Steel Dragon 2000 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Steel Dragon 2000 |
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Steel Dragon 2000
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| Nagashima Spa Land | |
| Location | Nagashima Spa Land |
| Coordinates | 35°01′52″N 136°43′48″E / 35.031156°N 136.730078°E |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | 1 August 2000 |
| Cost | $52,000,000 USD |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel |
| Manufacturer | D. H. Morgan Manufacturing |
| Designer | Steve Okamoto |
| Track layout | Out and Back |
| Lift/launch system | One lift hill with two chains |
| Height | 97 m (318 ft) |
| Drop | 93.5 m (307 ft) |
| Length | 2,479 m (8,133 ft) |
| Speed | 152.9 km/h (95.0 mph) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 4:00 |
| Max vertical angle | 68° |
| Height restriction | 140–185 cm (4 ft 7 in – 6 ft 1 in) |
| Trains | Multiple trains with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train. |
| Trains built by | Bolliger and Mabillard |
| Steel Dragon 2000 at RCDB | |
The Steel Dragon 2000 is a giant roller coaster made of steel. You can find it at the Nagashima Spa Land amusement park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. This amazing ride holds the record for being the longest roller coaster in the entire world!
How Steel Dragon 2000 Was Built
This roller coaster is very special. It is the tallest coaster that uses a traditional chain to pull the cars up the first big hill. This chain lift is super long!
The Unique Lift Hill
Because the lift hill is so long, engineers used two chains instead of just one. One chain pulls the cars up the bottom half of the hill. The second chain then takes over for the top half.
If they had used only one chain, it would have been too heavy. It also would have been very slow. Special brakes on the lift hill allow two trains to be going up at the same time.
Building for Safety
Building the Steel Dragon 2000 needed a lot more steel than other roller coasters. This extra steel was used to make sure the ride is safe. It helps protect the coaster from earthquakes, which can happen in Japan.
All this extra steel and special building made the coaster very expensive. It cost over $50 million to build!
