Super Slide

Creating a slide that was fast enough to be exciting but not dangerous posed an engineering challenge.

“Your speed on a slide has a lot to do with weather,” says Tim Finlay, a structural engineer who helped design the ride. If the air is damp, moisture in the tube will cause a rider’s mat to stick to the slide’s surface. That increases friction, slowing a rider down. But on a dry day, friction will be low, causing the rider to accelerate, or gain speed. That could pose a safety problem on a long, straight slide.

Luckily, the twists and turns of the ArcelorMittal slide slow riders to a safe speed. Once the slide was finished, Finlay tried it himself. How did the design turn out? “Brilliant!” he says.

Engineers had to create a slide that was fast enough to be exciting but not dangerous. That was a challenge.

“Your speed on a slide has a lot to do with weather,” says Tim Finlay. He’s a structural engineer who helped design the ride. If the air is damp, moisture will form in the tube. Then a rider’s mat will stick to the slide’s surface. That increases friction, slowing a rider down. But on a dry day, friction will be low. As a result, the rider will keep gaining speed, or accelerating. That could be a safety problem on a long, straight slide.

That’s where the twists and turns of the ArcelorMittal slide help out. They slow riders to a safe speed. When the slide was finished, Finlay tried it himself. How did the design turn out? “Brilliant!” he says.