Yeti Problems...A big "uh-oh"?

[Peabody]

Originally Posted by MickeyM

How he cracked his foundation, I don't know. It seems like he could, with all the pressure of swaying back and forth.

The CM who told me about the problem said he once figured that the yeti does his thing about 650 times per day (65 average trains per hour X 10 hours) 7 days a week, etc. As huge, heavy, and forceful as he is it must put an incredible strain on his support and foundation....perhaps a little more than the concrete guys anticipated!

[almandot]

At this rate he probably does is about 22 times per day 4 days a week so it couldn't be all that bad :P

[Phonedave]

Originally Posted by Peabody

As huge, heavy, and forceful as he is it must put an incredible strain on his support and foundation....perhaps a little more than the concrete guys anticipated!

As somone who went to college to be a "concrete guy" (but no longer does it) that should not be the case.

You are given your design specs (static and dynamic loadings) and you design accordingly, with a correct factor of safety

Now as to how the foundation was actualy built, that is another story.


-dave

[Peabody]

That's kind of what I meant. It's probably not every day you're laying rebar and pouring concrete so a 20 foot gorilla can swipe at people

[MickeyM]

So THAT's what the Imagineering job positions give to construction workers. (^^Gorilla...hilarious)

[Witches of Morva]

ORGOCH: I says go ahead an' FIRE the big sap!!! If'n he ain't willin' ta earn his keep, put him in the bone yard over there. (I seen how they's got one a those over there in Animal Cracker Kingdom!) Heck!!! What's Walt Dizzy Whirl comin' ta if'n all them there animatronic Bozo's cain't even put in a decent day's work!!!

[Phonedave]

Originally Posted by Peabody

That's kind of what I meant. It's probably not every day you're laying rebar and pouring concrete so a 20 foot gorilla can swipe at people

The thing is, the people doing the iron work / concrete dont make any "decisions". The engineer says "build it this way" and they do so.

Of course there are dozens of ways they could have "cut corners" and that WOULD cause problems, especialy since the foundation is going to cycle though compression and tension.

-dave

[GhostHost2]

Originally Posted by SummerInFL

So what you're all saying is.....we now have the Matterhorn? Sorry, couldn't resist.

The Matterhorn has two AA Yetis (three technically, but you only see two on either side), and as far as I know they always work. So if by any chance one was down, the other one would likely be working and terrorizing guests.

[Peabody]

Yeah, but I'm not sure those operate with the force of a 747!

[SummerInFL]

Originally Posted by GhostHost2

The Matterhorn has two AA Yetis (three technically, but you only see two on either side), and as far as I know they always work. So if by any chance one was down, the other one would likely be working and terrorizing guests.

They move? I had no idea. LOL Guess I was to busy trying to shield my spine on the ride down.

[Jerren]

Originally Posted by Phonedave

The thing is, the people doing the iron work / concrete dont make any "decisions". The engineer says "build it this way" and they do so.

Yeah and let's keep in mind just how many engineering disciplines had to go into this as well, mechanical, structural etc. This is the biggest most complex AA ever built and even NASA makes mistakes (imperial vrs metric for rangefinder on mars probes, not testing the mirrors together on Hubble etc.) It's very possible someone miscalculated the stress of the Yeti's motion and the foundation was built to the wrong spec. It happens in construction more often than it should...

Originally Posted by Phonedave

Of course there are dozens of ways they could have "cut corners" and that WOULD cause problems, especialy since the foundation is going to cycle though compression and tension.

-dave

I think this is far more likely and I know that this happens way more often than it should, even with oversight. The construction business is so competitive these days you almost have to expect some sort of "cutting corners" for the builders to be able to meet target goals. Then again it could be that they didn't allow the pour to set properly or log enough due to the humidity in Florida (yes unlikely but depending on how the project was scheduled and penalties/bonuses paid it can happen) or there might have been defects in the building materials themselves that where not discovered at the time they where used.

Or maybe the mouse should have the Yetti screened for performance enhancers... first baseball now this...

[DVkid07]

Used to have a friend that worked on this attraction. They actually have a security camera aimed at the Yeti as to alert the operators to malfunctions and allowing them to switch from Yeti mode to strobe mode.

As far as malfunctions go, I had heard it had to do with a sort of repetitive stress problem given the amount of weight that is being thrown around. Not so much a foundation problem, as it is the joints of the AA not putting put with the stress quite as well.

It receives extensive maintenance each night, and should be up most mornings. However, as the stress takes its toll throughout the day its very uncommon to see it running at the end of the night.

[Witches of Morva]

ORWEN: Well, I had no idea!! I mean, here we've all been complaining about the poor Yeti not doing his job right when, all along, he's been suffering from carpel tunnel syndrom. What he REALLY needs is a day off so he can go get himself checked out by a doctor!!! Maybe he'll get a special cast or bandage to help him to heal his wounds!

[Peabody]

Originally Posted by DVkid07

It receives extensive maintenance each night, and should be up most mornings. However, as the stress takes its toll throughout the day its very uncommon to see it running at the end of the night.

I think the operative word there is "should". It's been down all day recently for this extended downtime, which has been going on for several weeks, supposedly.

[MickeyM]

Originally Posted by DVkid07

As far as malfunctions go, I had heard it had to do with a sort of repetitive stress problem given the amount of weight that is being thrown around. Not so much a foundation problem, as it is the joints of the AA not putting put with the stress quite as well.

Also, think about the force of the yeti's movements. His arm/shoulder area must be really the center of these "stresses" you posted about.