Monorail beam cleaning in Epcot - looks fantastic

[Phonedave]

Actually, not necessarily. I've used knuckle type boom many times to reach out and over to unreachable areas. With the correct type lift, no external bracing is required.


Also if the tires don't tear up the carpet in a Church, they surely won't hurt the concrete of an amusement park.

For example the Genie S-120:
Platform height max = 125 ft 2 in
Horizontal reach max = 80 ft
Lift capacity = 750 lbs

Yeah, that would work if the distance is short enough. I was trying to picture the maximum distance you would have to reach over water, and it seemed pretty far to me. Of course I could be off. As far as marring of concrete I was talking about if it needed outriggers. Heck, they make lifts with the non-marking white rubber wheels that you can use on marble.

When I used to work on construction sites we had some Lulls that had some decent lift heights and reaches. But then you are talking 4 -5 ton loads, not 750 lbs.

Heck, they could just stick a bridge inspection snorkel on the work tug

-dave

 

[Mikester71]

WOW....what a difference!!! Night and day, night and day! :sohappy:

 

[Rob562]

That is amazing. I'd love to see that happening. :lol:


And the fact that there is room from shell to core totally supports my idea that LEDs and Strobes can be embedded in SSE to make it be lit for effect on the inside and regularly on the outside.

Kinda like this?

Each "pixel" can change color, and it runs through a light show. Couldn't find any videos of it online, so I guess the next time I'm by there after dark I'll have to stop and take some footage.

-Rob

 

[BalooChicago]

I'm not sure if pressure washing would really help. I never really found out for sure, but my impression was always that it's not dirty per se, but just that whatever the outer coating of the beamway is has worn away over the past decades. I would think what they're doing now is just recoating it.

It's definitely not a coating. First, coverage in concrete construction is typically 2" or more (though I suppose it may be less in FL - up here we have to worry about road salt). Second, for it to be worn that much it would have to be way out of spec and would likely affect the ability of the monorail to travel on the beam. Finally, concrete coatings suck. There are no coatings which would be able to take the constant contact of the monorail wheels/guides without becoming a maintenance nightmare. Imagine having to strip the coating before recoating every five years or less.

 

[Bigart]

It looks amazing...this goes back to the thread someone posted about the dirty beams. Is the grime from the tires rolling along the beam?

 

[montyz81]

IMHO they need to be cleaned far more often than that. The beams have looked really bad for a very long time. Regular maintenance cleaning via some sort of automated vehicle would keep them looking pristine all the time. I pressure wash my driveway at least twice a year and it never ceases to amaze me how much dirt builds up in just 6 months.

I was just trying to play devils advocate. We can all talk about how often they should be cleaning them and we all think they have enough money. I can bet you that the day they clean a monorail beam over finishing the descent on SSE, or cut the budget of a major ride refurb like Space Mountain to clean monorail beams will be the day that everyone is up in arms over where Disney is focusing their dollars... oh wait that is today. This probably didn't cost them that much to clean but it all adds up. It is a business after all and they have to prioritize. To me they are doing the right thing. Making it aesthetically look good and then they put more money into unfinished refurbs later. So to my point before, spend money on a system that cleans the tracks once a month or once a year or spend money on finishing a refurb??? That is the question?

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Kinda like this?

Each "pixel" can change color, and it runs through a light show. Couldn't find any videos of it online, so I guess the next time I'm by there after dark I'll have to stop and take some footage.

-Rob

Good God, YES! :sohappy::lol::sohappy: THAT would be fantastic.


Where is that!? :lol: I'm slightly freaking out, now.

 

[Rob562]

Good God, YES! :sohappy::lol::sohappy: THAT would be fantastic.


Where is that!? :lol: I'm slightly freaking out, now.

Whoops, kinda left that bit of info out of my post, huh? :hammer:

It's the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.

Every time I drive past it on the way to Six Flags New England (which is about 5 miles south from the Hall) I find myself saying "Like a grand and miraculous spaceship...".

-Rob

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Whoops, kinda left that bit of info out of my post, huh? :hammer:

It's the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.

Every time I drive past it on the way to Six Flags New England (which is about 5 miles south from the Hall) I find myself saying "Like a grand and miraculous spaceship...".

-Rob

That. Is. Awesome.


EPCOT needs this. Badly. :lol:

Thanks for posting, Rob!

 

[E P C O T]

Void.

 

[Master Yoda]

They did look grubby in November, what is it rubber off the wheels?

More than likely it is a combination of rubber, dirt and mold all of which are pretty common if not inevitable on all exterior exposed concrete.

 

[RiversideBunny]

Speaking of rubber-
Each year thousands of tires wear out. Mostly on cars and trucks but also on other things.
Thousands.
They wear out- wear.

So-
Where is all that rubber? Why aren't there piles of rubber dust along the highways, building up until it takes over the roadway. Till it's higher than a car.

Where does it all go?
:king:

 

[Master Yoda]

Speaking of rubber-
Each year thousands of tires wear out. Mostly on cars and trucks but also on other things.
Thousands.
They wear out- wear.

So-
Where is all that rubber? Why aren't there piles of rubber dust along the highways, building up until it takes over the roadway. Till it's higher than a car.

Where does it all go?
:king:

Air, ground, storm drains etc.

 

[JungleTrekFan]

I did not think monorail beams could look THAT GOOD.

On a separate note, couldn't the beam be made of a different color concrete so their wouldn't be such a huge difference from dirty and clean? Just thinking that would be a lot easier for cities and other places that dont have the time or money to clean them, every 25 years :ROFLOL:

 

[raven]

It looks amazing...this goes back to the thread someone posted about the dirty beams. Is the grime from the tires rolling along the beam?

Actually the clean stripes you see on the beam are where the wheels hit. The "dirty" parts are not touched by the wheels at all. You will notice the same dirt stains on the lower parts of the beam (curved parts) as well.

So to my point before, spend money on a system that cleans the tracks once a month or once a year or spend money on finishing a refurb??? That is the question?

The monorail has their own budget and is not park specific. The money being spent on cleaning isn't coming out of Epcot.

 

[Andrew54]

It looks to me that the area where the monorail actual runs on the track is staying clean. The area that looks so bad is where the monorail isn't constantly rubbing against the concrete. Its just dirty from being outside in the elements and never being washed off.

 

[blackthidot]

Man that looks GREAT

 

[TikiGod]

just like cleaning your teeth!

 

[wdwmagic]

Actually the clean stripes you see on the beam are where the wheels hit. The "dirty" parts are not touched by the wheels at all. You will notice the same dirt stains on the lower parts of the beam (curved parts) as well.



The monorail has their own budget and is not park specific. The money being spent on cleaning isn't coming out of Epcot.

That's interesting - seems to give hope to the possibility that the track will be cleaned in other non-Epcot areas. I had initially thought that this was an Epcot initiative.

 

[WDW Vacationer]

That. Is. Awesome.


EPCOT needs this. Badly. :lol:

Thanks for posting, Rob!

Looks even better in person. Fits EPCOT PERFECTLY!