Bolliger & Mabillard

Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, both of whom had worked for Giovanola.

B&M has pioneered several new ride technologies, most notably the inverted roller coaster and the box-section track. Bolliger & Mabillard left Giovanola, but the company continued to use that track design; their roller coasters, Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Titan at Six Flags Over Texas, use a track style very similar to B&M's.

thumb|An inverted model with the curved drop, common on inverted roller coasters, [[Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great Adventure]]

Launch

In 1987, the pair decided to leave and create their own company.

Following that project, Mampe asked the new company to design and build a stand-up roller coaster for Six Flags Great America, similar to Shockwave at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Now with a company to manufacture the track, B&M built its first roller coaster, a stand-up roller coaster, Iron Wolf, which opened in 1990 at Six Flags Great America.

Development

Bolliger & Mabillard also invented the Floorless Coaster and the Dive Coaster. The company also built its first launched roller coaster, The Incredible Hulk Coaster which is at Universal Islands of Adventure. In 2010, B&M unveiled its new Wing Coaster and premiered the prototype model, named Raptor, at Gardaland in 2011. It has two seats on each side on the car that hang riders over the sides of the track. In 2015, B&M constructed Thunderbird at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, its first in-house launched coaster. there are fifteen in operation. The company has made other contributions to the roller coaster industry. The company built the trains for the Psyclone, a now-demolished wooden roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The trains were later used on the park's Colossus wooden roller coaster (until it was refurbished by Rocky Mountain Construction), but were only used during October each year. The trains faced backward and usually raced against trains on the second track, which ran forward.

In 2013, the company launched the construction of Banshee, the world's longest inverted roller coaster. B&M supplied new trains for Steel Dragon 2000, built by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing in 2000. As of 2025, Bolliger & Mabillard has built 124 operating roller coasters worldwide. Of these, twelve were listed in Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards Top 50 Steel Coasters List, including the number one selection, Fury 325.

Bolliger & Mabillard completed its 100th coaster in 2016.

Features

thumb|right|[[Raptor (Cedar Point)|Raptor's cobra roll, a first for inverted roller coasters]]

Bolliger & Mabillard currently manufactures eleven different roller coaster styles: Stand-Up Coaster, Inverted Coaster, Floorless Coaster, Flying Coaster, Hyper Coaster, Giga Coaster, Dive Coaster, Sitting Coaster, Wing Coaster, Family Coaster and most recently, the Surf Coaster. Bolliger & Mabillard has been involved in developing new technologies and concepts in roller coasters almost since its inception. It has often worked with engineer Werner Stengel and with designers and management of client theme parks.

Lift hills

left|thumb|Diagram comparing a standard lift hill and the B&M pre-drop lift hill.|305x305px

Early Bolliger & Mabillard coasters feature an element known as a "pre-drop", a short drop after the top of the lift hill and before the start of the first drop, designed to reduce stress on the lift chain. The flat section between the pre-drop and the first drop serves as a shelf to support the weight of the train, reducing related stresses on the chain. On most coasters without a pre-drop, the weight of the train tends to pull on the lift chain as it begins its descent because the latter half of the train is still being lifted by the chain. Pre-drops have not been used on the company's Dive or Flying coasters, or on hyper coasters built after 1999. OzIris at Parc Astérix was the first B&M inverted roller coaster that does not feature a pre-drop. Ever since, no coaster built by B&M has featured a pre-drop because the chain accelerates to acquire the same speed as the train when it is being taken over by gravity after it passes the crest.

Trains

Most of Bolliger & Mabillard's roller coaster trains use four-abreast seating. Each car has one row of four seats, while the train length can vary between coasters. All of the company's coaster models, except the Dive Coaster, Wing Coaster, Family Inverted Coaster and Surf Coaster use this configuration. The Dive Coaster uses six, seven, eight or ten-abreast seating, with two or three rows of seats. For example, Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, uses ten seats in three rows, while Krake at Heide Park uses six-across seating in three rows. On recent hyper coaster projects, B&M has used a new car design that has two rows of two seats; the two seats in the rear of the car pushed out from the centerline so that the four seats resemble a V formation. This formation has only been used on Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland, Diamondback at Kings Island, Thunder Striker at Carowinds, and Shambhala: Expedición al Himalaya at PortAventura Park, in the resort PortAventura World. In 2013, B&M introduced a new car design that has two rows of two seats, however, they are not in a V formation. Bolliger & Mabillard also uses over-the-shoulder restraints, in that the restraint is placed over the riders' shoulders and sits and extends to the riders' laps. This type of restraint is used on Dive, Inverted, Sitting, Flying, Floorless, Stand-up and Wing Coasters. Bolliger & Mabillard has recently begun using a vest like over the shoulder restraint, which reduces headbanging found on the older, more common padded over the shoulder restraints.

Track

thumb|[[Computer-aided design|CAD model of B&M's box-spined track]]

Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters use track where the running rails are connected to a square box spine constructed from flat triangles. The size of the track varies depending on the ride's trains, Models such as the Flying, Wing and Dive Coaster have heavier trains which require a larger track size, while models with lighter trains, such as the Stand-Up and Hyper Coaster, do not and use a smaller sized track. Beginning with Kumba in 1993, friction brakes have also been used as trim brakes that regulate the speed of the train while it is still navigating the course.

