons of rebar frames are onsite, ready for welding into the interior structures of the footers. The huge footer hole on closer inspection is really segmented into three distinct footers in a triangular arrangement, with two legs lined up with the track center lines, and the third centered and behind the other two, just like the tower for Top Thrill Dragster. |
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(Above Left) the pavement has been cut for footers on the side of the coaster away from Rolling Thunder. The footers seemed to be spaced farther in this side than the other (Above). | These
pictures (all taken from the Safari Hospitality Parking Lot) show just how
big the hole is for the footers, and show the hole is one large pit, with
three distinct locations for footers, in a triangular pattern.
The soil at the bottom seems to be very wet from all the rain we've had. Note in the shot in the top left, the lights for night time work, and the tall ladder which goes down into the pit. |
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(Left and Above Left) Rebar and the bolt rings for the footers wait to be welded together. There are three of the largest bolt rings (2 are stacked together). |  |
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Huge bundles of 12' long rebar has arrived to form the metal skeletons of the footers. |
Update August 5, 2004 Digging for the footers continues, with more truckloads of dirt being hauled away from the site. |
Pavement has been removed in the locations of the footers for either the brake run or launch track (depending if it runs clockwise or counter-clockwise!) |  |
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A sling (which keeps paint from being scratched) has been attached to the crane onsite, preparing for the arrival of more painted parts |
Update August 3, 2004 Digging for the footers has commenced. There is now a hole about 12 feet deep and the size of an in-ground swimming pool. Construction was still going on at 7:30 PM when I left the park. Lights are onsite for night time work as well, so they are wasting no time at all! I'm expecting the forms should be in place before the end of the week, with concrete arriving early next week.
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The footer hole is massive and dump trucks full of dirt were continuously leaving the site today. |  |
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Three large chiller units are onsite. | In case you couldn't tell, the construction site is a "Hard Hat Area"! |  |
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The fenced area has grown to almost double the size it was a few days ago. | Framing lumber for the footer forms has also arrived. |  |
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The view from the
center, looking towards where the tower most likely will be placed (Preview of what this spot may look like next year) |
Update July 31, 2004 A few more of the small pedestals have arrived. They vary in height from about 3'-5', most likely for the sloped brake run. |
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The anchor bolts sit in bundles | Some close ups of the supports |  |
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Looking down the centerline of the track for either the launch or brake run |  |
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The new signs |
Update July 29, 2004 Parts are arriving! (And they look a lot like the parts to Top Thrill Dragster) |
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"new, exciting attraction" | The supports and footer markings |  |
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Small pedestal footers |  |
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Update July 25, 2004 Despite discussions on other web sites, the holes being dug do not appear to be for footers, but stump removal around the electric lines. Work is moving very fast, so footer work should be starting very soon! |
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Much of the current work seems to involve utilities at this point | The old Kennel is gone | And the new Kennel is open | |
| The concrete is being broken and removed | Rolling Thunder waits for the new neighbor | |||
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Update July 22, 2004 The trees are gone, exposing the back turn of Rolling Thunder. The Surveyors markings are now down through the other side of the Western Section (most likely for repaving work and for Tiger Island construction) |
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Update July 19, 2004 The fence is up and tree removal has begun at the far end of the site. Safari exit traffic has been diverted and the Kennel is now closed. More marking appear in the Western section. |
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Construction Begins July 15, 2004 Portable fencing and a small excavator arrive on site. Surveyors markings appear throughout Bugs Bunny Land. |
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