Top Lifts on the Fury Roller Coaster Ride

In October of 2014 Buckner HeavyLift Cranes was contracted to provide the lifting cranes for the world’s tallest and fastest Giga Coaster “Fury 325” with a height of 325’ to the top of the initial rise of the track right out of the gate and the primary feature of this ride. This initial track rise also presented the most complexity of the crane lifts in that the track sections weighed up to 15 to 25 tons per section and the top Lift comprised 2 sections that 1 crane had to handle. The ‘rise’ sections of the track weighed more due to the drive system that pulls the 10 ton passenger carts up to the 325ft level. After cresting the ‘rise’, it’s ‘hold onto your hats’ as gravity takes over and you are initially propelled up to close to 100 mph along the 1 mile duration of this serpentine track. The project took place at Carowinds Amusement Park located near Rock Hill, SC and Charlotte, NC.

Entering into the bid process, Project Manager Jerry Masten knew this project was going to deeply involve our Engineered Lift and Rigging planning department led by Jim Jatho. The bid process took weeks to complete due to the complexity of the lifts, the weight of each piece, and the required rigging to make the installation safe while keeping the project on schedule. Poor ground conditions added to the complexity of the planning process, as well as the presence of large water lines just beneath the surface. Multiple meetings between owners, manufacturers, erectors, and Buckner crane engineers were the norm to insure there would not be a flaw in the erection process.

The main lift crane was the Liebherr LR1400 in SLN configuration – 440ton lattice boom crawler with 184’ of main boom and 184’ of luffing jib. There were 95,000lbs of carbody counter weight and 342,000lbs of Superstructure counter weight. The heaviest lift radius was 75’ with a capacity of 126,800lbs. Boom tip heights exceeded 345’

Support cranes were a Manitowoc 999 with 170’ main boom and 180’ luffing jib and a Manitowoc 888 with 160ft main boom, 170ft luffing jib, and 40ft fixed jib to handle the man basket duties for access to all the track section connections. The 999 was used to set the track sections including the smaller part of the Top Lift along with the LR-1400 which had the heaviest sections.

Top Lift Specs: (see time lapse video for actual footage of this Lift and the Top Lift drawings attachment)

Manitowoc 999 S3 170ft main boom & 200ft #149 Luffing Jib

Capacity @ 100ft radius…………………………………….38,200#

L 12 section at crest of track rise…………………………28,300#

Liebherr LR – 1400 SLN 184ft main boom and 184ft Luffing Jib

Capacity @ 75ft radius………………………………………..126,800#

L 10 & L 11 sections at crest of track rise…………….98,400#

As shown on the video, the Top Lifts went well and without incident. The Manitowoc 888 & 999 then worked in tandem and individually to set the remainder of the track sections to complete the Loop. The LR-1400 stayed on for another month to work the man basket at the highest parts of the ride for the finishing touches.

In March of 2015, the Fury 325 was opened to the public and is currently setting records in attendance along with being a major new addition to this amusement park.

All in all, a very challenging yet rewarding project for the team of Buckner Operators, Lift Engineers, and support staff that made this a success for Buckner Heavylift Cranes. We also want to thank Mosley Erectors and Carowinds Amusement Park for the opportunity to provide the cranes for this project.