Top Attractions in London-The London eye

The London eye is a giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames in London. The whole structure has a height of 135 metre (443 ft) and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394ft). The London eye is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, pulling over 3.5 million visitors each year. Supported by an A-frame on the one side only, the eye is described as the tallest cantilevered observation wheel. The eye enables spectacular views of the city of London. The London Eye was designed by architects Frank Anatole, Nic Bailey, Steve Chilton, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, and the husband-and-wife team of Julia Barfield and David Marks. The London Eye, or Millennium Wheel, was officially called the British Airways London Eye, and then the Merlin Entertainments London Eye. Since 20 January 2011, its official name is the EDF Energy London Eye, following a three-year sponsorship deal.

The spindle, hub, and tensioned cables that support the rim:

The rim of the Eye is supported by tensioned steel cable sand, and resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel. The lighting was redone with LED lighting from Colour Kinetics in December 2006, to allow digital control of the lights, as opposed to the manual replacement of gels over fluorescent tubes.

The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges; and assembled lying flat on piled platforms in the river. Once the wheel was completed, it was lifted into an upright position by a strand jack system made by Enerpac. It was first raised at 2 degrees per hour, until it reached 65 degrees; then left in that position for a week, while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift. Major components for the product came from several European countries; for example: the steel was supplied from the UK and fabricated in The Netherlands by the Dutch company Hollandia, the cables came from Italy, the bearings came from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub were cast in the Czech Republic, the capsules were made by Poma in France (and the glass for these came from Italy), and the electrical components from the UK.

The wheel's 32 sealed and air-conditioned ovoidal passenger capsules, designed and supplied by Leitner-Poma, are attached to the external circumference of the wheel and rotated by electric motors. Each of the 10-tonne (11-short-ton) capsules represents one of the London Boroughs, and holds up to 25 people, who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though seating is provided. The wheel rotates at 26 cm (10 in) per second (about 0.9 km/h or 0.6 mph), so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. It does not usually stop to take on passengers; for, the rotation rate is slow enough to allow passengers to walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is, however, stopped to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to embark and disembark safely.

Are you considering visiting London and the U.K.? Then contact the London official visitor agency-Visit London and Partners at: 08701 566 366  visitorinfo@londonandpartners.com     

You can also contact the City of London Information Centre: Opposite St Paul's Cathedral:

City of London, Guildhall, PO Box 270, London, EC2P 2EJ     pro@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Telephone: 020 7606 3030

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