Creative concrete for theme park rides

CEMROK dry spray concrete from CMS Pozament, has helped in the creation of imaginative structures for The Tussauds Group, one of the world's leading visitor attraction businesses.

Tussauds Theme Parks like Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures have employed CEMROK to dramatic effect in the construction of roller coaster rides and other attractions.

At the dynamic Nemesis Inferno ride in Thorpe Park a huge themed volcano structure disguises the ride station, ride tunnel and queuing areas. The original idea for the volcano was conceived and visualised by Tussauds own Studios. The concept was then taken by specialist props company MDM who modelled the volcano at a scale of 1:50.

Structural engineers then dissected the model to design a variety of large steel structures that would be installed in conjunction with the buildings' support structures. Around 80 individual structures were formed, each one designed to fit into a large truck. More than 3 miles of 8mm steel bar was bent, shaped and welded before being covered in galvanised mesh.

The cage-like sections were transported to site and assembled onto large RSJ support frames.The complete structure, looking like a giant spiders web was then ready for the spray concrete to be applied.

The spray material selected, CMS Pozament's CEMROK 4, was successfully applied at thicknesses up to 150mm in one application. By penetrating the mesh and forming around the support steels the spray concrete creates a very strong monolithic structure.

When cured, the structure was colour stained to add features to the surface. This was then followed by a sealant coat and an anti-graffiti barrier that was applied at the queuing areas.

The authentic volcano structure had taken just 17 weeks to construct and was ready in good time for the opening weekend of the season.

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