41 London Eye Interesting Facts – History | View | Height
The London Eye is a big Ferris wheel located on the banks of the River Thames, in London, England. The whole construction is 135 meters (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 meters (394 ft). It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most well-liked paid vacationer attraction within the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people yearly.
London Eye Overview
Most people take a look at The London Eye and assume it’s merely a big Ferris wheel. As the world’s tallest cantilever observation wheel, it truly loads more fascinating than you could have initially realized.
At 443 feet high, the London Eye is at the moment the fourth-largest Ferris wheel on the planet, but it surely would not even crack the top 20 tallest buildings in London itself.
For the report, the tallest constructing within the city is the Shard, topping out at 1,004 feet high.
The circumference of the wheel is 1,392 feet, so if it weren’t a wheel, it could truly be taller than the Shard.
1. London Eye Location
Most people will recognize The London Eye from images and pictures of the long-lasting London skyline, however realizing the place to seek out the attraction isn’t at all times apparent.
It is positioned on London’s Southbank near the London Aquarium and the London Dungeons. the Palace of Westminster, Waterloo International, and Embankment London Underground stations are all a brief stroll away which makes it a fast journey from the Park Grand London.
2. London Eye Purpose
The London Eye was first inbuilt in 1999 in celebration of the brand new millennium. It was formally opened on 31st December 1999 by then Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
The concept was chosen from a bunch of entries into a contest held back in 1993 to counsel a brand new landmark to indicate the turning of the century.
3. London Eye Structure
The construction is 135 meters (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 meters (394 ft). When it opened to the general public in 2000 it was the world’s tallest Ferris wheel.
Its height was surpassed by the 160 meters (525 ft) Star of Nanchang in 2006, the 165 meters (541 ft) Singapore Flyer in 2008, and the 167 meters (548 ft) High Roller (Las Vegas) in 2014.
Supported by an A-frame on one aspect solely, not like the taller Nanchang and Singapore wheels, the Eye is described by its operators as “the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel”.
The London Eye used to supply the very best public viewing level in London till it was outmoded by the 245-meter-high (804 ft) observation deck on the 72nd ground of The Shard, which opened to the general public on 1 February 2013.
The London Eye adjoins the western finish of Jubilee Gardens (beforehand the positioning of the previous Dome of Discovery), on the South Bank of the River Thames between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge beside County Hall, within the London Borough of Lambeth. The nearest tube station is Westminster 420 meters (1,378 ft) away.
4. London Eye Proper name
The London Eye has been known as lots of completely different names because it was first opened, most of that is linked to who was sponsoring the wheel at the time.
It has beforehand been known as the British Airways London Eye, the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, and the Coca-Cola London Eye. However, it’s mostly known as The London Eye or The Millennium Wheel.
5. London Eye Design and building
Supported by an A-frame on one aspect solely, the Eye is described by its operators as a cantilevered observation wheel
The London Eye was designed by the husband-and-wife team of Julia Barfield and David Marks of Marks Barfield Architects.
Mace was answerable for building management, with Hollandia as the primary steelwork contractor and Tilbury Douglas because of the civil contractor. Consulting engineers Tony Gee & Partners designed the muse works whereas Beckett Rankine designed the marine works.
Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners assisted The Tussauds Group in acquiring planning and listed constructing consent to change the wall on the South Bank of the Thames.
They additionally examined and reported on the implications of a Section 106 settlement connected to the unique contract, and likewise ready planning and listed constructing consent functions for the everlasting retention of the attraction, which concerned the co-ordination of an Environmental Statement and the manufacturing of a planning supporting assertion detailing the explanations for its retention.
The rim of the Eye is supported by tensioned metal cables and resembles an enormous spoked bicycle wheel. The lighting was redone with LED lighting from Color Kinetics in December 2006 to permit digital control of the lights versus the guide replacement of gels over fluorescent tubes.
The wheel was constructed in sections that were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled mendacity flat on piled platforms within the river. Once the wheel was full it was lifted into an upright place by a strand jack system made by Enerpac.
