London Eye and County Hall in evening light
Photo: Wangi/Lee Kindness, GNU Free Documentation License
London Eye, also known as Millennium Wheel, was at the time it opened the largest ferries wheel in the world. It was constructed on the south bank of the River Thames, in London, UK. It is the most popular paid visitor attraction in UK and was visited by 3.5 million people a year.
London Eye stands 135 metres (443 feet) tall, on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges. It carries 32 sealed air-conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. Each capsule holds approximately 25 passengers. London Eye rotates at 26 cm per second, and takes 30 minutes to complete one revolution. The wheel does not stop to take passengers, but because the rotation is so slow, passengers can easily board and disembark the moving capsules. It does stop, however, to allow the disabled and the elderly to embark and disembark safely.
The rims of London Eye is supported by tie rods that resemble bicycle spokes. The wheels were prefabricated in the Netherlands and floated up the Thames by barges and assembled flying flat on pontoons. Then it was uprighted with cranes.
London Eye was officiated by then Prime Minister Tony Blair at 20:00 GMT on 31 December, 1999. Due to some technical problems, however, London Eye was not opened to the public until March 2000.
|
