Rising Tide Bar Article

Rising Tide Bar

The recently launched Royal Caribbean Cruise Liner Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise liner in history, features the unique Rising Tide Bar, a cocktail bar that travels vertically linking the Royal Promenade with the Central Park. This is a first for land or sea.

Serapid's involvement in this prestigious project began with an invitation from the renowned architect Tom Wright of WS Atkins to look at a concept for a bar which travelled in free space between two areas with the Royal Carribean Cruise Liner Oasis of the Seas.

The original concept was for the lift to sit on a large hydraulic ram, but for many reasons this was not a viable option. Within a few hours a concept using Serapid's LinkLift vertical lifting columns had been created. The lifting columns were integrated with guide rails and safety equipment in four aerofoil shaped columns which were close to eleven metres tall, reaching from the Royal Promenade to the Central Park.
The bar is oval in shape and contains a fully functioning bar and its staff, and can accommodate fifty-five patrons. The bar is surrounded by a glass safety rail which also provides a surface at which people can rest their drinks and look out over the vast space that is the Royal promenade. When the bar is in its lowest position at Royal Promenade level it appears to float in a lagoon of water. Once on board the passengers travel serenely up with an ever changing vista as dancing fountains play off the underside of the lift.
The complete bar structure weighs close to forty tonnes and is lifted by four LinkLift 100R columns each capable of lifting ten tonnes silently and smoothly over its ten metre travel. The lifting system had be designed to meet both the EN 81 lift regulations and was also subjected to independent inspection by DNV to ensure that it met the regulations for the lifts used in marine applications. Safety was paramount, and in addition to the standard lift safety brakes fitted on each of the guides each column has an additional disc brake on the input shaft and two more brakes on the motor.
The LinkLift operating chains are cleverly stored using custom designed magazines fitted in to small areas between deck levels.
Serapid worked closely with the architect and their lift integrator in Finland to ensure that the project was executed in the specified time and met the stringent safety requirements.
The Rising Tide Bar is the first travelling bar in the world setting new standards in what can be done with linear motion. Serapid is currently supplying equipment for a 300 tonne capacity lift in Shanghai which follows on from its success at the opening ceremony of the Olympics where the company designed and supplied LinkLifts for ten, fifty six tonne capacity lifts, which were located underground in the centre of the stadium.
Let Serapid work with you to develop more 'firsts' by incorporating large moving features in to hotels, theme parks and signature buildings across the globe.