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Goliath is a
steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its steel Railway track, track, which consists of long steel tubes that are run in pairs, supported by larger steel columns or beams. Trains running along the track typically rely ...
located at the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park in
Cobb County, Georgia Cobb County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is a core county of the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north-central portion of the state. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 766, ...
. The Hyper Coaster model manufactured by
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 Cl ...
climbs to a height of and reaches a maximum speed of . Before its construction, the Great Gasp and Looping Starship attractions were removed to make room for Goliath, which opened to the public on April 1, 2006. It ranked as the fourth-best new ride of 2006 in the annual Golden Ticket Awards publication from ''
Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...
'' and the ninth-best steel roller coaster overall, with its peak ranking of fourth occurring in 2009 and 2011.


History

Plans for Goliath were announced in September 2005, revealing the ride as a steel
hypercoaster A hypercoaster is a roller coaster with a height or drop measuring at least . The term was first coined by Arrow Dynamics and Cedar Point in 1989 with the opening of the world's first hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200, which features a height of . Th ...
from
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 Cl ...
that would be constructed for $20 million (equivalent to $ million in ). By the end of the 2005 season, the rides Great Gasp and Looping Starship were closed and removed from the park to make room for the new roller coaster. Foundations for Goliath's supports began to be poured in September 2005. In early October, track began to arrive at the park; erection of the supports and track began soon after. In November and December, construction on the lift hill was complete. In March 2006, Goliath's trains were delivered to the park. After construction on the track and testing was complete, the roller coaster opened to the public on April 1, 2006.


Ride experience

After being dispatched from the station, the train makes a left hand turn towards the
chain lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from ...
. Once at the top, the train drops back down reaching a maximum speed of . Following the drop, the train goes over the first of its camelback hills, crossing over Georgia Scorcher and providing the ride's tallest drop at . As the train exits the park boundaries, it enters a banked left turn then its second camelback hill with a drop. Next, the train rises back up and enters a 540-degree downward
helix A helix (; ) is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring or the thread of a machine screw. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is for ...
before passing through a set of trim brakes and going over the third camelback hill, this time with a drop. The train then enters a
horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...
leading back into the park, followed by the final three camelback hills with a drop height of , , and , each lower than the previous one, the second of which crosses over Georgia Scorcher's brake run. Following a banked left turn, the train makes a quick drop before entering the final
brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track that utilizes some form of brakes to slow or stop a roller coaster train. There are various types of braking methods employed on roller coasters, including friction brakes, skid brakes, a ...
leading back to the station. One cycle of the ride lasts about three and a half minutes.


Characteristics


Track

The steel track of Goliath is approximately long and covers an area of about . The height of the lift is . The roller coaster has no inversions, though it does feature six camelback hills and a 540-degree helix. The track was painted orange while the supports were painted teal upon opening. The track was repainted turquoise with the supports painted grey before the 2025 season. Goliath was manufactured by Clermont Steel Fabricators located in Batavia, Ohio.


Trains

Goliath operates with two steel and fiberglass trains. Each train has nine cars which can seat four riders in a single row, for a total of 36 riders per train; each seat has its own individual lap-bar restraint. This configuration allows the ride to achieve a theoretical capacity of 1,220 riders per hour. The structure of the trains is painted orange and teal, with matching colored restraints and seats.


Reception

Joel Bullock from The Coaster Critic and Mike from NewsPlusNotes both praised the
g-force The g-force or gravitational force equivalent is a Specific force, mass-specific force (force per unit mass), expressed in Unit of measurement, units of standard gravity (symbol ''g'' or ''g''0, not to be confused with "g", the symbol for ...
s experienced while going through the helix, as well as the amount of airtime Goliath has. Bullock described Goliath as "not only the park’s best roller coaster, but arguably the best coaster in the South East (south of Virginia)." Mike Collins from ''CoasterRadio.com'' particularly enjoyed the section of the roller coaster that takes riders outside of the park boundaries. He also said that, " oliath isa fun and fast coaster. It’s all about the airtime... and you get a lot of it." In Goliath's opening year, it was voted the fourth best new ride for 2006 and the ninth best steel roller coaster in ''
Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...
's'' Golden Ticket Awards. The roller coaster peaked at position four in 2009 and 2011.


Incidents

On July 27, 2006, a 45-year-old man was found unresponsive and not breathing on Goliath after losing consciousness during the ride. Park employees began to treat the man before he was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. After an inspection showed that the roller coaster was operating properly, it was reopened to the public.


References


External links


Official Page From Six Flags Over Georgia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goliath Roller coasters in Georgia (U.S. state) Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters introduced in 2006 Six Flags Over Georgia Hypercoasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard