The world’s longest water slide is being built in Malaysia on a jungle-covered hillside. The water slide measures in at a length of 1,140 meters and are undergoing construction at the Penang’s Escape Them Park. Once it is completed and opened up, in August 2019, the water slide will most likely become the world’s longest water slide.
The existing Guinness record for the world’s longest water slide has been awarded to the 605-meter slide located at the Action Park, in New Jersey. The record was made back in 2015 but if everything goes well; the record will soon be claimed by the Malaysian state of Penang because of the water slide that is currently undergoing construction. The water slide is already 65% complete and measures 705 meters right now. Once completed, it will allow the thrill-seekers to enjoy a four-minute ride from the top of a hill and through a jungle before ending up into a huge swimming pool. As per the announcement made by Escape Theme Park, the remaining 435 meters of the slide will be completed in time for the inauguration ceremony of the water slide in August.
Sim Choo Kheng, CEO of Escape Theme Park, said, ‘Our plan was to build a water slide which would enable visitors to view the whole park, and we did not intend to break the world record. Nevertheless, I am proud of what we have achieved.’ The most challenging aspect of the construction has remained the utilization of terrain and trees of the Penang jungle without causing any harm to the fragile ecosystem. Most of the material was transported manually without making use of heavy machinery. Engineers also figured out ways of utilizing trees into the water slide rather than simply chopping them down.
Sim Choo Kheng said, ‘I am overly concerned over the environment here, so we tried our best to maintain the greenery by not chopping down the trees.’ Escape Theme Park made use of a hilltop to achieve the height that was required to make this water slide a reality. Riders will make their way to the hilltop using the cable car and will then begin their four-minute journey onto the world’s longest water slide!