Magnetic brakes

Magnetic brakes provide smoother deceleration than friction brakes; most B&M roller coasters built after 2001 (starting with Nitro) have at least one set of magnetic brakes. Magnetic brakes do not make contact with the train. Metal fins that run parallel to the train are fitted on the vehicle chassis between the wheel assemblies. As the fins pass through the brakes, the magnetic field created by the brakes slows the train. Magnetic brakes have also been used as an alternate type of trim brake on B&M roller coasters such as Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland.

Water brakes

thumb|300px|[[SheiKra's splashdown element]]

thumb|363x363px|An illustration of B&M's water brakes

Water brakes were first introduced on SheiKra at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in 2005. Water brakes can only be used when a splashdown element, in which a body of water surrounds a section of track, is present within the layout of the roller coaster. When scoops on the last car of each train come in contact with the surrounding water, the train slows down and the water is sprayed several feet into the air behind it.

Roller coaster models

According to the Roller Coaster DataBase, B&M has built 11 different roller coaster models, with their dive coaster model having slight train variations on some coasters. Below is a list of B&M's distinct coaster models.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!Model

!Debut

|Sit-Down

|1993

|Hyper

|1999

|Stand-Up

|1990

|Dive

|1998

|Family

|2024

|Family Inverted

|2014

|Floorless

|1999

|Flying

|2002

|Giga

|2012

|Inverted

|1992

|Surf

|2023

|Wing

|2011

Notable roller coasters

thumb|150px|right|Vortex at Carowinds, a Stand-up Coaster model

thumb|150px|Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland, a Giga Coaster model

thumb|150px|right|Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great Adventure, an Inverted Coaster model

thumb|150px|right|Dragon Khan at PortAventura Park, a Sitting Coaster model

thumb|150px|Oblivion at Alton Towers, the first Dive Coaster model

thumb|150px|right|Hydra the Revenge at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, a Floorless Coaster model

thumb|150px|right|Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland, a Hyper Coaster model

thumb|150px|right|Manta at SeaWorld Orlando, a Flying Coaster model

thumb|150px|right|Raptor at Gardaland, the first Wing Coaster model

thumb|150px|Silver Bullet at Knott's Berry Farm, an Inverted Coaster model

According to the Roller Coaster DataBase, Bolliger & Mabillard has built 136 roller coasters since its founding in 1988, beginning with Iron Wolf, which opened at Six Flags Great America in 1990.

| Batman: The Ride || Inverted Coaster || Six Flags Great America || United States || 1992 || || First build of this model ||

| Dragon Khan || Sitting Coaster || PortAventura Park || Spain || 1995 || || Record for most inversions (8) at opening ||

| Montu || Inverted Coaster || Busch Gardens Tampa Bay || United States || 1996 || || One of the tallest and fastest inverted coasters at opening ||

| Alpengeist || Inverted Coaster || Busch Gardens Williamsburg || United States || 1997 || || Tallest of its class ||

| Oblivion || Dive Coaster || Alton Towers || United Kingdom || 1998 || || First build of this model ||

| The Riddler's Revenge || Stand-Up Coaster || Six Flags Magic Mountain || United States || 1998 || || Largest and fastest of its class ||

| Medusa Formerly Bizarro || Floorless Coaster|| Six Flags Great Adventure || United States || 1999 || || First build of this model ||

| Incredible Hulk || Sitting Coaster || Universal Islands of Adventure || United States || 1999 || || First launched B&M attraction ||

| Dragon Challenge Formerly Dueling Dragons || Inverted Coaster || Universal Islands of Adventure || United States || 1999 || || First B&M project to be demolished ||

| Apollo's Chariot || Hyper Coaster || Busch Gardens Williamsburg || United States || 1999 || || First build of this model ||

| Galactica Formerly Air || Flying Coaster || Alton Towers || United Kingdom || 2002 || || First build of this model ||

|Silver Bullet

|Inverted Coaster

|Knott's Berry Farm

|United States

|2004

|First Inverted Coaster to have magnetic brakes on its brake run and an over-banked curve

| Dominator Formerly Batman: Knight Flight || Floorless Coaster || Kings Dominion Geauga Lake || United States || 2008 2000 to 2007 || || Longest of its class ||

| Raptor || Wing Coaster || Gardaland || Italy || 2011 || || First build of this model ||

| Leviathan || Giga Coaster || Canada's Wonderland || Canada || 2012 || || First B&M roller coaster to be classified as a "gigacoaster" ||

| Rougarou Formerly Mantis || Floorless Coaster Formerly Stand-Up Coaster || Cedar Point || United States || 2015 1996 to 2014 || || First instance of B&M changing train type ||

| Fury 325 || Giga Coaster || Carowinds || United States || 2015 || || World's tallest non-launched roller coaster ||

| Yukon Striker || Dive Coaster || Canada's Wonderland || Canada || 2019 || || Tallest of its class ||

| Pipeline: The Surf Coaster|| Surf Coaster (Stand Up) || SeaWorld Orlando || United States || 2023 || || First launched stand-up roller coaster ||

References

External links

Listing of B&M rides at the Roller Coaster DataBase