Lasers shine light on new ride path

The diggers may have rolled onto site this week but for Phil Bates and the team at Addison Projects work on the Pleasure Beach's new thrill ride started months ago.
Nick Thompson with some of the construction workers.Nick Thompson with some of the construction workers.
Nick Thompson with some of the construction workers.

Phil is part of the team from the Thornton-based firm which is overseeing the first phase of construction.

Visitors to the park may have to wait to see steel rising from the ground.

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But huge amounts of work has already gone in to prepare the way for the state of the art coaster.

And it is the unique way in which the £16.25m ride, which weaves its way around the park, that has kept Phil and the Addison team on their toes.

Phil said:“It’s brilliant as a local firm to be involved with the Pleasure Beach.

“You know what the place is about, it’s a real privilege to work on this.

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“We have been on the park for months carrying out laser surveys, plotting where the piled foundations can go.

“We’ve been laser scanning the park and our work is accurate to within millimetres.

“That kind of accuracy is what allows us to thread the ride around the park in the way it will.”

The laser scans are being used by the team building the ride, designed by German firm Mack.

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Addison is now overseeing the first phase of the project, which will be carried out during the park’s winter closure.

By the time the Pleasure Beach re-opens all the foundations should be complete.

Workers will return next winter to put up the steelwork for the double-launch coaster.

No theme has yet been revealed for the double-launch roller coaster, the first of its kind in the UK.

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Only modern technology has made the ride, and its multiple interactions with other Pleasure Beach coasters, possible.

And Pleasure Beach deputy managing director Nick Thompson is excited to make use of the state-of-the-art techniques available.

He said: “Most people who see the plans, who I speak to and see how it fits in think it’s unbelievable. The technology to do this wasn’t around five years ago.

“This ride is laser designed and engineered.

“It’s not just designed on paper, the whole process is carried on through the construction in the factory.

“It’s going to be a smooth ride, smooth and exciting.”

The new ride is due to open in 2018.

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Bosses at the Pleasure Beach 
have promised a three-minute long thrill ride to rival 
Blackpool landmark the Big One.

The ride will include several inversions, a top hat feature, several zero-G features and a unique high-five pass with the Big Dipper.

It will dive through the Big One as well as looping around the Steeplechase and Big 
Dipper.

Riders will be shot from 0-60mph in seconds at two sections of the ride.

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