Welcome to the construction archive of Secret Weapon 7! Here you can take a look back at the coverage TowersTimes provided of The Smiler, from initial work starting in May 2012, right through to opening week in May 2013. Whilst covering this project TowersTimes took the unprecedented step of chartering our own private plane to obtain extensive aerial photography. We also worked alongside the Alton Towers Resort PR Department at key stages of the project to obscure elements of our photos to help keep the inversion record a secret until the resort was ready to reveal this themselves.
6th May
Construction walls went up and early land clearing of the former Black Hole site started.
27th May
Land clearance continues ready for major construction to begin.
16th June
Not much has changed whilst the final stages of planning permission are approved.
24th June
Ground clearance continues at a slow pace.
1st July
Ground clearance continues at a slow pace.
15th July
11th August
Deep excavations are underway.
4th October
Marketing has gone into full swing as the season is approaching its end. Banners have been updated across the park and construction is moving ahead with a very large hole appearing.
22nd October
Construction is progressing with extensive work on the large pit that has been dug out. Concrete retaining walls are also being installed. Supports and track are now expected on site after the season ends.
27th October
Construction continues with more concrete pouring and track arrives.
29th October
Track continues to arrive.
31st October
New track is now arriving on a daily basis.
2nd November
A final look at the construction site before the end of the season and a look at the ever growing delivery of coaster track.
3rd November
The first in a planned series of flyovers of the construction site over the closed season.
6th November
A further delivery of track and ride parts.
15th November
Track is now visible in several areas of the resort when accessing the hotels and waterpark.
21st November
Another flyover showing extensive progress on The Smiler site over winter.
5th December
An update from both ground and air showing further deliveries as well as progress on the construction site.
8th December
A delivery of what appears to be one of the rides brake runs.
10th December
Further progress from the air.
23rd December
Further deliveries of assorted ride parts.
31st December
A ground level view of the construction site to close out 2012.
3rd January
Our first update of 2013 shows some unusual construction parts as well as continuing track deliveries.
6th January
A bonus update showing vertical construction is progressing on the lower end of the site.
13th January
In our first full aerial update of 2013 we can see that track work is coming on very fast with the ‘Staffordshire Knot’ element completed. Work on the station and rest of the site is also progressing.
17th January
A snowy construction update.
8th February
It has been a few weeks since our last update due to weather conditions, however we’re back in the sky once again. Construction has progressed with considerable work on the footers of the ride, extending up to the top of X Sector. A repaint of Oblivion is also underway as you can see in these photos.
12th February
A large and unusual track section has arrived.
15th February
Not much time has passed since our previous update but we couldn’t wait to show you the latest progress on the construction site. Whilst there hasn’t been any visible track installation we have a large amount of progress with concrete pouring and footer installation.
21st February
Progress on ground work has picked up with the majority of the footers and concrete now in place. The station framework is also nearing completion. The track near the top of the site above the toilets has also started to be installed. We also have a first look at ‘the marmaliser’ theming element.
27th February
With groundwork nearly complete track installation is now progressing at a much faster pace. In this update you can see the brake run has been installed along with the airgates in the ride station.
3rd March
Track work has started to pick up with the installation of further elements. Landscaping has begun on the surrounding area with fencing and paving going in.
12th March
In this update you can see work is continuing on the track with another corkscrew now in place since our last update. In addition The Smiler’s logo has replaced the Fanta one located at the bottom of Oblivions drop, the theming piece has started to go in on X Sectors central island. Lastly, the middle part of The Marmaliser has appeared on the construction site.
16th March
With the park now open we can get a closer look from the ground of the construction as it ramps up towards an anticipated May opening.
6th April
We’ve been back in the air again and we’re pleased to present the photos from todays flight. We also take a closer look at The Marmaliser, Station work and an amazing looking bunny hop from on the ground.
13th April
Today saw the installation of a major new component – the support structure for the vertical lift hill. We’ve also taken a look at the rest of the site including The Marmaliser theming element which is nearing completion.
24th April
The Smiler track was completed earlier today so we immediately took to the skies to bring you the first look at the completed ride track.
14th May
Today we take a final look at The Smiler as we race towards the opening date of May 23rd. Ground work is nearly complete with full landscaping now underway. The Marmaliser is receiving finishing touches to its theming and testing of the ride is continuing.
