Piraña
| Piraña | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Data | |
| amusement park | Efteling |
| Construction year | 1983 |
| building-costs | 16 million guilders (7.25 million euros) |
| Manufacturer | Intamin AG |
| Type | Rapid River |
| height | 3 m |
| length | 350 m |
| Travel time | about 5 minutes |
| Boats | 45 |
| Number of people per boat | 6th |
| capacity | approx. 2000 people per hour |
| Subject area | Anderrijk |
| Theming | Mesoamerica |
Piraña is a rapid river in the Efteling ( Kaatsheuvel , North Brabant , Netherlands ). The plant from the Swiss manufacturer Intamin AG was opened on May 18, 1983. Piraña was the first Rapid River in Europe and the second in the world.
The design comes from the then creative director Ton van de Ven. The working title was "Rapid River". The alternative names “Kon Tiki” and “Uru Bamba” were also considered for the attraction, for each of which a logo was designed. Piraña was opened by Pieter van Vollenhoven , the husband of Princess Margriet . For the inauguration ceremony, van Vollenhoven had rehearsed congratulations in the dialect of the South American Ayacucho Indians and baptized the boats with spring water that was flown in from Peru .
The wild water course is characteristic of Efteling's strategy in the 1980s to develop from a fairy tale to an amusement park.
draft
The principle of white water running and loading the boats using the turntable comes from the Swiss Intamin AG, which already built the Gondoletta for the park. Although the idea of building a flume in Efteling was already being toyed with in 1980, the Thunder River in Six Flags Astro World , Houston , was the world's first rapid river. As a result, one had to struggle with the teething problems there. Designer van de Veen later used the Intamin design and transferred it to a pre-Columbian ambience. The opening of Piraña was originally planned for 1982, but due to extensive architectural interventions in the landscape, completion was delayed by a year.
Theming
Various Mesoamerican cultures have been incorporated into the theming of the attraction. The station building is decorated in the style of Chibcha . On the forecourt there is one of the park's 13 Holle Bolle Gijs in the form of a Chak Mo'ol , as well as two large Teotihuacán war atlases . On the side of the entrance you can see two Mayan-style heads . Inside the station there are colorful Tahuantinsuyu banners and oversized tumis . During the trip you can see elements that are modeled on the ruins of Tiahuanaco , as well as a figure of the deity Wiraqucha and animal-like decorations from the Chavín culture .
technology
In a seven meter deep basement there are four pumps with a total output of 300 kilowatts. If one of the pumps should fail, the remaining three can also be used. Piraña is the largest electricity consumer in the park. If the pumps are switched off, the river bed is dry and the water - a total of 35,000 m³ - flows into an artificial lake that is created in the middle of the attraction. The height difference within the system is three meters. Before the park opens, the pumps are switched on again and the water flows into the ditch. Beams of different thicknesses are mounted on the bottom, creating rapids and waves in the river. In less than five minutes, the attraction is ready for visitors.
At the end of the journey, the boats are aligned so that the exit points towards the turntable. To do this, the boats are clamped between a vertical conveyor belt and the turntable running parallel to it. If part of the conveyor belt now stops while the disc continues to turn, the boat rotates around its own axis. This alignment is now done fully automatically with the help of reflectors attached to the boats and a computer system that monitors the position of the reflectors. Before that, an employee took over the control of the conveyor belt with a switch.
In order to stop the system in an emergency, the employees have several options: A controlled shutdown of parts of the attraction, a "Quick Stop" that stops the moving parts in the drive (turntable in the station and conveyor belts), and an emergency stop switch that switches the power supply interrupts the entire system. This shuts off the pumps, as well as the waterfalls and wave machines . The boats are stopped as quickly as possible by the dry river bed.
Boats
The circular rafts were originally colored yellow or orange. As usual with Rapid Rivers, the float is a large black rubber ring on which the seats are attached. One boat can accommodate six passengers. New boats were purchased in the 2010 season, they are now orange, yellow and light brown. There are also handles on the sides of the seats to make getting in easier, as well as non-slip steps and a larger inner ring to hold on to.
renovation
During the 2013/2014 winter break, some new paths were laid out along the attraction and dozens of trees were felled. In addition, two large, interactive statues have been placed near the end of the route. Directly opposite - outside the attraction - are two smaller statues, which visitors walking past can put their hands into their mouths. When this happens, a water spray shoots from the mouth of the corresponding large statue for a few seconds across the canal, which also hits passing boats.
Incidents
- In 1995, two boys went overboard when two boats wedged in a bottleneck and pushed each other up.
- In May 2000, three people fell into the water after their boat was trapped while sailing.
- On September 15, 2003, a fully occupied boat capsized. As a result, three adults and two children had to be treated in the hospital with cuts, grazes, bruises and a slight concussion. The scene of the accident was the same as in the 1995 incident.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Video with details about the attraction on Youtube , uploaded on June 14, 2011, accessed on August 5, 2015.
- ↑ Entry on Sprookjes.org , accessed on August 5, 2015.
- ↑ Video of the attraction being switched on every morning on YouTube, uploaded on January 10, 2009, accessed on August 5, 2015.
- ↑ Forum entries on vijfzintuigen.nl ( memento from July 3, 2013 in the archive.today web archive ) from March 14, 2011, archived with archive.is, accessed on August 5, 2015
- ↑ Forum entries on vijfzintuigen.nl ( Memento from July 3, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) from 6./7. May 2012, archived with archive.is, accessed on August 5, 2015
- ↑ a b Efteling twijfelt niet na ongeluk in waterbaan Piraña ( memento from 23 September 2009 in the Internet Archive ), report in the Omroep Brabant from 20 January 2006, accessed on 5 August 2015.
- ↑ a b Lichtgewonden na ongeluk met bootje in Piraña Efteling ( memento of April 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), report in the Brabants Dagblad of January 20, 2006, accessed on August 5, 2015.
Coordinates: 51 ° 38 '50 " N , 5 ° 2' 55.1" E