It was first raised at 2 levels per hour till it reached 65 levels, then left in that place for every week whereas engineers ready for the second section of the elevate.
The mission was European with main parts coming from six nations: the metal was equipped from the UK and fabricated in The Netherlands by the Dutch firm Hollandia, the cables got here from Italy, the bearings got here from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub have been solid within the Czech Republic, the capsules have been made by Poma in France (and the glass for these got here from Italy), and {the electrical} parts from the UK.
6. Can Anyone Go On The London Eye?
Yes! The London Eye is open all through the year and visitors should buy tickets on the day or pre-book to take a journey on the wheel. It takes roughly 30 minutes to finish the journey.
There are great views to see from the wheel and you could even have the ability to see the place the Park Grand London Hotel is positioned on a transparent day. On average the London Eye receives more visitors per year than each the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramids of Giza put collectively.
7. London Eye Opening
The London Eye was formally opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair on 31 December 1999, however didn’t open to the paying public till 9 March 2000 due to a capsule clutch drawback.
The London Eye was initially meant as a brief attraction, with a five-year lease. In December 2001, operators submitted an application to Lambeth Council to provide the London Eye everlasting standing, and the applying was granted in July 2002.
On 5 June 2008, it was introduced that 30 million people had ridden the London Eye because it opened.
8. It’s half Skoda
The London Eye was dreamt up by a UK design team, however, its components come from throughout Europe.
The wheel was developed and constructed in The Netherlands from UK metal, with cables from Italy, bearings from Germany, and the iron spindle and hub have been solid within the Skoda manufacturing facility within the Czech Republic.
9. Passenger capsules
The wheel’s 32 sealed and air-conditioned ovoidal passenger capsules, designed and equipped by Poma, are connected to the exterior circumference of the wheel and rotated by electrical motors.
The capsules are numbered from 1 to 33, excluding quantity 13 for superstitious causes. Each of the 10-tonne (11-short-ton) capsules represents one of many London Boroughs and holds as much as 25 people, who’re free to stroll around contained in the capsule, although seating is offered.
The wheel rotates at 26 cm (10 in) per second (about 0.9 km/h or 0.6 mph) in order that one revolution takes about 30 minutes.
It doesn’t often cease to tackle passengers; the rotation charge is gradually sufficient to permit passengers to stroll on and off the transferring capsules at ground level.
It is, nevertheless, stopped to permit disabled or aged passengers time to embark and disembark safely.
10. Twinkly lights
The Eye is lit up in numerous colors to mark numerous special events.
For instance, it was lit red, white, and blue for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding ceremony, and pink in 2005 to rejoice in the legalizing of homosexual civil partnerships.
11. London Eye is Europe’s tallest ‘Ferris’ wheel
When it was inbuilt in 1999, the 443ft (135m) tall wheel was the world’s tallest.
But it has been pushed into fourth place, surpassed by the 520ft (158m) Star of Nanchang in 2006, the 541ft (165m) tall Singapore Flyer in 2008, and Las Vegas’s 550ft (168m) High Roller, inbuilt 2014.
The Eye is somewhat used by being toppled from first place: it was London’s highest public viewing level too. The 804ft (245m) high observation deck on the 72nd ground of The Shard took away that accolade on 1 February 2013.
London Eye interesting facts
- On 2 June 2013, a passenger capsule was named the Coronation Capsule to mark the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
- London Eye had a good few monikers.
- Yes, the London Eye is often known as the Millennium Wheel.
- But it is had many official names, courtesy of its numerous house owners and sponsors. First, it was known as the British Airways London Eye; then the Merlin Entertainments London Eye; then the EDF Energy London Eye.
- Since January 2015, it is formally been the Coca-Cola London Eye, however, let’s be trustworthy: no-one’s going to call it that.
- London Eye Facts
- More than 5,000 people have gotten engaged on the Eye because it opened, with each sedate proposal and orchestrated flash mobs among the many celebrations. (If you need to do the identical in a personal capsule, it will value you £360—about $559—however champagne is included.) More than 500 weddings have additionally occurred there, with the first one happening in 2001.
