A 7,300 lb (3,311 kg) floating skateboard ramp has been installed on Lake Tahoe as part of Visit California's Dream365 tourism campaign. The ramp took four days and 300 man hours to complete before it was lowered into the Californian lake and put to the test by pro skateboarder Bob Burnquist.
Designed by Jeff King and Jerry Blohm, the creation features an 8 ft (2.4 m) tall wooden bank ramp accompanied by a smaller 5 ft (1.5 m) secondary ramp. Both wooden ramps rest on top of a 36 ft (11 m) long floating platform, with the ramps stained with different colors for a creative effect and polished to optimize skating speed.
"We had a host of folks coming up to the ramp on the way out to see what it was exactly," says Jerry Blohm. "When they got close most could not believe it! It looks like it is fake, floating with no supports."
Bob Burnquist had fun showing-off his skate moves on the floating ramp while a film crew shot a promotional video to attract tourists to the state of California. During filming, a snorkeler was on hand to dive into the water and retrieve Burnquist's board every time it went over. Burnquist finished off the shoot with a massive air jump over the ramp and into the lake.
"Brazilian-born Bob loved the ramp so much he wants one just like it built at his waterfront home in his home country," says Visit California.
You can see Burnquist and the design team in action in the video below.
Sources: Visit California, Jerry Blohm, Bob Burnquist via Gizmodo
