BIRKET SYSTEM CONTROLS
 BUCCANEER BAY

Birket Engineering designed and installed the controls necessary for the fire effects, show action equipment, and safety systems for the Las Vegas installation.

The British ship sails along a 100 foot length of track pulled by a cable attached to a hydraulic winch. The 90 foot long ship, standing 12 1/2 feet out of the water at the gunwale, carries with it an underwater umbilical. The umbilical provides the Britannia with its required power and signal, lighting, show control, and fire control communications. At the show finale, the 120,000 pound Britannia rolls thirty degrees and sinks until only a portion of its 90 foot masts remain above water.

The number of fire effects used require that the propane tanks be refilled after each show from two underground storage tanks. On board the British ship are four 120 gallon and six 60 gallon propane accumulators. There are eleven 120 gallon propane accumulators on the shore where a warehouse is also blown up for each show. This provides for the eleven shore explosions and several twenty-five foot diameter fireballs.

Each ship contains five recoiling cannons and the lagoon contains ten water cannons. Other effects include a wine barrel explosion, debris cannons, a three part hull hit effect, and several wave machines.

The fourteen explosions and twelve afterburn effects are controlled by an Allen-Bradley 5/30 Programmable Logic Controller. Honeywell fire controllers are used for the fire effects along with ninety pyrotechnic igniters for a total of 768 individual I/O points. Thirteen low explosive level detectors sniffing for gas leaks provide for continuous safety monitoring.

Treasure Island is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mirage Resorts Incorporated.