Schlitterbahn's "slide" (Galveston, West: amusement park, calculation, inspections)

[cBach]

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/je...-tragic-slide/

[m1a1mg]

A sad tale.

[centralaustinite]

Yes, that is great article from this sumemr, such a sad story, my family still loves Schlitterbahn but I think about that little boy every time we go

[Idlewile]

Still utterly heart-wrenching.

Still utterly criminal.

[cBach]

It's a shame because "Jeff" was not intending to hurt anyone but he was so careless that he did.

Their biggest mistake was using the "test and trial" method instead of math and physics. When you're designing a concrete slide in the ground that follows the natural curves of a river, it will probably be okay because the natural slope of the land is not very steep, even on a hillside.

When you're designing the tallest waterslide in the world, you are negligent to not have engineers do the calculations.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by cBach

[...]

When you're designing the tallest waterslide in the world, you are negligent to not have engineers do the calculations.

I find this part of the process baffling, to be honest, and I will not be riding or letting my kids ride any of the 'big' rides at water parks unless I know more about the design process and operations. To be fair, it is more own bad assumption that park rides must be actually engineered. I suppose this is an effect of the times - we are used to FDA policing our food supply and the FAA policing the planes we fly, etc. I had assumed someone was policing the rides we ride, since it is obvious to most anyone that they can be dangerous. The ego that it takes to create such a ride without better design... I do feel for Jeff a bit, as I am certain that the same ego that let him make such a ride prevented him from seeing that it was fallible and deadly - I am pretty sure that he really is/was devastated, as I have never seen any indication that he was a sociopath.

On the other hand, my kids still love Schlitterbahn - mostly the wave pool and the 'torrent' rivers, etc., though, so that is a good thing. They aren't natural thrill-seekers anyway. I am not going to avoid SB strictly as a 'punitive' measure or anything. We go every year to the one in Galveston and it is our favorite one nowadays - better crowd management and facilities and the water is not as cold .

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

I find this part of the process baffling, to be honest, and I will not be riding or letting my kids ride any of the 'big' rides at water parks unless I know more about the design process and operations. To be fair, it is more own bad assumption that park rides must be actually engineered. I suppose this is an effect of the times - we are used to FDA policing our food supply and the FAA policing the planes we fly, etc. I had assumed someone was policing the rides we ride, since it is obvious to most anyone that they can be dangerous. The ego that it takes to create such a ride without better design... I do feel for Jeff a bit, as I am certain that the same ego that let him make such a ride prevented him from seeing that it was fallible and deadly - I am pretty sure that he really is/was devastated, as I have never seen any indication that he was a sociopath.

On the other hand, my kids still love Schlitterbahn - mostly the wave pool and the 'torrent' rivers, etc., though, so that is a good thing. They aren't natural thrill-seekers anyway. I am not going to avoid SB strictly as a 'punitive' measure or anything. We go every year to the one in Galveston and it is our favorite one nowadays - better crowd management and facilities and the water is not as cold .

I like to go to Schlitterbahn in New Braufels and stay in the "Old" portion of the park (i.e. the West). It is all the concrete built-in the ground slides and you use inner tubes the "old fashioned" way. Sometimes you get stuck in eddies and currents but it's all in fun. It's also shaded and the water is cold and unchlorinated so better for your skin and refreshing on those hot 100+ degree days in the summer.

I'm not going to "punish" Jeff either by not riding his rides. I agree that I will not be riding any amusement park rides unless it's at Disney as I know they "engineer" their rides.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by cBach

I like to go to Schlitterbahn in New Braufels and stay in the "Old" portion of the park (i.e. the West). It is all the concrete built-in the ground slides and you use inner tubes the "old fashioned" way. Sometimes you get stuck in eddies and currents but it's all in fun. It's also shaded and the water is cold and unchlorinated so better for your skin and refreshing on those hot 100+ degree days in the summer.[...]

I personally really like the SB in NB, but it just isn't as 'kid friendly' for youngsters (<12 y/o) - the tube rides are typically more relaxing for adults than entertaining for children, and the crowds in NB can be absolutely insane. If you catch SB on a cloudy day, it can be too cold to be much fun . And my wife saw them removing a water moccasin once and that didn't go over so well .

I have too many old memories from going to SB in the 80s and it just isn't the same anymore. It has gotten so big and more crowded (although it was never NOT crowded!). And they put those chutes on the Schilttercoaster - I am sure that made it safer, though...I wonder if/how many people got injured on that one....

[Idlewile]

After this happened, a super smart engineer friend of ours pointed out that these extreme water rides have so many "what if" factors that roller coasters, even the extreme coasters, do not because you are harnessed in on those no matter what. The coaster is the force, where as YOU are the force on slides like these. 80lbs vs. 180lbs, vs. 220lbs, how you hold your arms, or feet, or head (or user error for one second or 5 seconds) all make a difference in the physics of a ride and every ride is different... and this difference creates too much uncertain risk.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Idlewile

After this happened, a super smart engineer friend of ours pointed out that these extreme water rides have so many "what if" factors that roller coasters, even the extreme coasters, do not because you are harnessed in on those no matter what. The coaster is the force, where as YOU are the force on slides like these. 80lbs vs. 180lbs, vs. 220lbs, how you hold your arms, or feet, or head (or user error for one second or 5 seconds) all make a difference in the physics of a ride and every ride is different... and this difference creates too much uncertain risk.

Yup - a roller coaster is fixed to rails and you are hard-fastened into the coaster. The worry in roller coasters is catastrophic failure of the cart/rails (relatively easily avoided with inspections) or failure of your restraint device - which is the more common failure. The Verruckt restraint device was velcro-like to allow for rapid embarkment/debarkment, which is sorta necessary due to a 'train' (2 or 3 people in a raft) leaving every few seconds, as opposed to a roller coast that loads more people and has longer delays between departures that allows for more rigorous connections; however, everyone knows how velcro fares over time - it degrades and looses its effectiveness.

Finally, from the get-go, I heard that putting the 'hoops' and net over the chute was a bad idea and any ride engineering company knew that - a 'minor' deviation from the design route (going airborne) turned into catastrophic failure.