The London eye Bashny.Net

The London eye is a giant Ferris wheel, which is located on the banks of the river Thames in the British capital. Its height is 135 meters with a diameter of 120 meters. Today it is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe and the most popular attraction in the UK. Every year, it ride up to 3.5 million people.





In 1999, when the London eye was installed, it was the highest Ferris wheel in the world, but after that record was broken 165-meter attraction in Singapore. However, one record was preserved: it is the tallest wheel in the world, built by cantilever construction. Another name for the London eye "Millennium Wheel", because the attraction was opened before the Millennium.





London Eye in London, Lambeth on the South Bank of the Thames. Its structure consists of 32 sealed, air-conditioned egg-shaped passenger capsules. Each of these capsules symbolizing one of the districts and suburbs of London, weighs 10 tons and holds 25 people. Wheel rotates at a speed of about 0.9 km/h (a full rotation takes about half an hour). In normal mode the London Eye rotates continuously – passengers can be accommodated in the capsules directly on the go, but if you want to put the disabled, children and the elderly – the wheel stops. The design of the "Eye" resembles a Bicycle wheel — from the inside it's fortified with giant needles.





In December 2006 it was installed led lighting, which is controlled through a digital interface (previously used manual replacement of gels, fluorescent lighting tubes).





This giant, unprecedented in its scale construction was built section by section. Section arrived on barges on the Thames, and collected them in a horizontal position on the river platforms. After Assembly, the wheel was lifted by shore cranes.





The project is truly pan-European: British steel was processed in the Netherlands, the cables manufactured in Italy, the center of the wheel and spokes came from the Czech Republic, the passenger capsules from France. Only electrical equipment was manufactured in the UK.





The London Eye was formally opened by Tony Blair on 31 December 1999, although the first visitors were able to ride it only on March 9, 2000 (first there were some technical problems). Today it is one of the main attractions of London. From 1 January 2005, the Ferris wheel serves as the center of Christmas celebrations in the British capital.

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