ONE OF THE MOST EXACTING large-scale concrete precasting operations anywhere was required for the new monorail system installed at Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif.
The project called for the manufacture of 240 precast concrete units, 120 beams and 120 columns. It entailed the casting of twisting, curving concrete beams 40 ft long with a maximum surface tolerance of 14 in.—and with end tolerances so close that when placed end to end atop the supporting columns, the beams form a continuous 3830 ft long track with no more than %4 in, separation between any connecting sections. This small gap provides for expansion and contraction of the concrete.
The monorail is part of the $5 million-plus development recently added at Disneyland. The entire development, which also included a submarine ride housed in a massive underground concrete rigid frame, 145-ft scale model of the Matterhorn, and redesigned autopias, combined to make a major construction project.
This 4/5 mile "concrete railway in the sky" consists of precast I-section girders which serve as track, carrying beam and guide rail, all supported by precast concrete columns resting on piles 25 ft deep. With the exception of a few piers cast in place in the roof deck of the submarine cavern structure, all columns and beams (including those for the 400 ft spur line) were precast at the Carbon Dubbs Co, plant in Stanton, Calif. The entire operation, highly precision work that it was, was done on a rush basis to meet the Disneyland schedule.
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