Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era from Lancaster, Pennsylvania • 38

THE MAN WITH THE PLAN Brawny construction workers were ultimately the ones to weld and bolt the ride, but McNulty had to put the roller coaster together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. McNulty grew up in Philadelphia where he recalls constructing Lego houses and drawing buildings as a kid. He has a degree in construction management from the now-defunct Spring Garden College. Before coming to work at llersheypark, most of McNultys construction projects consisted of schools and other public buildings. He has been involved in several projects at the park, including The Lazy River and the wave pool and renovations to the llersliey Lodge and Hotel.

Skyrush is the first roller coaster project McNulty has been a part of, and lie says it's one of the most complicated projects lie's ever been associated with. The chance to work on Skyrush was the fulfillment of a dream for the self-described rollercoaster fanatic. McNulty still remembers his first ride as a kid on a wooden coaster on Hunts Pier in Wildwood, NJ. With Skyrush up and running, McNulty has already started his next project the not-as-glaniorotis renovations to guest rooms at the llersliey Lodge, including adding bathrooms. McNulty says lies ready to tackle another roller coaster project, but when asked if he dreams of rollercoasters, lies quick with an answer.

"No, McNulty says with a laugh. Sometimes nightmares with rain. -Michael Yoder into several high-banked turns and zero-gravity airtime hills along the track. Skyrush is a brand-new coaster design by the Swiss coaster designing and manufacturing firm, Intamin, that incorporates cars with newly developed tloorlcss seats. The design gives riders the feeling of suspended freedom.

McNulty says the interaction between the park's oldest and newest coasters has added another dimension to the riding experience, bringing the two tracks within feet of each other at places. The close proximity of Skyrush to The Comet also added unique challenges to the construction project. But building a coaster around another proved to be a smaller challenge than competing with nature. THE DELUGE COMETH McNulty says the park's Comet Hollow area was unrecognizable just a few months ago a complete muddy mess from the rainstorms of biblical proportions that fell last year. In fact, McNulty points to a series of natural disasters that plagued construction, inc luding August 's East Coast earthquake (although it didn't directly impact the structure) and Halloween's freak snowstorm of several inches.

But it was September's unprecedented flooding from Tropical Storm Lee that had the biggest impact of all, bringing 12 feet of water intoThe Hollow. McNulty wasn't in the park on the day of the serious flooding. Instead, he was stuck at his home in Camp Hill with a flooded basement, watching images of llersheypark show up on the news. As soon as we started the project, the rain started, McNulty says. "Work that was already completed for the concrete footings had to be redone and re-prepped.

Undaunted by nature's wrath, McNulty went to work on the project's sequencing to bring it back on schedule. He says he has no idea how many man hours went into constructing Skyrush, since overtime work was needed to complete it by Memorial Day. Ironically this year's mild winter allowed crews to play catch up. At the project's peak construction phases, as many as 160 people worked directly on Skvrush at one lime. SKYRUSH BY THE NUMBERS Hersheyparks 12th roller coaster officially opened to the public last month.

Here are a few stomach-dropping statistics about the new thrill ride. teve McNulty lives the life of a typical middle aged man two kids, a home, plays roller hockey and picks on a guitar to relax until he goes to work. His job calls for sonic out-of-thc-box thinking. As the senior project manager at llersliey Entertainment Resorts, McNulty oversaw llersheypark most ambitious project to date the $25 million installation of its 12th and newest roller coaster, Skyrush. Since Skyrush's inception in 2010.

McNulty was one member of a team of hundreds from around the world working to make the coaster the park's highest, longest and fastest ride. Ilis responsibilities ranged from coordinating the installation of steel tracks and security cameras to making sure the project ran smoothly and was finished oil time even when Mother Nature didn't want to cooperate. The best thing about construction is that you can see something you've created at the end of the day, McNulty says. If you're an accountant, you have a spread sheet. Here, 1 have a roller coaster.

Its really gratifying." A RUSH THROUGH THE SKY Oil the day before the official opening of llersheyparks I05tli season, the grounds were abuzz with activity. Construction vehicles rumbled on the roads. A siren announced a test run of the park's oldest roller coaster, The Comet. Alongside The Comet stand the pillars, support beams and track of tile newly minted Skyrush. It an imposing structure, dominating the skyline of the park ith its first hill standing 200-feet high.

Now that it is complete, its cars zip down that hill an H5-degree descent at more than 75 nipli. Hying 3,500 feet long ,200 feet tall 75 miles per hour (top speed) seconds in ride time 1,000 riders per hour SI S. miles of drilling for micro pile supports I tropical storm during construction zero-gravity transitions 2 I Fly UJeekly I Lancaster, PA I June 30, 2012.