POWER TOWER - Amusement Ride und Ingenieurbauwerk

POWER TOWER – Amusement ride and engineering construction

Amusement rides which give the experience of free fall combined with the feeling of being weightless for some seconds to their passengers, are called free-fall towers. In this sphere developments in the sense of “higher – faster – more spectacular” hit the mainstream too. Considering the POWER TOWER^†, an advancement of the principle free-fall tower, in this contribution it is pointed out, how this mainstream on the one side and the responsibility for safety on the other side can be taken into account by engineers. The gondola and the tower as main structures of the ride, their interaction, the dynamic characteristics as well as the mechanical model are described. The design assumptions for achieving a sufficiently safe structure are presented. Their effects on the construction are pointed out.

† Registered trademark of Maurer-Söhne, Munich