New Texas Giant

New Texas Giant is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. It originally opened as Texas Giant, which was the tallest wooden coaster in the world when it debuted in 1990. Manufactured by Dinn Corporation and designed by Curtis D. Summers, Texas Giant operated for nearly two decades and was highly-ranked in Amusement Today magazine's annual Golden Ticket Awards. Before its refurbishment, the ride's popularity declined over the years as it gained a negative reputation for increasing roughness.

Texas Giant closed in 2009 for a major refurbishment by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC). It reemerged as New Texas Giant in 2011. While the coaster retained much of the original wooden support structure, the wooden track was replaced with RMC's steel I-Box track, making this the first roller coaster to feature the I-Box track, as well as the first roller coaster that was converted by RMC. The renovated hybrid coaster saw an increase in height from 143 to 153 feet (44 to 47 m) and drop length from 137 to 147 feet (42 to 45 m), as well as a steeper drop angle of 79°. New Texas Giant also increased the angle of multiple banked turns producing steeper angles.

New Texas Giant was well-received, winning Best New Ride in the 2011 Golden Ticket Awards and ranking highly in industry polls. A fatal incident occurred on July 19, 2013, and resulted in modifications to the ride's restraint system.

In September 1989, Six Flags announced the hiring of Dinn Corporation to build two new wooden roller coasters, with Curtis D. Summers as the designer. One would go to Six Flags Over Texas as The Texas Giant and the other would go to Six Flags Over Georgia as Georgia Cyclone.

Construction had already started in June 1989. The Texas Giant was constructed using over 900,000 board feet (2,100 m³) of wood. The trains were manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. The Texas Giant officially opened on March 17, 1990. At opening, the ride was the world's tallest wooden roller coaster, standing 143 feet (44 m) high.

Following the ride's opening it had several modifications and renovations, which included reprofiling parts of the ride, shortening the seven-car trains to six-car trains, and performing maintenance on the wooden track. Six Flags Over Texas performed over 1,200 feet (370 m) of trackwork on the ride in the 2008–2009 offseason, with the ultimate aim of improving the ride's smoothness. Although the maintenance did improve the ride, park officials needed a more permanent solution. Initial speculation indicated the ride would be removed entirely from the park; however, Six Flags Over Texas denied any intention or consideration to do so. In March 2009, the park announced the closure of Texas Giant prior to a $10 million renovation. Following Fright Fest for that year, the ride closed on November 1, 2009.

Renovations began almost immediately and involved the removal of all of the wooden track and modifications to some of the support structure. On March 3, 2010, Six Flags Over Texas and Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) unveiled the steel I-Box track which would be used on the refurbished ride. The track was developed over the course of three years by RMC owner Fred Grubb, and Ride Centerline, LLC engineers Alan Schilke and Dody Bachtar. The steel track was designed to be a replacement for any existing wooden track structure, with the rail shape, approximate weight, and dimensions remaining the same. Schilke designed the modifications to the layout, giving specifications to Grubb for manufacturing at RMC's Idaho plant. There, two-dimensional plates of steel were machine-welded to form the three-dimensional track parts. The redevelopment saw much of the track get reprofiled; the lift hill was increased by 10 feet (3.0 m), the first drop was steepened to 79 degrees, and several overbanked turns (ranging from 90° to 115°) were added. In October 2010, Six Flags announced that the renovated ride would be called the New Texas Giant. It opened on April 22, 2011.

As the name suggests, New Texas Giant is located within the Texas section of Six Flags Over Texas. It was Rocky Mountain Construction's first installation of I-Box track. New Texas Giant operates with three trains manufactured by Gerstlauer. There are three trains (colored red, blue, and black) themed to 1961 Cadillac Devilles. Each train is made up of six cars, each seating riders in two rows of two. Riders are restrained through the use of an individual hydraulic lap bar and a seat belt.