bubble Wheel (1998-1999) LONDON EYE (2000) London, Britain

THE LONDON EYE (1998-1999)

https://www.londoneye.com/private-capsules/

The London Eye is located at the western end of Jubilee Gardens
(formerly the site of the former Dome of Discovery ),
on the south bank of the Thames, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge,
in the London Borough of Lambeth.

Le London Eye (Eye of London), also known as the Millennium Wheel , has a height of 135 meters is currently the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe. It is located in the center of London on the South Bank of the Thames, near Westminster Bridge.
The construction of the Ferris wheel was 1998. The 10 October 1999, building was erected. The opening for visitors delayed due to technical problems 9 Mars 2000. The inventor had submitted their idea to a competition for the Millennium celebrations, where it was rejected. The London Eye should have a limited time to run about five years from. Given the great success, it was scrapped.

Characteristics:
Le London Eye a 32 air conditioning, almost entirely made of glass gondolas, each containing up 25 people. Glass gondolas are supported in two rotating rings, so that the gondolas are always in the horizontal direction. The cable cars are in’ outside of the wheel, allowing almost unrestricted views. The wheel rotated at a speed of 0,26 m / s and needs a revolution about 30-40 minutes. Since the wheel is almost never stops, passengers down while driving and (stops to allow. Example, wheelchair users to start). Due to the low speed of the passenger change is possible while driving. It is driven by four units, each with four wheels / tires which place’ focus on the wheel rim and rotating. Generally, Therefore the wheels 4×4 = 16 drive. If visibility is optimal, you can see the Ferris wheel up 40 km wide, including the right to close’ outside London , Windsor Castle.

Design and construction:
The Ferris wheel was designed by architects David Marks et Julia Barfield designed. The design of the gondolas is from Nick Bailey . The construction was carried out by the Dutch construction company Hollandia. The rotation axis and a face, oblique tube support and clamping elements have been delivered by the Czech engineering company Skoda. The capsules and the stabilization system derived from French Sigma. The disc was provided by the subsidiary Bosch Rexroth. The 10 September 1999, specialized Dutch company Smit Tak with’ one of the largest floating cranes in the world tried to erect the assembled elongated London Eye, but the attempt failed. Only a month later , the wheel was initially built around 60 degrees. It took a week to lift it to its final position.

Operator:
Merlin Entertainments Group owns and operates the Ferris wheel, it has sponsored since 2011 EDF Energy . At the opening in 1999 , it was still part of the Tussauds Group, British Airways and Marks Barfield Architects family together. 2006 Tussaud acquired the shares of other shareholders and 2007 , then she – even taken by Merlin.

Classification:
Currently, it is the third largest observation wheel in the world. Until 4 January 2004, The London Eye was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, but was brought up with a new Ferris wheel 160 meters, the "Star of Nanchang» Nanchang, China replaced, in turn, with the opening of the Singapore Flyer to March 1 2008 was replaced as the world's largest observation wheel.