First opened in 1954 as a campground, and then expanded into a theme park between 1979 and 1981, Six Flags Darien Lake is a 1,200 acre amusement park and resort, located in Corfu, NY. The grounds feature a theme park, water park, campground and lodging.

Six Flags Darien Lake is committed to their guest’s safety. As a precaution, various rides and their components are inspected for deterioration and / or damage every year. Over the last few years, Encorus Group has inspected many of the rides, including the Viper, Ride of Steel, Boomerang, Mind Eraser, Silver Bullet, Sleighride, and many others.

Testing and inspection of the equipment is mostly done during the cold winter months, so as not to impact the park’s operation and ensure a successful and safe opening day. Each piece that needs to be inspected is brought into the Encorus lab for testing. Technicians inspect all welds, axles, wheels, most train vehicles (seating on roller coasters) and sometimes the tracks. Multiple methods are used to inspect the many different components of each attraction for flaws or deterioration due to weather, age, etc. The testing methods used include dry powder testing, wet fluorescent magnetic particle testing, and ultrasonic shear wave testing.

After each piece is tested for defects, Darien Lake staff receives detailing any discovered flaws, accompanied by photographic documentation. All the pieces are returned to Darien Lake staff, who in turn make the repairs.

Since Darien Lake is a popular Western New York attraction, Encorus technicians always find working on any of the equipment to be very interesting, and they take pride in helping to keep patrons of Darien Lake safe.

If your company could benefit from our NDE services, please contact Mike Harris at (716) 592-3980, ext. 168, or [email protected]. For more information about the testing and inspection services Encorus can provide, visit https://encorus.com/services/testing-services/non-destructive-examinations/.