Congo River Rapids (Alton Towers)

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Congo River Rapids
Congo River Rapids
Alton Towers
Area	Katanga Canyon
Coordinates	52°59′21″N 1°53′12″W / 52.9893°N 1.88678°W / 52.9893; -1.88678Coordinates: 52°59′21″N 1°53′12″W / 52.9893°N 1.88678°W / 52.9893; -1.88678
Status	Operating
Opening date	1986
Closing date	N/A
Replaced	N/A
Replaced by	N/A
General statistics
Type
Manufacturer	Intamin
Length	725 m (2,379 ft)
Capacity	1,350 riders per hour
Duration	6 mins
Restraint style	Ring in centre of raft & gates at each entry point

Congo River Rapids is a river rapids ride made by Intamin. It was located in the Katanga Canyon area of Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England.

The rapids comes close to the Runaway Mine Train as it passes through the tunnel. It featured twin waterfalls, and rafts passed between the two waterfalls.

Congo River Rapids shares its name with a ride at Busch Gardens Tampa in Tampa, Florida, but it has different layout.

History[]

Lift hill

Congo River Rapids first opened in 1989 as Grand Canyon Rapids and was part of the Aqua Land area of the park.

The entrance to the queueline was originally located where the path to Cat Canyon starts in Mutiny Bay today, meaning that the ride was hidden from view. This was changed when Katanga Canyon was built in the centre of the rapids circuit as part of John Wardley's plan to open up the area. Katanga Canyon opened in 1992 along with the new Runaway Mine Train.

The Grand Canyon Rapids were rethemed to adopt the African safari theme of the new area, including the change of name to Congo River Rapids.

The original rafts held six riders. These were changed years later for eight seat rafts to increase passenger throughput.

The ride would close for safety on May the 17th, 2017 when it was announced that the Swiss company Intamin were the makers of the similar ride, Splash Canyon, involved in an incident where an eleven year-old child fell from a raft into the waters and died.

On 22 January 2018, Alton Towers announced that the ride would operate seasonally for 2018, operating only from 26 May to 4 September, but the ride operated throughout the season after a negative social media response. Some key features of the ride that were designed to get riders wet such as the waterfalls were removed. The ride did not operate during the 2018, nor the 2019, Services Day events.

For the 2019 season, the boats were modified to have gates in the inter-seat gaps where boarding and disembarking occurs, grip matts have been added on the floors and seats, boats can only contain a maximum of 7 riders each (a reduction from 8) and children can not ride alone anymore - at least one adult must be in each boat.

Operation[]

The ride's energy requirements are considerable, with its large pumps requiring 15 minutes to bring water volume to the required level for operation. It features its own electrical substation and 1.3 million gallon water reservoir.

The rapids effect of the water is largely achieved by the placement of wooden blocks secured to the bottom of the ride's concrete channel. When water flow is activated via its pumps, turbulence is seen at the wooden blocks as the water flows over.

Inspiration[]

The inspiration for this ride comes from the real Congo River rapids. They lie on the outskirts of Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo, where the Djoué River meets the Congo.

Gallery[]

• 

  Ride boats

• 

  Ride entrance

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Congo River Rapids.

• Congo River Rapids at Towers Almanac
• Congo River Rapids at Towers Nerd
• Congo River Rapids at Theme Parks UK