Amusement Park Ride Design Rules & Guidelines

[drewjmore]

Can anyone direct me to some governing council or rules-of-thumb for the design of amusement park rides?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Here is a place to start
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/amuse.pdf#search=%22amusement%20park%20ride%20certification%22

I once helped to develop a new amusement park ride, and one of the most striking aspects of the job was that so little oversight was required. In the end, I was terrified to have my name attached to the project - probably one of the worst career moves ever made on my part. The mechanical engineer on the project screwed up and the ride failed while full of kids. Luckily no one was hurt.

Certification involved some guy with a roll of stickers.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Oh yes, my customer was the guy who came up with idea to fill a room with sponge balls, as is often seen at McDonalds and other places. He made a fortune on that one.

 

[drewjmore]

Here is a place to start
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/amuse.pdf#search=%22amusement%20park%20ride%20certification%22

I once helped to develop a new amusement park ride, and one of the most striking aspects of the job was that so little oversight was required. In the end, I was terrified to have my name attached to the project - probably one of the worst career moves ever made on my part. The mechanical engineer on the project screwed up and the ride failed while full of kids. Luckily no one was hurt.

Certification involved some guy with a roll of stickers.

Thanks for the link, Ivan! I am a bit nervous about this myself, I have a safety & industrial hygene background (among others...). One of my vendors has put me on to a 'local carnival operator' who needs an 'engineer' to sign-off on the safety of some changes they've made to one of their rides. Their insurance company won't cover them without some type of technical review. I intend to charge through the nose, and do ALL of my homework.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I wouldn't touch another amusement park ride, even if I increased my rate by an order of magnitude.

Good luck!