News: Busch Gardens Reaches New Heights

Posted at 6:08 PM EST (2308 GMT)

Jan. 27th, 2005 -- Construction crews at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay fitted and secured into place the highest track portion of the park’s new dive coaster, SheiKra, 200 feet above ground, setting the mark as the tallest roller coaster in the state of Florida. Upon fitting the piece into place, a ceremonial evergreen was placed atop the newly secured track segment.

The new piece is the portion of the steel track from which riders will soon experience the first of two 90-degree dives. The first dive from 200 feet is the tallest 90-degree dive for any roller coaster in the world. Following the initial dive, riders will experience an inverted loop (or Immelmann) followed by the second 90-degree dive from 138 feet into an underground tunnel. SheiKra will also incorporate a 360-degree climbing carousel and a water feature, all included on more than 3,188 feet of track.

The coaster is slated to open in May in an all-new themed area that will include a 500-seat indoor/outdoor smokehouse restaurant and grill.

Signaling the attainment of the highest structural element of the construction of a building or other structure, a "tree topping" ceremony is a tradition traced back as far as 700 A.D. when Scandinavians topped off construction of new halls with sheathes of grain to bestow good luck on future inhabitants. In the high-steel trade, it announces that the construction has reached the sky and is meant to auger well for the future inhabitants of the building. The historical precedence for the use of the evergreen is uncertain; however it has become the acceptable ornament in such endeavors worldwide.

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Photo by Tom Wagner/Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

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