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The New Texas Giant is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. The ride opened in 2011 after an 18-month refurbishment of the former ''Texas Giant'' wooden roller coaster. Manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction, the ''New Texas Giant'' stands tall and features a 79° drop stretching . The ride also features multiple turns banked up to 115° and over of track. The original ''Texas Giant'' was manufactured by Dinn Corporation and designed by Curtis D. Summers. For more than a decade after its opening in 1990, the ''Texas Giant'' remained popular, ranking in the Golden Ticket Awards as the number one wooden roller coaster in 1998 and 1999. However, throughout the 2000s the ride's popularity declined as a result of the ride becoming rougher. Despite maintenance attempts by the park, Six Flags Over Texas announced the ride's closure in 2009. Much of the original wooden structure was kept, with the track being replaced with steel. After the ride's relaunch in 2011 as the ''New Texas Giant'', its popularity returned, winning ''Amusement Todays Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride of 2011 and ranking highly in industry polls. On July 19, 2013, a woman died after falling from the ride, resulting in modifications and additions to the ride's restraint system. ==History== The ''Texas Giant'' was originally constructed by Dinn Corporation, with Curtis D. Summers as the designer.〔 The ride was made up of over of wood. The trains were manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters.〔 The ''Texas Giant'' officially opened on March 17, 1990.〔 At opening, the ride was the world's tallest wooden roller coaster, standing high.〔 Following the ride's opening the ride had several modifications and renovations. This included reprofiling parts of the ride, shortening the seven-car trains to six-car trains, and performing maintenance on the wooden track. Six Flags Over Texas performed over of trackwork on the ride in the 2008-2009 offseason, with the ultimate aim of improving the ride's smoothness. Although the maintenance did improve the ride, park officials needed a more permanent solution. Initial speculation indicated the ride would be removed entirely from the park; however, Six Flags Over Texas denied any intention or consideration to do so. In March 2009, the park announced the closure of ''Texas Giant'' prior to a $10 million renovation. Following Fright Fest for that year, the ride closed on November 1, 2009.〔〔 Renovations began almost immediately and involved the removal of the all of the wooden track and modifications to some of the support structure.〔 On March 3, 2010, Six Flags Over Texas and Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) unveiled the steel I-Box track which would be used on the refurbished ride. The track was developed over the course of three years by RMC owner Fred Grubb, and Ride Centerline, LLC engineers Alan Schilke and Dody Bachtar.〔 The steel track was designed to be a replacement for any existing wooden track structure, with the rail shape, approximate weight, and dimensions remaining the same.〔 Schilke designed the layout for the ''New Texas Giant'', giving specifications to Grubb for manufacturing at RMC's Idaho plant. There, two-dimensional plates of steel were machine welded to form the three-dimensional track parts.〔 The redevelopment saw much of the track get reprofiled; the lift hill was increased by , the first drop was steepened to 79 degrees, and several overbanked turns (ranging from 90° to 115°) were added.〔〔 The renovated ride, dubbed the ''New Texas Giant'', reopened on April 4, 2011.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Texas Giant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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