"65 Million years in the making, Jurassic Park the Ride brings
the biggest blockbuster ever, thundering to life on the most spectacular spine-tingling water adventure of all
time. You'll travel deep into the Jurassic Jungle and come face to face with Raptors, Spitters, and a towering
T-rex."
Jurassic Park The Ride - Behind the Scenes!
"Amusement
park icon Universal Studios Hollywood calls Jurassic Park
- The Ride the most technically advanced interactive themed
ride
in entertainment history. The $100-million attraction
takes visitors on a boat cruise through prehistoric tropics
for close encounters with life-size, life-like dinosaurs.
Universal claims the 16, 25-passenger boats are the largest
amusement ride watercraft ever built, and the climax —
an 84-foot drop over a waterfall at speeds of nearly 50 miles
an hour — makes it the fastest, steepest water-ride drop
in amusement park history.
Technically advanced. Fastest. Steepest. Largest. This ride has plenty of glitz and then some. Not surprising when you consider that Universal collaborated for five years with a team of aerospace scientists, paleontologists and robotics engineers to achieve this striking example of animatronic technology using the newest principles of hydraulics, physics, mechanics and space-age robotics. But despite the extensive pre-planning and team of experts, Jurassic Park, like most innovations, has proven that even the most superbly designed configuration is not immune to problems.
Engineer Blaine Dome, who has worked with Universal engineer George Konovalov since May of 1996, can attest to that. As a field sales engineer and service coordinator for Apex Design Technology, a diversified engineering systems and services company based in Anaheim, Calif., Dome first became involved with the Jurassic Park attraction just days before its mid-May opening.
Pre-opening
Contamination Problems
Like most major projects with a large number of sub-contractors, the project was falling behind as it neared Universal’s deadline, Dome said. The dinosaurs were coming in late, and the plumbing of the animation hydraulics wasn’t going as fast as Universal wanted it to. To add to the difficulties, sand from sandblasting the main feed control manifold and accumulator rack assembly contaminated the internal hydraulic system of the T-Rex2 dinosaur — the 30-foot tall, 15,000 pound full-body dinosaur that lunges from behind the waterfall before each boat’s climactic plunge.
The accumulator rack with the control manifold assembly arrived on the job site after the main hydraulic power unit, piping, filter station and T-Rex2 dinosaur figure were installed. “The details are unclear on when the rack assembly got contaminated,” Dome said. “We do know the rack was pre-tested at the factory with the figure prior to shipping. Because rust and non-protected areas were noticed on the rack prior to it leaving the factory, it was held back for sandblasting and paint.”
Schematic drawing inserted here showing the main hydraulic
power unit and accumulator rack and control manifold.
As the schematic drawing shows, all of the unit filters were upstream of the T-Rex2 figure so they were unable to prevent the contamination. Sand from the sandblasting made its way into the control valving and damaged it.
The first indication of trouble was when the valves stopped shifting properly. The system was then shut down to prevent possible major damage to the big cylinder that drives the dinosaur figure. Universal wanted someone who could disassemble the accumulator rack with control manifold assembly, clean it and rebuild it in the shortest period of time, Dome said. They had heard of Apex, known for the largest field service staff of its kind in California and offering 24-hour service. Apex’s reputation of doing a job right the first time with a quick turnaround time is critical to theme parks and got Apex’s foot in the door, Dome said.
Dome put together the Apex team of 12 engineers and technicians
and pulled a 36-hour shift along with the OEM assisting and
overseeing the project. The team brought the manifold and
accumulator rack assembly back to the Apex facility
in the middle of the night. The accumulator rack weighed 17,000
pounds and had to be crane-lifted onto an Apex 10-ton flatbed
truck.
The work was complex, meticulous and labor intensive. The control manifold, which alone weighed 2,000 pounds, had to be flushed, assembled and tested. Numerous components were beyond repair and had to be replaced. The Apex team had to disassemble every piece of every component to send to Astro Pack, a company specializing in chemical cleaning.
After the chemical cleaning, the pieces were solvent-flushed and blown dry, then reassembled by Apex. Twelve 15-gallon bladder-type accumulators were rebuilt with new bladders and seals. Many damaged internal parts were replaced. The unit was pre-charged with nitrogen, and reassembled to the rack and piping header with all new seals. The unit was tested prior to the transport back to Universal and reinstallation. The reinstallation was a success. Jurassic Park - The Ride opened as scheduled.
Post-opening Seal Problems
The popular new water ride wowed park visitors for several days before an incident added unplanned excitement to the ride. More than 100 people got more than growls and snarls from the life-size T-Rex head, designed to suddenly break through the ceiling to startle visitors. Oil spewing from the T-Rex after a hydraulic line broke loose, sprayed five boats full of people with oil before the mishap was discovered and the ride temporarily shut down. No one was harmed: the hydraulic oil used in all the water rides at Universal is a non-toxic, vegetable-based, biodegradable oil chosen to keep the ride’s recycled water clean and safe.
The hydraulic line break was caused by a misapplication in the final installation, according to Dome, who was again called in to assist the Universal team. A large hose feeding the main cylinder that made the dinosaur move, pulled out of an adapter that was too small to handle the velocities and flows created when such a large figure moved. A common result of creating something that has never been built before — it’s difficult to predict every reaction.