- On a transparent day from the top of the London Eye, you may (virtually) see forever—or, at the least, so far as Windsor Castle.
- On average the London Eye receives more visitors per year than the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramids of Giza
- Capsules journey at a leisurely tempo of 26cm per second, which is twice as quick as a tortoise sprinting!
- You can see as much as 40 kilometers in all instructions (that’s so far as Windsor Castle on a transparent day)
- The London Eye will not be a Ferris wheel. It’s the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel
- There have been just a few cases of people scaling the Eye, whether or not for leisure or for political functions. Magician David Blaine took a full rotation standing atop one of many wheel’s pods in 2003; in 2004, a person dressed as Spider-Man climbed the attraction and spent 18 hours on top of a pod, allegedly to call consideration to fathers’ rights within the U.Ok.
- Supermodel Kate Moss has been on the London Eye on 25 occasions – the report for a UK movie star
- In December 2005 the London Eye was lit pink in celebration of the first Civil Partnership carried out on the wheel
- The 32 capsules on the London Eye are consultant of the 32 London boroughs, and each weighs as a lot as 1,052,631 pound coins
- In 2013, the Red Bull Academy turned the Eye right into a rotating nightclub—effectively, technically, it turned 30 of the capsules into completely different events to rejoice the U.Ok.’s membership tradition, with artists like Lily Allen, Mark Ronson, and Richie Hawtin performing within the pods.
- The London Eye can carry 800 people every rotation, which is corresponding to 11 London red double-decker buses
- The London Eye had a predecessor – The Great Wheel – which was in working order from 1895 – 1906
- The Eye has 32 capsules (one for every of the city’s 32 boroughs), however, they’re numbered from one to 33. Why? As with many buildings and different buildings, there isn’t any No. 13 capsule—whether or not the superstition about that quantity is warranted or not, the automobiles skip from 12 to 14.
- The whole wheel weighs more than 1,000 tons, or effectively over 1 million kilos. It was assembled flat and moved onto eight nonpermanent islands on the River Thames; the construction was raised into place in September 1999. But the process wasn’t without its snafus: one of many cables within the construction snapped before it was lifted, and had to get replaced.
- A journey on the London Eye takes 30 minutes, and it travels at a pace of about 0.6 miles per hour.
- The operators of the Eye hold observe of the celebs who’ve taken essentially the most rides on the attraction: In the U.Ok., Kate Moss is the winner, with 25 spins. The American movie star who holds that distinction is Jessica Alba, who’s gone on the Eye a whopping 31 occasions.
- One factor that differentiates the Eye from different Ferris wheels all over the world is the truth that it is cantilevered, or supported on just one aspect. Wheels with related buildings embrace Orlando’s new Orlando Eye, which opened this summer.
- Despite there solely being 32 capsules, for superstitious causes they’re numbered 1 to 33: for good luck, there isn’t any capsule numbered 13
- Since the Eye opened in 2000, many cities—together with Las Vegas, Seattle, and Atlanta—have opened observation wheels whose designs have been straight impressed by the attraction. An actual duplicate of the wheel will be discovered about 30 miles outdoors of London—in miniature kind, anyway. Legoland Windsor has a scale model of the Eye as a part of its Miniland exhibit, which additionally options fashions of the Palace of Westminster, the Millennium Bridge, and Buckingham Palace.
- You can’t carry anything you want. Only a water bottle is permitted to hold alongside the London Eye and no different drink or food merchandise is allowed to hold alongside.
- London eye is the most well-liked paid vacationer attraction in the UK with having over 3.5 million vacationers visiting the attention each year.
- At one level through the London Restaurant Festival, the Eye was a pop-up eating spot: Celebrity cooks like Gordon Ramsay and Daniel Boulud served meals in one of many capsules for ten patrons, every of whom paid a pretty penny—in some instances, upwards of $30,000—for the pleasure.
- As of this writing, selfie sticks are nonetheless allowed on the London Eye—though they’re banned from many different London sights, together with the National Gallery of Art and the Wembley Arena.
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