Josef Wiegand, a family-owned manufacturer of toboggan runs, rail-mounted toboggans and stainless steel dry slides, has revealed that one of its slides has been verified as the world’s longest.
With a total height of 32 metres, an extensive Guinness World Records-certified spiral tube slide has been built at the 89 Mall Egaila in Kuwait City, the tallest of its type in Arabia.
The fast-paced transporter starts on the seventh floor of the shopping centre, using four helixes to reach the ground floor.
Wiegand has ensured that shoppers do not ride in complete darkness by installing a perforated sheet metal upper shell, providing a unique vantage point for each floor during the descent. A secondary benefit of this is improved airflow for extra guest reassurance.
Safe operations are guaranteed by a push-button traffic light system which can be run automatically with time delays, or in manual mode with an operator. Comfortable cotton slide mats are provided as a further safety measure.
Negotiating a pandemic
The new installation is owned by Kuwaiti company Parla Sport Building Construction Est., a hospitality company that operates numerous cafés and restaurants, alongside leisure offerings like Adventure Kids World.
The record-breaker navigated a testing logistics schedule as one of Wiegand’s biggest projects to date, with the company saying: “The way to the realization from shipping to assembly was a small odyssey.”
Material for the slide was shipped in May 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing led to elaborate entry regulations and difficulties in obtaining visas, with the customer storing components until construction could start again in November 2021. Assembly from this point was swift, with the slide fully constructed in two weeks, with Wiegand reporting the customer as “enthusiastic” about the final result.
Wiegand’s installation was also awarded the title of The Longest Indoor Slide by Guinness World Records on 1 March 2022 with an official length of 85.02m (278 ft 11 in).
Other projects
Wiegand has also announced other completed projects in the Middle East, including two intertwining stainless steel slides at Kuwait’s Sheikh Abdullah al Salem Cultural Centre.
Its most recent project features two more new slides which opened at the WTC Mall in Abu Dhabi. Located beside the country’s World Trade Centre, Velocity is an installation of duelling slides of varying lengths.
The longer of the two, at 60 metres long, features eight LED rings that create attractive visuals for riders and spectators. In contrast, the second slide provides a 45 metre-long experience in near darkness, accompanied by internal LED colour flashes.
Wiegand recently installed three alpine coasters in Asia, including a two-kilometre run in the UAE.
