Crack in North Carolina roller coaster visible at least 1 week before closure, probe finds
More than a week after Carowinds shut down its Fury 325 roller coaster, an investigation by North Carolina’s Department of Labor found that the crack had been visible for at least a week before the ride was shut down.
“It looks like maybe six to 10 days prior, some pictures had been taken that shows the beginning of the crack, and then by obviously last Friday, the thing was completely severed,” Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson told The Associated Press.
On Thursday, the North Carolina amusement park said it will be replacing the support column on the ride and will run a series of tests to make sure the "safety and integrity" of the roller coaster is secure once the new column is installed, Carowinds said in a news release.
"These will include an accelerometer test that uses sensors to measure any variation in the ride experience,” Carowinds said in the release. “After that, we plan to operate the ride for 500 full cycles, performing tests and inspections of the entire ride throughout that period.”
FURY 325 CRACK: North Carolina roller coaster closes after video shows crack on support pillar
North Carolina DOL investigating why the ride remained open for so long
Dobson said his department is still investigating how the crack occurred and why the ride remained open after the crack was visible, the AP reported. A video surfaced online of a large crack in the ride’s support columns.
“We’re going to take as long as it takes,” Dobson told the AP. “And until we’re 100% comfortable issuing that new certificate of operation, we will not do so.”
The Department of Labor’s Amusement Device Bureau conducted its annual inspection of the ride in February and found a few signage issues, which the park corrected, Dobson told the AP.
The department has not released the findings of its investigation.
Fury 325 to get new support column
The park said the maintenance team and the roller coaster's manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers Inc., have been inspecting the ride since July 1, which is when the park closed the ride. Carowinds said the crack appears to have formed along a weld line in the column, according to the release.
"The new support column, which is being fabricated by B&M, is expected to be delivered to the park next week," Carowinds said.
Carowinds advertises the Fury 325 ride as the “tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America,” the park said on its website. The park said roller coasters like the Fury 325 are designed to have redundancies in place to “ensure the safety of guests in the event of an issue such as this.”
The park has not announced when the ride is reopening.
Contributing: Kate Perez, Paste BN; The Associated Press