The original design was a two-inch, 3000 psi high-pressure crimped hose assembly with tube adapters down to a one-inch swage-style fitting. Apex chose to go with a full-size line all the way. They replaced the original assembly with a two-inch sch 160 De-ox pipe with socket weld flange connections. Valving was then manifold-mounted, and cartridge flow controls were added along with cartridge cross-over relief valves for better pressure and flow control. This made for greater dinosaur figure control. In fact, Universal engineer Konovalov claims T-Rex is now the most reliable dinosaur figure in the Jurassic Park ride.
An additional problem involved the location of the hydraulic equipment. The bank of accumulators containing the hose and plumbing was on the side of a structural wall facing the boats. All the equipment had to be remounted behind the scenes, placing the wall between the hydraulics and the ride to prevent people from being sprayed if a fitting ever pulled out again. After making a valve station and accumulator rack and repiping, the actual velocities and flows were calculated, and piping and hose were resized.
Apex elected to replace many of the hoses with hard piping. Welded pressure pipe with O-Ring flanges and stainless hydraulic tubing was selected. O-Ring seal welded flange connections are the company’s preferred choice for leak-free, long-lasting and more serviceable systems. All O-Ring seals on the piping was replaced with mil-specteflon O-Rings for superior life in bromine (pool) water environments. In addition, shorter hose jumps were used where hose was necessary for dinosaur figure movement. This was done to prevent possible problems created by long, dangling hoses.
Preventative
Solutions
Since the oil spewing incident, Dome has worked on four of the other dinosaurs to prevent future leaks. A similar approach was taken for the re-plumbing — get rid of long, loose hoses and use welded pipe with O-Ring flange and hardline stainless tubing. In addition, flow control valving was added to slow down some of the oil flow to give the ride components longer wear and decrease the potential for stresses and leaks. The standard 3000 psi pressure ratings were also reduced to workable pressure ranges between 1500 and 2000 psi in areas where higher pressures weren’t needed for specific functions. These changes also resulted in more controlled speeds and motions of dinosaur movement.
The Mama Ultrasaur was one of the dinosaur figures Apex worked on. It stands 40 feet tall with approximately 15 cylinders in the neck section alone. Apex replaced long, unmanageable hoses in the neck with stainless steel tubing and short hose jumps for movement. They also replaced all the large main feed lines, which are completely submerged under water, with stainless pipe and tubing. This increases the dinosaur figure’s life and serviceability.
The same techniques were used when working on the baby Ultrasaur. Dome said the Parasaur was probably the most challenging of the dinosaur figures to upgrade. Totally submerged under water, the Parasaur was designed to leap out of the water on cue, close to the boats. The only dinosaur figure at Jurassic Park that is completely under water, the Parasaur required consideration of not only the hydraulic fluid media, but the outside environmental condition — the bromine water.
Bromine water is particularly harsh on standard rubber seals, making them brittle. The gaskets and seals directly in contact with bromine water were changed to Teflon materials. Apex has worked recently with TJ Vickers cylinder division, Dome said. The company has developed some very good rod seal designs for underwater cylinders.
Apex re-built all the underwater accumulators which were already
starting to show signs of corrosion, and
epoxy-coated the ferrous parts for underwater service. They
also replaced the standard buna O-Rings with mil-spec teflon
and added drain and service valves not provided on the original
design. This will make future repairs and maintenance safer
and easier.
Entertainment Industry Troubleshooting
Dome says there is much satisfaction in working with the entertainment industry. He emphasized that despite the problems associated with Jurassic Park - The Ride, that the initial work was exceptional. “They are cutting edge leaders in servo hydraulics and motion control,” Dome said. “Overall, these dinosaurs are fabulous. Our job is to fine-tune things. We are gong in and with the Universal technicians and engineers, trying to make something fantastic last a little bit longer — build in more reliability.”
Field service for the entertainment industry is particularly challenging because of the importance of having problems solved quickly and permanently. Fortunately, Apex has found that achievable most of the time, Dome said. “If you go in and solve problems, you want it to be the last time that problem occurs and that’s typical of 90 percent of the things that go on out there.” Which leads to what Dome considers another plus of working with the entertainment industry — the variety. “I’m always working on something different and I like that,” he said.
Another satisfying aspect to working with the entertainment industry is their commitment to high standards of hydraulics performance and safety, Dome said. He notes that one of the most important factors to recognize when working with hydraulics for the entertainment industry, is the extremely demanding duty cycle of the rides.
Jurassic Park - The Ride has boats leaving every 30 seconds, 14-15 hours a day, seven days a week. Because of this, theme park hydraulics are typically superior to industrial hydraulics, Dome said. “They know the importance of equipment maintenance and keeping their oil clean and at the proper temperature. It’s critical.”
The transformation of the remarkable special effects in the film “Jurassic Park” to the amazingly realistic giants in the ride was a task of Herculean proportions. The effects in the film needed to work correctly for only a limited time, sometimes only once. Dinosaur figures in the ride need to work correctly nearly 1,800 times a day.
Because of the work of hydraulics engineers, the magic and glitz of Jurassic Park - The Ride will continue to fascinate and amaze the 3,000 riders each hour who dare to take the five-minute trip back to our prehistoric past."
By: Susan Larson-Waugh
Copyright © 1999 Fluid Power Journal
www.apexdt.com
Back: JP River Adventure - Technical
Only at Universal Studios Hollywood! The world's largest movie studio and theme park!
CAUTION: Keep all hands and arms inside the boat, at all times!
