Scots fire up Ferrari of theme parks

IT'S not exactly made in Scotland from girders. But this extraordinary structure now rising from the desert sands of Abu Dhabi has been built by Scots engineers.

• An aerial view of Ferrari World gives some impression of its size. Above, the centre of the complex under construction, and a distinctive Ferrari rollercoaster which will allow visitors to race to 140mph in four seconds. Picture: Complimentary

The 1 billion Ferrari World, with its outer shell painted in the traditional red of the iconic car brand, will become the world's largest indoor theme park when it is opened later this year.

Petrol heads and other visitors will be propelled on a flume ride through the heart of a giant Ferrari 599 engine and experience the G-force acceleration of the fastest roller coaster on Earth.

All this will take place under the huge steel shell adorned by a yellow Ferrari logo which also covers a "small city" of 24 air-conditioned buildings on an island off the coast of the Middle Eastern emirate.

Some idea of the scale of the project comes from engineering images which show that if dropped into the centre of Edinburgh, it would cover an area from the bottom of the Castle walls to Queen Street in the New Town.

Now the engineering company which won the contract to turn the architects' vision into reality have been authorised by the Abu Dhabi government to talk about the project for the first time.

For the past three years, dozens of engineers from the Edinburgh and Glasgow offices of Ramboll have been toiling on overcoming the complexities of constructing the giant dome and the mini-city inside on a surface, sand, which since biblical times has been the choice of the "foolish man." Ramboll, founded in Denmark, is a global engineering consultancy with around 9,000 employees worldwide.

Alasdair MacKerron, right, the project manager, said: "It has been a great challenge but also a great experience. The scale and ambition is fantastic. The building is big – it's around 750m from one of the three outermost points to the next.

"It has been a real team effort and a great challenge but we're all very proud of what we have achieved. I would like to think we are a continuing part of that tradition of Scots engineering that has helped build so much around the world."

"There are few places like Abu Dhabi and I think the public will love Ferrari World."

The roof – in the classic body shape of a Ferrari GT and made from a steel frame covered by a painted aluminium skin – was built in four sections with three "arms" stretching out to provide shade for the rollercoasters. Riders will, however, be pitched from air-conditioned temperatures out into the heat of the open desert before returning to relative coolness.

The theme park is located on Yas Island, on the north side of Abu Dhabi which is the richest of the United Arab Emirates and one of the world's largest oil producers. Its rulers, the fabulously wealthy al-Nahyan family, recently had to bail out neighbouring Dubai which hit financial difficulties during the recession and its effects on the Middle-East construction boom.

They want the artificially-created island on which the emirate's new Formula One track has also been built, to become a global hub which will attract visitors from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

When the attraction opens in the autumn, the highlight will be the world's fastest rollercoaster, emulating the thrill of being in a Ferrari F1 by accelerating from 0-140mph in four seconds. There will also be a G-force experience which will fire guests 62 metres up through the roof and back down again.

Those with a competitive streak will enjoy the GT rollercoaster, which will send two competing carriages sprinting along twisting parallel tracks on a race to the finish line.

The Italian car company founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1947 hopes the theme park will help market its luxury brand in one of the world's wealthiest regions. In recent years, the company has expanded into a range of Ferrari brand merchandise such as sunglasses, laptop computers and even bicycles.

Tourism experts said the theme park was likely to become a major global attraction. John Lennon, the Moffat professor of tourism development at Glasgow Caledonian University, said he was proud that Scots engineers had helped build Ferrari World.

"Is there another theme park in the world based on a type of car? No. But look at Legoland and their success. That is a theme park built around a plastic brick.

"I think Ferrari have been clever, designing it in such a way that it will appeal to children and families and more than just the petrol heads. Ferrari is a high-profile brand that's why Abu Dhabi has hitched themselves to it."

Before construction could even begin 4,000 concrete pilings had to be driven down through 25 metres of sand and fixed into the bedrock below to provide solid foundations.

The heart of the structure is a vast concrete slab 79 metres in diameter, which, to be stable, had to be constructed in a single pouring session which lasted 27 hours and involved 900 truck loads of cement.

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