Rapid River
Rapid River (German about rapids flow ) is the common name for a type of water ride , similar to rafting . On artificially created closed watercourses fed by large pumps , round boats made of plastic with surrounding air-filled rubber tires are mostly used.
The boats can swim freely in the more or less wide fairway. Due to the random movement and rotation in the water flow, the course of the journey is never completely the same and the degree to which the passengers get wet is different from journey to journey.
In addition to the rapids from which they are named, the facilities feature wave pools, waterfalls, waterfall alleys, whirlpools and tunnels as driving elements. Water cannons are often installed next to the route with which spectators can “shoot” the passengers or which are automatically triggered by the passing boat.
history
The first facility of this kind was built in 1980 with Thunder River in the now closed AstroWorld ( Texas ) amusement park . The facility built by Intamin had boats for twelve people.
The first Rapid River built in Europe and the first in the world with boats for six people was Piraña in Efteling in the Netherlands in 1983 . In 1984, Donnerfluss , the first Rapid River in Germany, opened in Holiday Park Haßloch, also with six-person boats.
Rapid River are now common driving attractions in many theme parks around the world. Market leader Intamin alone had built 80 systems by 2006. In addition to the wild water slide , they are the most common water attractions.
technology
The flow of water in the artificial river is caused by a difference in altitude. This difference can be very different depending on the system. Usually it is only a few meters. In the case of systems with shooting drives, however, it can also be up to 22 m ( River Quest in Phantasialand ). Here, vertical elevators are often used, while conveyor belts are used for the lower heights. Lifts with friction wheels were also built, but this has not proven itself in practice, so that the systems were converted with conveyor belts. Wheels or castors are still used today only for very small differences in height and for horizontal transport of the boats.
The water is pumped to the higher level with large, electrically driven pumps, usually next to the transport route. Few systems use what are known as screw pumps , which can transport large amounts of water using rotating metal screws (example: Rio Grande in Fort Fun Adventure Land ).
Without the use of pumps, the bed of a Rapid River is dry, which is why an artificial lake is created at the lowest point, into which a correspondingly large amount of water can run when the pumps are switched off. Round boats that are temporarily not in use are usually stored on it. In seasonally operated systems, the boats are lifted out of the water during the winter season to avoid damage from ice.
There are various systems for boarding passengers on the boats. Either the boats are clamped laterally in a round loading station by two conveyor belts and guided parallel to a rotating disc that passengers can use to get on. The boats stand still relative to the window (example: fjord rafting in Europa-Park ). Alternatively, the boats are lifted out of the water with a conveyor belt and the passengers can use it to board the boats (example: wash tub rafting in Tripsdrill ). In the case of very simple systems, manually operated brakes are also used to hold the boats in the fairway for the time they are approaching (example: Riviere Sauvage in Mer de Sable , France ). The stations for boarding and disembarking ferry passengers are usually located at the highest point of the system. But there are also systems in which the station is at the lowest point. This includes, for example, the Mystery River railway in Movie Park Germany .
In addition to boats with a one-piece plastic body, various companies (e.g. Hafema, Vekoma) have also developed boats with several flexibly connected elements arranged in a circle.
Four-part boat for 8 people at El Rio Grande in Walibi World , manufacturer: Vekoma
Three-segment boat for 9 people on the conveyor belt at Waschzuber Rafting in Tripsdrill , manufacturer: Hafema
Radja River in Walibi Belgium , 12-person boat in transit, pump outlet, manufacturer: Intamin
Archimedean screws near Rio Grande in Fort Fun Adventure Land
Round charging station for mountain rafting in Heide-Park
Similar rides
The so-called Spinning Rapids Rides are very similar , in which a driving trough is elevated. The amount of flowing water is significantly less here, so that most of the time the boats do not swim but slide on a film of water. The fairways have many curves, which leads to strong turns of the vehicles. Round boats are also used for these rides, often pure inflatables without a reinforcing plastic body. (Example: Störtebeker's Kaperfahrt in Hansa-Park )
Since 2004, transportable versions can also be found on fairgrounds in Europe. In Germany, for example, Wild'n'Wet traveled by showman Daniel Löwenthal from 2005 to 2010 . The facility has an innovative vertical elevator and has been in the Allgäu Skyline Park since 2011 .
