McCrone Moves at "Coaster Speed" on Apocalypse

Apocalypse roller coaster entrance.

   The first stand up roller coaster at Six Flags America put new meaning to the word, "fast," describing not only the speed of the coaster, but the speed at which the McCrone project team and contractors worked to meet the summer 2012 deadline.

Once the Six Flags officials decided to replace an existing ride at the park, McCrone's land development team was contacted. They quickly began work to provide planning and coordination support, field surveying, civil engineering and landscape architectural design, permitting, construction stakeout and construction phase services for this $4 million project.

   The fast track schedule required close coordination with Six Flags corporate staff, general contractor, various specialty contractors and other consultants to assure the ride opened on time.

   Detailed Site Plan approval was obtained from the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (MNCCP). Building and grading permit were approved through the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources and the Prince George's Soil Conservation District.

Retail building at site.

Built over an existing concrete 'lagoon' of the former "Skull Mountain" ride, the Apocalypse coaster required significant amounts of structural fill to accommodate the ride's foundation. In addition to the ride itself, the improvements for which McCrone was tasked included the ride loading station, ride maintenance building, a retail building and numerous other site amenities such as an extensive queue line for the ride.  The project also required a substantial reconstruction of the adjacent midway to assure ADA compliance. McCrone's project team manager, Bill Warnock, remarks, "We had to become intimately familiar with every structural and architectural component of the project to be certain there were no conflicts, including ride safety zone."

Ride loading station.

   McCrone provided construction stakeout for all improvements. Particularly challenging for the team was completing precision stakeout of 160+ piers for the specialty concrete contractor. This task required stakeout of the bolt patterns for each of the 160+ steel columns over the concrete piers to a demanding tolerance so the ride structure would be stable and pass stringent testing. 

   McCrone continues to have a strong partnership with Six Flags in the development and redevelopment of this Prince George's County theme park. Mr. Warnock remembers driving up to the jobsite one day and a Six Flags official said, "It was like seeing a knight in shining armor."