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Yellow Ledbelly
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This is going to be built where I live apparently....this guy must be nuts!!!
By Waid Prather
The Carthaginian
___________________________________
Aubrey Glotts, an erstwhile and low profile entrepreneur, says he found just the right decline for the world’s longest zip line.
He said he hoped to feed such a line to Leake County, running a cable of exotic metal across the heart of the Square County.
What could result will be, he said, a major tourist attraction for the strong hearted to latch onto the line at one end and zip along the cable to the south end.
With much of the detail still to be conjured, Glotts, who said he has friends in Leake County, said he had plans to string the line from a spot on Lobutcha Creek, near the site of a new bridge at Scotts Crossing, to a terminus on the banks of the Pearl River near the intersection of Highway 35S and Highway 488.
The bridge construction effort, Glotts said, simply allowed quick access to the banks of the Lobutcha to establish the high point of the zip line.
The end of the line will be scores of feet lower and about seven miles to the south, a long ride, he said, that would carry passengers across bends of the creek, a spot on remote Lee Lake, Highway 16E and then roughly parallel to the southern portions of Camp Road to end on the south side of the Pearl.
Construction of the tallest tower, about 450 feet, in the project, right, was well under way, he said, with a shorter tower, about 200 feet, to be built near the Pearl, increasing the fall ratio along the length of the line.
Total costs of construction, he said, would run about $5 million, including stringing the cable between the towers.
“We’ll have to bring in a helicopter fitted to unspool the cable as it flies,” Glotts said, “hooking one end of the line to one tower then slowly unrolling the wire until we get to the other end, where it will be attached to the other tower.”
Tension parameters for the cable, he said, were so limited, the cable would have to be tightened with one of the biggest hand-operated “come-alongs” in the world.
That device, which will require four men to operated, would be kept in place to periodically adjust tension based on stretching of the wire due to time, temperature and humidity.
The elaborate towers include, Glotts said, elevators to carry patrons to the top of the towers, plus a host of observation decks and restaurants.
There will also be nature trails in the area open for hiking and mountain bicycling, he said.
Harnesses, hooked to the zip line, he said, would be wrapped about riders who would then simply leap from the top tower to slide the length of the high tensile strength cable.
Speeds before reaching the south tower, he said, could run as high as 70 miles an hour.
The south tower, he added, would be wrapped from top to bottom in a four-foot layer of foam rubber to cushion impact when riders reach the end of the line.
Glotts added, however, that speeds would slow naturally before riders reached the south tower, and brakes could be applied to slow momentum even more.
A first aid station would be in operation at all times at the south tower also, he said.
Harnesses, once removed from passengers, would have to be ferried back to the north tower for re-use by other riders.
Glotts said the two towers would require about 45 employees.
“The location near major highways and with no elevated, high power lines in the way will make for a smooth, though exciting, ride,” Glotts said.
He said the rides would last about seven minutes and could accommodate riders of any age and could be run day or night.
“Day light rides offer a great view of a beautiful countryside,” he said, “while the thrill of flying through the dark of night can’t be described.”
He added that the ride would appeal to patrons of all ages, even down to toddler ages.
“We talked my three-year-old granddaughter, April, into taking a ride on a prototype,” Glotts explained.
“Everyone said we would never get her back on the thing once she landed, but the first thing she said when she landed was, ‘Go again.’
“Yep, April fooled ‘em.”
By Waid Prather
The Carthaginian
___________________________________
Aubrey Glotts, an erstwhile and low profile entrepreneur, says he found just the right decline for the world’s longest zip line.
He said he hoped to feed such a line to Leake County, running a cable of exotic metal across the heart of the Square County.
What could result will be, he said, a major tourist attraction for the strong hearted to latch onto the line at one end and zip along the cable to the south end.
With much of the detail still to be conjured, Glotts, who said he has friends in Leake County, said he had plans to string the line from a spot on Lobutcha Creek, near the site of a new bridge at Scotts Crossing, to a terminus on the banks of the Pearl River near the intersection of Highway 35S and Highway 488.
The bridge construction effort, Glotts said, simply allowed quick access to the banks of the Lobutcha to establish the high point of the zip line.
The end of the line will be scores of feet lower and about seven miles to the south, a long ride, he said, that would carry passengers across bends of the creek, a spot on remote Lee Lake, Highway 16E and then roughly parallel to the southern portions of Camp Road to end on the south side of the Pearl.
Construction of the tallest tower, about 450 feet, in the project, right, was well under way, he said, with a shorter tower, about 200 feet, to be built near the Pearl, increasing the fall ratio along the length of the line.
Total costs of construction, he said, would run about $5 million, including stringing the cable between the towers.
“We’ll have to bring in a helicopter fitted to unspool the cable as it flies,” Glotts said, “hooking one end of the line to one tower then slowly unrolling the wire until we get to the other end, where it will be attached to the other tower.”
Tension parameters for the cable, he said, were so limited, the cable would have to be tightened with one of the biggest hand-operated “come-alongs” in the world.
That device, which will require four men to operated, would be kept in place to periodically adjust tension based on stretching of the wire due to time, temperature and humidity.
The elaborate towers include, Glotts said, elevators to carry patrons to the top of the towers, plus a host of observation decks and restaurants.
There will also be nature trails in the area open for hiking and mountain bicycling, he said.
Harnesses, hooked to the zip line, he said, would be wrapped about riders who would then simply leap from the top tower to slide the length of the high tensile strength cable.
Speeds before reaching the south tower, he said, could run as high as 70 miles an hour.
The south tower, he added, would be wrapped from top to bottom in a four-foot layer of foam rubber to cushion impact when riders reach the end of the line.
Glotts added, however, that speeds would slow naturally before riders reached the south tower, and brakes could be applied to slow momentum even more.
A first aid station would be in operation at all times at the south tower also, he said.
Harnesses, once removed from passengers, would have to be ferried back to the north tower for re-use by other riders.
Glotts said the two towers would require about 45 employees.
“The location near major highways and with no elevated, high power lines in the way will make for a smooth, though exciting, ride,” Glotts said.
He said the rides would last about seven minutes and could accommodate riders of any age and could be run day or night.
“Day light rides offer a great view of a beautiful countryside,” he said, “while the thrill of flying through the dark of night can’t be described.”
He added that the ride would appeal to patrons of all ages, even down to toddler ages.
“We talked my three-year-old granddaughter, April, into taking a ride on a prototype,” Glotts explained.
“Everyone said we would never get her back on the thing once she landed, but the first thing she said when she landed was, ‘Go again.’
“Yep, April fooled ‘em.”
All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow
They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
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