Construction crews at Blackpool Pleasure Beach marked Valentine’s Day by installing the final piece of track on the new ICON rollercoaster. And bosses at the UK amusement park reckon guests are going to love the £16.25 million ($22.8m) ride.
A crane was used to hoist the final piece of grey steel track into place as a 50-strong team watched with pride. Featuring a total track length of 1.14km, Icon will see riders experience forces of up to 4.3G as they are catapulted forward at speeds of up to 80km/h (50mph). The ride’s highest point is 27m (88.5ft).
Pleasure Beach managing director Amanda Thompson OBE and her brother Nick Thompson, deputy managing director
Focus will now turn to extensive testing of the ride and adding finishing touches including landscaping. The attraction, supplied by Mack Rides, is the UK’s first double launch rollercoaster.
“Today is the culmination of an intense design and engineering process,” noted Pleasure Beach deputy managing director Nick Thompson on Valentine’s Day, February 14. “The completion of ICON’s track has been no easy feat, as it loops through and around the Pleasure Beach’s other rides 15 times. To see the track in its entirety is hugely rewarding and brings us a significant step closer to sharing this unique rollercoaster experience with the public in spring 2018.”
