by George Root

Created on: April 14, 2009

Roller coaster design has always followed the technological trends establish by its cousin the railroad train. As the slower steam locomotives gave way to the super fast light rail design trains, the roller coaster also evolved in its design. The roller coaster has evolved from a chain driven train that is carried through its paces by momentum and gravity, to a completely motorized space age ship that moves so swiftly that it can cause g-force like sensations to those riding it.

The roller coasters of today are mapped out and planned much as they have been since the first roller coaster was opened in the United States in the mid 1850's. Even though the first roller coaster was not originally built to be a transportation vehicle for humans, it was designed to carry coal down a designated path and with the considerations of weight and gravity taken into account. Today roller coasters are carefully planned out on computers with as many variables taken into account as possible. When a company designs a new roller coaster there are safety guidelines it must follow, and the more advanced computer software can tell if the design follows those guidelines or not. Revisions are made and soon a prototype is ready to be built.

An amusement park will spend months, and sometimes years, planning a roller coaster before it actually begins building the prototype. The planning stage needs to remove as many problems as possible so as to not have those problems cost money during the construction phase. Once constructed, the roller coaster will go through a battery of tests and safety certifications before it is deemed safe for customers to ride. In many cases, the new roller coasters are built on special test sites where the engineers can work on it and get it ready for paying passengers. Once it passes all of its tests, the new roller coaster is delivered to the amusement park and tested again before it is opened for business.

These days the roller coasters being built are getting bigger and higher and faster. When people pay their park admission, they want to be looking forward to riding one of the best roller coasters around. The competition for roller coasters is intense, and with amusement parks clamoring to compete for every vacation dollar they can it looks like the roller coasters will keep getting bigger and faster to attract more customers seeking that thrill of a lifetime.

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