Carowinds, a Cedar Fair theme park in North Carolina, has responded after a crack in the support column for the Fury 325 coaster was discovered by a visitor.
In an official statement posted to the website on 6 July, Carowinds said its maintenance team and representatives from the ride’s manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), have “conducted a thorough inspection of the entire track, support columns and foundation”.
“In addition, and in partnership with B&M, we have performed a battery of tests to identify the cause of the fracture, which appears to have formed along a weld line in the steel column,” said Carowinds.
Carowinds and B&M are now planning to remove and replace the roller coaster‘s existing support column. The latter is currently fabricating the new column and will deliver it to the park next week.
After installing the new column, Carowinds will “conduct an extensive series of tests to ensure the safety and integrity of the coaster”, including an accelerometer test.
The park will then operate Fury 325 for 500 full cycles, carrying out tests and inspections throughout that period.
“Once this phase is completed, we will ask B&M and the third-party testing firm to perform a final inspection to ensure the ride exceeds all required specifications,” Carowinds said.
In the statement, Carowinds said rides like Fury 325 are “designed with redundancies in place to ensure the safety of guests in the event of an issue such as this”.
Inspection of Fury 325 coaster
The park added, “While we regularly inspect the coaster, we are planning to implement additional inspection procedures to ensure we are making every effort to promptly identify and address future potential issues.
“These new measures will include the regular use of drones outfitted with cameras to access and inspect hard-to-reach areas.”
Carowinds is yet to announce a reopening date for Fury 325, which is described as “the tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America” with a top height of 325 feet.
