Elevating waterpark entrances with cast concrete and artificial rock

by arslan_ahmed | February 18, 2024 10:00 am

[1]

By Zayvian Camacho

In July 2023, Atlantic City became home to one of the largest, beachfront, indoor waterparks in the world. Known as The Island Waterpark at the Showboat Resort, the 11,148 m² (120,000 sf) oasis includes 11 waterslides, six bars, and a 1,921 m² (6,500 ft) lazy river—altogether holding more than 1 million L (317,000 gal) of water. At the entrance of the waterpark, Rico Rock designed and built the cast concrete rock water feature that welcomes visitors.

It all started back in January of 2022, when Rico Rock was exhibiting at the NESPA Pool and Spa Show and found themselves in meetings with project managers of this new development.

“We aren’t normally the builders on this type of project, but in this case, we ended up being very involved as a sort of joint venture [JV] with American Pond company in New Jersey, who has been a Rico rock dealer for more than 20 years,” says Bruce Riley, owner of Rico Rock. The Rico Rock builders ended up taking the lead on the project because of the job’s complexity.

American Pond had crews available just a short 1.5 hours from the jobsite, making it easier for them to be the primary contact and primary project manager. They used their local connections, especially to unions, which made working with the general contractors and subcontractors smoother and easier.

Off-site construction

The biggest decision for Rico Rock was to make the steel frames in Texas at their facility and ship them to the job site. This also ended up being the only way to keep the project within budget.

Previously, to reduce the budget from more than half the original estimates, the project was scaled down. The overall heights went from 9 to 6 m (32 to 20 ft), but the overall “mass” of the project stayed about the same. The number of water features were cut in half and the waterfalls on the backside were cut out entirely. It became apparent the central focus was on a dramatic waterfall as guests entered the facility.

The team listened to what the contractor wanted to achieve and made suggestions based on their ideas, while keeping the timing and budget in mind as well. After going over logistics, they determined it would be best to build the water feature offsite at the Rico Rock facility in Texas, which resulted in considerable savings for the project, both in time and labour.

The entrance water feature

The water feature at the entrance of the water park is 12 m (40 ft) wide x 6 m (20 ft) deep and 5 m (19 ft) high. The design features sheets of broken water that cascade over the cast concrete artificial rock, creating a dramatic effect as these features are stylized into three parts flowing from separate sections of the waterfall. The overall design is more stylized than naturalistic, and sheer waterfalls would not be nearly as appealing as the approach that was taken here with the rock water features.

[2]

There is 2,271 to 3,082 L (600 to 800 gal) of water per minute flowing in the water feature positioned at the entrance. Lighting is built into the water feature, within basins and the waterfall ledges, to create an even more stunning look after dark. A great sense of excitement comes directly from the waterfalls—and the lighting used on those waterfalls is central to the mood of the entire resort’s water features.

This water feature was built on 10 steel frames, most of them 2.4 m (8 ft) wide and tall, and about 50.8 to 203 mm (3 to 8 in.) deep. Once the water feature was built, it required three completely loaded trucks to move the water feature to Atlantic City. The structures were semi-finished, and to protect them from damage, large rubber pads, which are commonly used in horse stalls, were used to cushion the steel frames so they did not come in direct contact with the steel of the truck frame. It was also important for the material to stay within the height and width shipping requirements across multiple states.

By contrast, if the contractor had used traditional shotcrete rock, the water feature would have been more costly to build and would have taken more time to construct. Shotcrete also requires much deeper footings and more time to install. In addition, the weight of a shotcrete water feature of this size might have caused additional structural design issues that were avoided by using cast concrete artificial rock. The rock panels are made of a high-tech, thin shell concrete that weighs less than one-third of the weight of traditional shotcrete.

Shotcrete is the better choice for low profile features where weight is not an issue. For example, in this project, major basins were made of shotcrete material, but the rock fade was all fibre reinforced concrete. The 6 m (20 ft) height of this project was much easier to achieve with a structural steel approach, using the rock panels as the outside finish.

The walls within the waterpark

In addition to the impressive water feature at the entrance of the waterpark resort, Rico Rock was also asked to create several rock walls that flanked the lazy river and other parks of the resort’s interior. The waterpark is housed within a structure with a retractable roof that opens when the sun is out and closed on rainy days or when the weather is cooler.

“The Rico Rock cast concrete artificial rock is a proven solution for aquatic facilities around the world, both large and small, that are exposed to UV and chemicals and are built to last and look terrific for many years,” adds Riley.

The durability of cast concrete

Since natural rocks, boulders, and stone are quite cumbersome, backyard landscapers and pool professionals are now regularly using cast concrete artificial rock to create the look and feel of natural stone around pools because it is lighter and easier to work with.

[3]

Cast concrete is very dense and is easy to waterproof. It resists erosion and calcium deposits better than shotcrete. Artificial rock also holds up to salt systems better than natural rock, and salt chlorine generators have almost become the standard in aquatic facilities.

If strong colours are used, there will be facing over the years. The major theme parks have full-time maintenance staff, however they often do not want to be bothered with annual touch-up work. Most projects should go four to five years before any touch-up colour is needed.

Choosing artificial rock

Artificial rock is very lightweight; it is at about 10 per cent the weight of real rock. In addition, artificial rock often comes in kits to create water features that provide a consistent finished look, so consumers can always get what they are expecting. Even if the consumer does not specifically ask for a cave, grotto, waterfall, or jumper rock for their pool, these unique features visually help builders integrate nature into the backyard landscape and should be suggested to the homeowner.

Creating water features with natural stone can be unpredictable. Builders often spend all day arranging the natural boulders and then clients can ask to see the stones arranged in another way.  Much like artwork, working with natural stone can often be dubious and can lead to a rapid increase in labour costs. Using a component water feature made of artificial rock eliminates this circumstance.

More importantly, these water features can be built in one to two days with certainty, which is faster than trying to build with natural stone. Artificial rock is easier to work with, the colour matches, and the work involved is predictable because these rocks are designed to be used specifically around pools and to build swimming pool water features.

The labour savings factor alone makes the component system extremely price competitive in the marketplace, not to mention attractive to builders to stay on schedule and maximize their building season.

Artificial waterfalls weigh far less than the equivalent in natural stone and cost less to transport and install—not to mention the final look and assembly is much easier to control and ensure proper waterflow. The Rico Rock cast concrete rocks component systems also look real because they are cast from actual rocks to provide the same shape, character, and texture as natural stone.

The real artisan work comes in the cutting, sizing and placement of the cast concrete rocks. Many experienced pool professionals place natural stones along either side of the waterfall and work to mimic and match the colour and texture of those natural stones with the cast concrete stones. Adding planting around the water feature will also help to truly replicate the look of a natural waterfall along a pond where plants grow on the rocks.

Author

Zayvian Camacho is part of the design and fabrication team at Rico Rock, developing new climbing wall, water features, and working on commercial aquatic and non-aquatic construction projects. Camacho has studied landscape design and has overseen construction for dozens of unique cast concrete artificial rock projects in backyards, hotel resorts, bowling alleys, zoos, and more. Camacho finds his rock construction work meshes perfectly with his passion for rock climbing. He can be reached at zayvian@ricorock.com.

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/features/elevating-waterpark-entrances-with-cast-concrete-and-artificial-rock/

---