Ian
priscilla 1London Eye
November 23rd 2006 02:40
The British Airways London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, opened in 1999 and is the largest observation wheel in the world (a type of Ferris wheel). It stands 135 metres (443 feet) high and is adjacent to London's County Hall. The Eye is officially the world's most popular tourist attraction, more popular than the Statue of Liberty, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Eiffel Tower. By July 2002 around 8.5 million people had ridden the Eye.
The wheel carries 32 sealed and air conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. One revolution takes about 30 minutes to complete. The wheel does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is so slow that passengers can easily walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is, however, stopped on occasion to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to disembark safely.
The rim of the Eye is supported by tie rods and resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel. The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on pontoons. Once the wheel was complete it was raised into an upright position by cranes, being lifted at a rate of 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees. It was left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift. The total weight of steel in the Eye is 1,700 tonnes.
Although the Eye is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest observation wheel in the world, it is unlikely to keep that title for long. Plans have been announced to build a 170 m wheel on the Las Vegas Strip, a 185 m wheel dubbed "Giant Wheel" planned to open in 2008 in Berlin and a 200 m wheel in Shanghai.
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article London Eye.
**The first image is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License.
***The second image has been released into the public domain by its author.
****The third image is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution ShareAlike License v. 2.0.
*****All images originated from the Wikipedia page for London Eye.
London Eye viewed from Westminster Bridge.
The wheel carries 32 sealed and air conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. One revolution takes about 30 minutes to complete. The wheel does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is so slow that passengers can easily walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is, however, stopped on occasion to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to disembark safely.
Close up of the capsules on top of the wheel.
The rim of the Eye is supported by tie rods and resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel. The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on pontoons. Once the wheel was complete it was raised into an upright position by cranes, being lifted at a rate of 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees. It was left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift. The total weight of steel in the Eye is 1,700 tonnes.
View from a capsule up the top.
Although the Eye is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest observation wheel in the world, it is unlikely to keep that title for long. Plans have been announced to build a 170 m wheel on the Las Vegas Strip, a 185 m wheel dubbed "Giant Wheel" planned to open in 2008 in Berlin and a 200 m wheel in Shanghai.
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article London Eye.
**The first image is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License.
***The second image has been released into the public domain by its author.
****The third image is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution ShareAlike License v. 2.0.
*****All images originated from the Wikipedia page for London Eye.
| 66 |
| Vote |
Comments (2)
Add Comments
Read More
