Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 120 - OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE, SAFETY FIRE COMMISSIONER AND INDUSTRIAL LOAN COMMISSIONER › Chapter 120-3 - RULES OF SAFETY FIRE COMMISSIONER › Subject 120-3-27 - RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR AMUSEMENT RIDE SAFETY › Rule 120-3-27-.27 - Water Flumes, Structural Design

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1) Structural Design. The slides structural
				design and materials shall be in accord with generally accepted good structural
				engineering practices and shall provide a durable structure which will safely
				sustain all weights and pressures (dead load, live load, liquid, hydrostatic
				and earth pressures) for the expected operating life of the structure. The
				flumes and pools shall be watertight and their surfaces shall be inert,
				nontoxic, smooth and easy to clean. The flumes shall be designed or ventilated,
				or both, to prevent a possible hazardous concentration of toxic disinfectant
				fumes.
(2) Dimensional Design: All
				curves, turns and tunnels within the path of a slide flume shall be designed so
				that body impact with the walls of the flume or ceiling of a tunnel does not
				present a hazard. The slide flume shall be banked to keep the slider's body
				safely inside the flume or curve under all foreseeable circumstances.
(3) All slopes within the path of the slide
				flume shall be designed so that the slider's speed does not exceed a level
				where a safe equilibrium of dynamic forces cannot be maintained on any curve or
				turn within that path, as specified by (2) above.
(4) In sections of the elevated flumes where,
				contrary to intended use, a slider may stop, there shall be safety walls or
				other provisions to keep the slider from falling out of the flume.
(5) The construction, the dimensions and the
				mechanical attachment of slide flume bed components shall be such that the
				surface of the slide flume is continuous and smooth for the entire
				length.
(6) Wall thickness of
				flumes should be designed so that the continuous and combined action of
				hydrostatic, dynamic and static loads and normal environmental deterioration do
				not cause structural failures which could result in injury.
(7) Flume exit sections shall be designed to
				assure safe entry speeds, angles and stopping distances.
(8) The distance between the centerline of a
				flume exit and a splash pool side wall shall be at least 5 feet. The distance
				between sides of adjacent flume terminuses shall be at least 6 feet center line
				to center line. The distance between a flume exit and the opposite side of the
				splash pool, excluding steps, shall be at least 20 feet.
(a) High-Speed Slides: Special provisions
				shall be made in flume exit design, pool depth and pool width, measured from
				flume exit, to safely accommodate slide specifically designed with greater
				slopes or other special features which allow an unusually rapid
				descent.
(b) Multiple-exit slides:
				Multiple-exit slides shall have parallel exits or be constructed so that their
				centerlines do not intersect for a distance of at least 20 feet from the exists
				of each flume. If slides with nonparallel exits discharge bathers at a high
				speed, the centerlines should not intersect for at least 30 feet.