| The London Eye is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe, | | | | The total weight of the wheel and capsules is 2,100 |
| and one of the largest worldwide. It is truly one of the | | | | tonnes - that is the same weight as 1,272 London |
| most incredible wheels in the world. Standing at a | | | | black cabs! |
| height of 135 metres (443 ft), the London Eye has | | | | The London Eye was formally opened by the Tony |
| now become the most popular paid tourist attraction in | | | | Blair who was prime minister at the time, on 31 |
| the United Kingdom, visited by over three and a half | | | | December 1999. It was however not opened to the |
| million people in one year. To put that into perspective, | | | | public until March 2000 because of technical problems. |
| you would need 6,680 fully booked British Airways | | | | It is operated by Merlin Entertainments but sponsored |
| Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets to move that number of | | | | by British Airways. One of the most significant facts |
| fliers! | | | | about the London Eye is that it is 135m (equivalent to |
| Sir Richard Rogers, winner of the 2007 Pritzker | | | | 64 red telephone boxes piled on top of each other) |
| Architecture Prize, wrote of the London Eye in a book | | | | making it the fourth tallest structure in London after the |
| about the project: | | | | BT Tower, Tower 42 and One Canada Square in |
| "The Eye has done for London what the Eiffel Tower | | | | Canary Wharf |
| did for Paris, which is to give it a symbol and to let | | | | The wheel carries 32 sealed and air-conditioned |
| people climb above the city and look back down on it. | | | | egg-shaped passenger capsules which weigh ten |
| Not just specialists or rich people, but everybody. | | | | tonnes each, attached to its external circumference |
| That's the beauty of it: it is public and accessible, and it | | | | with each capsule representing one of the London |
| is in a great position at the heart of London." | | | | Boroughs. To put that figure into perspective, the |
| At the time it was erected the London Eye was the | | | | weight of each capsule is the same as 1,052,631 pound |
| tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed | | | | coins! The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per |
| by the Star of Nanchang (160 m) in May 2006, and | | | | revolution - equivalent to 11 London red doubled-decker |
| then the Singapore Flyer on 11 February 2008. The | | | | buses. Each 10 capsule holds 25 people, who are free |
| world's tallest Ferris wheel is the Singapore Flyer, in | | | | to walk around inside the capsule, although seating is |
| Singapore. It is 165 metres (541 ft) high. It started | | | | provided. This means that a capsule effectively travels |
| rotating on February 11, 2008 and officially opened to | | | | at a stately 26cm per second, or 0.9km (0.6 miles) per |
| the public on March 1, 2008. | | | | hour so that one revolution takes around 30 minutes. - |
| The Star of Nanchang, in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, | | | | twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing |
| China, previously held the record. It is 160 metres (520 | | | | passengers to step on and off without the wheel |
| ft) high and opened for business in May 2006. | | | | having to stop |
| The London Eye is still described by its operators as | | | | The wheel does not usually stop to take on |
| "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel". It | | | | passengers: the rotation rate is so slow that they can |
| actually took seven years and the supreme talents of | | | | walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It |
| hundreds of people from various countries to make it | | | | is, however, stopped to allow disabled or elderly |
| a reality, and from the London Eye, you can see | | | | passengers time to embark and disembark safely. |
| around 40KM (25 miles) from the top as far as | | | | The spindle holds the wheel structure and the hub |
| Windsor Castle on a clear day. The circumference of | | | | rotates it around the spindle. At 23 meters tall, the |
| the wheel is 424m (1.392ft) - meaning that if it were | | | | spindle is around the size of a church spire and, |
| unravelled, it would be 1.75 times longer than the UK's | | | | together with the hub, weighs in at 330 tonnes: over 20 |
| tallest building - One Canada Square in Canary Wharf. | | | | times heavier than Big Ben. |