Manufacturer
|
Rapid River Rides:
|
Spinning Rapids Rides:
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Deliveries (selection)
| Surname | park | Manufacturer | country |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACME Factory | Parque Warner Madrid | Intamin AG |
 Spain
|
| Alpine rafting | Ravensburger Spieleland | Intamin AG |
 Germany
|
| Atlantis | Energylandia | SBF Visa Group |
 Poland
|
| Beaver rafting | BonBon land | Intamin AG |
 Denmark
|
| Bengal Rapid River | Bellewaerde Park | Vekoma |
 Belgium
|
| Canyon raft ride | Jin Jiang Action Park | Bear Rides AG |
 China
|
| Cilgin Nehir | Vialand | Intamin AG |
 Turkey
|
| Colorad'Eau | Parc du Bocasse | Reverchon |
 France
|
| Congo River Rapids | Alton Towers | Intamin AG |
 United Kingdom
|
| Crazy River | Dennlys Parc | Soquet |
France
|
| Drakkar | Rainbow Magicland | Intamin AG |
 Italy
|
| Thunder river | Holiday Park | Intamin AG |
Germany
|
| Down the Colorado River | Le PAL | Soquet |
France
|
| El Rio Grande | Walibi Holland | Vekoma |
 Netherlands
|
| Fjord rafting | Europe Park | Intamin AG |
Germany
|
| Hunderfossen rafting | Hunderfossen family park | Bear Rides AG |
 Norway
|
| Jungle Rapids | Gardaland | Intamin AG |
Italy
|
| cascade | Mainyland | Zamperla Rides |
France
|
| L'Oxygenarium | Parc Asterix | WhiteWater West |
France
|
| Los Rapidos de Europa | Parque de Atracciones de Madrid | Hopkins Rides |
Spain
|
| Lost World | Erse Park | ABC engineering |
Germany
|
| Mangiabiglie | Miragica | Zamperla Rides |
Italy
|
| Mountain rafting | heidepark | Intamin AG |
Germany
|
| Mystery River | Movie Park Germany | Intamin AG |
Germany
|
| Niagara | La Récré des 3 Curés | Van Egdom |
France
|
| Rafting | Rasti country | Hafema |
Germany
|
| Rapid River | Zoo safari Fasanolandia | Fabbri Group |
Italy
|
| Rapid River | Zoomarine | L&T Systems |
 Portugal
|
| Renegade Rapids | Six Flags America | Hopkins Rides |
 United States
|
| Rio Bravo | Europark | Interlink |
France
|
| Rio Bravo | Mirabilandia | Intamin AG |
Italy
|
| Störtebeker's pirate trip | Hansa Park | WhiteWater West |
Germany
|
| Rio Grande rafting | Djurs summerland | Interlink |
Denmark
|
| Sky rafting | Skyline Park | ABC engineering |
Germany
|
| Sungai Kalimantan | Avonturenpark Hellendoorn | Bear Rides AG |
Netherlands
|
| Vikings' River Splash | Legoland Windsor | ABC engineering |
United Kingdom
|
| Wash tub rafting | Tripsdrill adventure park | Hafema |
Germany
|
| Wild raft | Family land Pillersee | Reverchon |
 Austria
|
| Wild river rafting | West Midland Safari Park | Fabbri Group |
United Kingdom
|
literature
- Ralph Latotzki et al. a .: Rapids Rides In: AquaPlan, special edition of the club magazine park + ride of the Freundeskreis Kirmes und Freizeitparks eV
- Petra Probst u. a .: Rapids Ride: The supreme discipline of water attractions In: EuroAmusement Professional ISSN 1860-2061 , 6/2006, pp. 38–40
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry Wild'n'Wet in the European Water Ride DataBase (ewrdb), accessed on August 30, 2011
- ↑ Park + Ride magazine - Issue archive ( Memento from January 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive )