[Question] Fumigation

[Bob Weaver]

Don't they ever have to fumigate any of the wooden structures in Disneyland? Drywood termites and subterranean termites are common in California and a colony can become well-established in a wooden building only 10 years after a fumigation.

[Imagineer Scott]

Re: Fumigation

No, they never fumigate. Hiring Timon and Pumbaa to do the job is cheaper.

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Fumigation

Well the Matterhorn has a great deal of wood in it and it's now 50 years old - if it were a house it would have probably been tented and gassed twice by now.

[leopardchucks]

Re: Fumigation

Well the Matterhorn has a great deal of wood in it and it's now 50 years old - if it were a house it would have probably been tented and gassed twice by now.

I don't know how much wood the Matterhorn has in it. The main structure is steel. It was built by American Bridge Co. And I believe the majority of the rest of it is concrete. So any rotten wood really wouldn't compromise it structurally.

[leopardchucks]

Re: Fumigation

Okay...so the Matterhorn project used enough lumber to build 27 homes, but according to the book Disney Mountains: Imagineering At It's Peak by Jason Surrell, it only for shaping the exterior faux-rocks. All the wood was buried under tons of concrete. The wood was only for creating a shape for the cement to cover.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Re: Fumigation

The other buildings probably get tented gassed and uncovered overnight, anyways.

[Bruce Bergman]

Re: Fumigation

Okay...so the Matterhorn project used enough lumber to build 27 homes, but according to the book Disney Mountains: Imagineering At It's Peak by Jason Surrell, it only for shaping the exterior faux-rocks. All the wood was buried under tons of concrete. The wood was only for creating a shape for the cement to cover.

That was true when they built the Matterhorn mountain, but time (and rust, and wood rot) marches on.

From around 1990 to 2005 the Matterhorn was closed down for a long refurb every winter where they replaced all the tubular steel tracks a section at a time - but in another few years they will have to start that cycle all over again, the tracks are subject to a lot of fatigue.

At the same time they would remove and rebuild a section of the outside stucco "rock" skin each year. They removed the rotten support wood that was forming and framing the outer skin, and replaced it totally with structural steel stringers, lather's channel and steel studs, and formed steel wire reinforcement. And they reworked the skin where the expansion cracks overlap so it seals the weather out better and the steel won't rust.

Oh, and they reinforced the joints on the original steel main skeleton one area at a time, just like required on modern high-rise buildings - remember, we're in earthquake country. And I heard rumors they reworked the interior elevator to Passenger standards for evacuations and Tink getting to the top, and reworked the emergency exit walkways to the elevator and stairwells.

--<< Bruce >>--

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Fumigation

I see an awful lot of wood not covered by concrete...

[Bruce Bergman]

Re: Fumigation

Don't they ever have to fumigate any of the wooden structures in Disneyland? Drywood termites and subterranean termites are common in California and a colony can become well-established in a wooden building only 10 years after a fumigation.

Carnation Plaza Gardens food stand they just bulldozed. Way too far gone with termites and rot, it was thrown up as a "Temporary" structure for 5 to maybe 10 years, and left up for 40. Same thing with the old Fort on TSI, they didn't treat the logs before they built it, and no barriers.

The Plaza Inn building they rehabbed it all from the inside out - stripped the interior walls and replaced the rotten wood from the inside, leaving the exterior mostly untouched.

There is also Orange Oil (pure D-Limonene) injection or heat/cold treatments that can be done with the building (mostly) in service and operational. That will kill all the termites without requiring tenting.

If they tented and used a gas fumigant like Dow Vikane, they have to close the building for three full days - two days for the fumigant to do it's job, and one for it to thoroughly air out before people could be allowed inside again. There are some very strict California laws on this.

--<< Bruce >>--

[Bruce Bergman]

Re: Fumigation

I see an awful lot of wood not covered by concrete... <Snip pictures>

One, check the date on that picture, it's a good fifteen or twenty years old. Vladi Divac is long gone from the scene.

Two, I know they did a lot of rework on the lower levels of the mountain where the ride is, part of the problem was they had to widen the "tunnels" for reach-envelope clearance along the track. After the big Rehab when they filled in the Skyway holes and added the inside walls and finished the interior off as "caves" there were a few spots where a really tall person could touch the walls, and that is no longer allowed period. They had to move the outside wall out a bit to make room for the 'new' inside wall.

And I know they had to do a lot of work on the mountain walls at the very top where Tink flies off from with the doors and the new flight winch and trolley system, and the "rooftop" area at the peak.

But I don't know how much work they did at those mid levels around the half-court floor - if the wood was solid and rot-free at that level, they might well have left it alone. It *is* the only area that is easy to access from the inside.

--<< Bruce >>--