Tulsa Skyride contractor explains halt to the ride's disassembly
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — NewsChannel 8 continues to cover the delayed effort to disassemble the old Tulsa Skyride gondola system at Expo Square as the contractor hired to dismantle the ride, Ride-Trader, speaks out.
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Ride-Trader CEO Bryan Waller says his company is not to blame for halting of the ride's disassembly after receiving criticism on social media from the ride's Iraq based owner, GT Amusement Service.
Waller explained that the disassembly of the ride is a lot more complex than most would assume.
"The cable is nine tons and is attached to a twenty-ton counterweight. It was explained to us by a former maintenance manager that the cable is attached to a bomb pretty much because it is so heavy that if that counterweight gives when you lift it, it's going to be catastrophic," Waller said.
Waller also said that he and his company Ride Trader were given no documentation by the new owners of the ride, GT Amusement Service out of Iraq. They gave an estimate on the cost of the overall project, but it was an estimate, not a guarantee. Without that documentation, he says there is only so accurate their estimate could be. A former ride technician showed up at the site to explain the process of removing that cable.
"That gentleman told us the defunct manufacturer's recommendation for taking the cable down, which we learned on site that day. We had to hire specialized equipment to come take it down and the customer, GT Amusement, refused to pay that bill. So I had to pay out of pocket," Waller said.
The entire cable and counterweight removal took 14 hours, and the crane company reported they only received half of the pay required for the work.
Because the project had become so intensive, costs went up to meet the May 20 deadline.
"My company had a prudent financial reserve going in and we're barely hanging on right now. We had to spend 35 thousand dollars out of pocket to get that cable down, safely I might add," Waller said. GT Amusement tells us when Ride-Trader quoted them an additional $112,000 that needed to be paid to cover this additional labor, they refused. So Ride-Trader says they had to back out before losing any more of their money on the project.
With the crane company still owed money, Waller is looking at $50,000 gone with no paycheck for finishing the job. Everyone involved is losing money on the project, including GT Amusement.
"It took them two days to take the cable down last time in 1995, it took us fourteen hours. We have a very capable team on the ground, sometimes you just run into costs and issues you have to navigate around and you have to pay. In this case, we weren't going to take that cable down without doing it the proper way," Waller said.
GT Amusement Service is reportedly in contact with another group of workers from the United Kingdom who will allegedly finish the project. There is no firm timeline on when that will occur, with GT Amusement telling us they expected possibly two weeks for insurance approval.