# Roller coaster closed for huge failure **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425 "2023-07-01T22:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/1 "2023-07-01T22:38:18Z")
Reports have been calling it “a crack”. That’s not a crack - that’s a complete failure of one of the largest support members. Holy Cow! Imagine the force needed to shear that column. [https://www.foxnews.com/us/tallest-fastest-giga-roller-coaster-north-america-temporarily-closes-visitor-notices-scary-defect](https://www.foxnews.com/us/tallest-fastest-giga-roller-coaster-north-america-temporarily-closes-visitor-notices-scary-defect) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/2 "2023-07-01T22:44:07Z")
Because of many recent threads around here, I mis-read this as _‘Roller Coaster closed for fudge failure’_ ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecccb3/32.png) [@Old\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Wench)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/3 "2023-07-01T22:50:03Z")
I rode that coaster multiple times just over a week ago, along with a lot of my coaster club friends, as part of our annual coaster convention. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/4 "2023-07-02T00:47:07Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Reports have been calling it “a crack”. That’s not a crack - that’s a complete failure of one of the largest support members. While that is one heck of a crack I wouldn’t call it a _failure_. That, to my mind, would be an actual collapse of the supporting member and subsequent failure of the rest of the coaster. That has actually been prevented by the closing. I mean, thank Og no one got hurt. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/5 "2023-07-02T01:06:27Z")
Here’s a non-Fox cite for folks who block Fox and all their works: [https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/01/us/north-carolina-roller-coaster-closed/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/01/us/north-carolina-roller-coaster-closed/index.html) > [@mixdenny](#): > > Imagine the force needed to shear that column. It almost certainly wasn’t sheared in one whack. Precisely because that would take, as you suggest, enormous force. But a crack can start from a defect in a weld or the material, or from corrosion, and then propagate extensively while the member is exposed only to ordinary forces that ought to be well within its design load plus margins. Of course cracking is an exponential process. As the crack propagates, there’s ever less solid material available to transmit the ordinary loads. So the growth rate accelerates over time. Eventually the member strength gets down into the range of normal loadings for static weight plus dynamic elements like wind, temp, and coaster load and motion. Then it snaps clean through. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/6 "2023-07-02T02:55:23Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > While that is one heck of a crack I wouldn’t call it a _failure_. It’s a complete failure of that particular structure. Period. It no longer even contacts the track. You could unbolt it from its mounting pads and throw it aside and have no greater impact. However. Fortuitously. The structure is redundant enough that the failure of one support does not instantly compromise the entire ride. Although I’m sure the unsupported section oscillated in use. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/7 "2023-07-02T03:17:43Z")
My understanding is that OceanGate was the contractor. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/8 "2023-07-02T12:12:40Z")
The article said that after being notified, the park “temporarily closed down the ride”. Temporarily?!? That does not look like a quick fix. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/9 "2023-07-02T12:26:14Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > My understanding is that OceanGate was the contractor. - Their last project certainly contracted. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/10 "2023-07-02T17:26:31Z")
It shouldn’t be a difficult repair. Replace the steel beam and reinforce with a gusset in the corner. Glad they saw the crack before it got any worse until catastrophic failure. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/11 "2023-07-02T22:48:37Z")
So, the structure is “inspected daily” but it took a customer to point it out…. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/12 "2023-07-02T22:53:35Z")
IANA structural engineer, but IMO that crack did not go from zero to what we see in the pix in one day. There was a crack to be seen from at least some angles for quite awhile; weeks certainly, months probably. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/13 "2023-07-02T22:56:07Z")
I came here to say the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/14 "2023-07-02T23:16:44Z")
Need a lot of duct tape for that one … ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/15 "2023-07-02T23:19:03Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > So, the structure is “inspected daily” but it took a customer to point it out…. - “Looks OK from down here, Boss.” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/16 "2023-07-03T12:21:04Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > Need a lot of duct tape for that one … You’re just being silly. They will use Super Glue for that. Probably a whole tube. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/17 "2023-07-03T12:27:32Z")
I was at this park (Carowinds) 2 months ago on a school trip. My kids and many other kids rode this thing. When we visited that day, 50% of the time spent waiting in line for rides was due to “unexpected maintenance issues.” And we’re talking like 40 minutes extra wait. And it wasn’t just the one in the article (Fury, though it was the longest delay) but pretty much every major ride. Seems like Carowinds doesn’t much care about the reliability of their attractions, and at some point I’m afraid some kids (or a whole band class) is going to get seriously injured there. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/18 "2023-07-03T12:47:04Z")
Yeah, the fact that all rides are inspected daily makes me less confident about the safety of that park, not more. If their inspections can miss something that blatant, then they’re basically not doing any inspection at all. If they had instead said that inspections were conducted yearly, or something, I might at least assume that the crack developed since the last inspection, but that that inspection was actually thorough. > [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > You’re just being silly. They will use Super Glue for that. Probably a whole tube. Every superglue repair requires a whole tube. Because no matter how much of the tube you use, by the time you get to the next project, that tube is unusable. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/19 "2023-07-03T16:22:53Z")
I worry about the carnival rides. Some date back 40 or more years They’re taken apart and reassembled in a new town every week. It’s surprising there aren’t more accidents. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425/20 "2023-07-03T16:26:25Z")
I assume the daily inspection is by park staff. I’ve had to do similar work in the past, and it’s very easy to get complacent when you’re looking at the same thing every day, so I can see how it was missed. Also, I wonder what the daily inspection entails, given how high the crack appeared. And in addition to the daily in-house inspection, I think these parks are regularly (monthly? quarterly?) visited by state inspectors. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-closed-for-huge-failure/986425.md?page=2)