The London Eye

The British Airways London Eye, sometimes called the Millennium Wheel, is the first-built and largest observation wheel in the world (a type of or evolution on the Ferris wheel), and has been since its opening at the end of 1999.

The London Eye stands 135 metres (443 feet) high on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in Lambeth, London, England, between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges. It is adjacent to London's County Hall, and stands opposite the offices of the Ministry of Defence situated in Westminster which it overlooks to the west.

The London Eye was designed by architects David Marks,Julia Barfield,Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, Steven Chilton, and Nic Bailey.

The London Eye's wheel carries 32 sealed and air conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference.

Rotating at a rate of 0.26 metres per second so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes to complete,the London Eye 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).

Structurally, The London Eye resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel, and was depicted as such in a poster advertising a charity cycle race.

The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the river Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on pontoons. Once the wheel was complete it was raised into its upright position by cranes.

The wheel was initially lifted at a rate of about 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees, where it stayed for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift. The total weight of steel in The London Eye is 1,700 tonnes.

The London Eye was opened by British Prime Minister Tony Blair on December 31st 1999, although it was not actually opened to the public until March 2000 because of technical problems.

Since its opening, The London Eye, operated by Tussauds Group but sponsored by British Airways, has become a major landmark and tourist attraction. Recently, The London Eye was voted the world's best tourist attraction in a poll commissioned by the snack company Pringles.

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