SKY ROCKET CONSTRUCTION UPDATE MARCH 26, 2010

Welcome back to another construction update for Kennywood's newest coaster, Sky Rocket. A lot of work has been on the coaster since our last update, including supports for the inverted top hat and corskcrew elements being erected. Also, several pieces of track have been transported to the construction site and should be put up within the next day or so. It's really surprising how fast thing this is going up and I wouldn't be surprised if track work is complete by the end of the month. Hopes of Sky Rocket opening before Memorial Day seem to get more and more reachable the faster this coaster goes up.

So we start this update off with an overview of the construction site. As you can see, they have two of the supports for the inverted top hat up. In the distance, you can also see part of the corkscrews supports tower above the others in the background. You can also see the numerous pieces of track that are now laying in the construction site.

These pieces of track look to be for the surf curve elements. In the background, you can also see that the final overbank turn is now complete along with the supports for the bunny hops.

A closeup of the supports for the inverted top hat. As you can see, these supports have different flanges than the others signaling that the inverted top hat will have a spine. I'm going to assume that all the track from the first hill to the MCBR will have a spine. Also, you can see some of the suports for the overbank after the second drop right below that.

There are several more pieces of track in the area by the overbank turn. This is a good sign that the surf curves, overbank and bunny hills will be the first elements to receive their track.

Here you can see all the supports that are up in the are of the surf curves. If you look closely you can also see the supports that make up the first bunny hill. Below that near the track at the bottom, you can also see the supports leading up to the corkscrew element.

Another angle of this area. It looks as if the first overbank turn is going to be right below the top hat, which is something that looks somewhat different in comparison to the rendering.

Looking at the area of the corkscrew and the start of the surf curves. As you can see, some of the supports for the corkscrew have already gone up. If you look closely, you can see what looks to be the tallest portion of the element. Supports for the overbank before the surf curvers are not all up yet, so I'm assuming these will be some of the next to go up.

Another view of the same area. One of the supports for the overbank after the corkscrew are up already, so like I said the cork and this overbank will probably be the next to get supports. After that, most of the supports for the end of the coaster will be up, with exception to the supports for the "slow down zone" and final brake run.

Another look at the top hat supports. Compared to the flanges below, you can easily tell the top hat will have the track with the spine.

Looking down the launch and first hill supports. Just think, in about a month a shiny new train will be flying down this area when the park begins testing of the new coaster.

As you can see, there are still a number of footers that still need to be poured. These look to be in the area of the launch/first hill as well as the barrel roll and MCBR. This leads me to believe that these will be some of the last elements to be put up since the concrete on these will need some time to cure.

This guy has been one heck of a busy worker the last couple of days, it's amazing how much these guys have accomplished

An overview of the some of the construction site. It's amazing how small of a difference the height of the first inversion is compared to the last overbank.

And we'll finish off this update with one last look at the coaster's area. Here' you can see that several of the footers for the launch still need to be finished, so we probably won't be seeing supports in this area for quite some time.

Thanks for checking out today's Sky Rocket Construction Update brought to you by Kennywood Connection. Stay tuned for another update in the coming days as more supports and track start to rise at Kennywood!

Thank you to KWC member Myself for providing the pictures used in today's construction update!