The London Eye - The Millennium Wheel

The London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, is the tallest, ferris wheel in Europe at 443 ft (135m)..  It has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the UK, visited by over 3 million people a year.

At the time it was erected it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world until it was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160m) in May 2006, and then the Singapore Flyer (165m) on February 11, 2008. However, it is still described as “the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel” by its operators, because the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only.

The London Eye is located at the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The site is adjacent to that of the former Dome of Discovery, which was built for the Festival of Britain in 1951.  The nearest London Underground stations are Waterloo and Westminster.

The wheel carries 32 sealed and air-conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. Each capsule holds approximately 25 people who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though seating is also provided. It rotates at 10 inches per second, so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. The wheel does not usually stop to take on passengers.  Tthe rotation rate is so slow that they can easily walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level.  It is stopped, however, to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to embark and disembark safely.

The rim of the Eye is supported by tie rods and resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel.  It was depicted as such one year in a poster advertising a charity cycle race. The lighting for the London Eye was refitted with LED lighting in December 2006 to allow digital control of the lights, as opposed to the manual replacement of gels over fluorescent tubes.

It was formally opened by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, at 20:00 GMT on December 31, 1999, although it was not opened to the public until March 2000 because of technical problems. Since its opening the Eye has become a major landmark and tourist attraction.

By July 2002, roughly 8.5 million people had ridden the Eye. It had planning permission for only five years when it was first opened, but the Lambeth Council agreed to make the attraction permanent.

Since January 1, 2005, the Eye has been the focal point of London’s New Year celebrations with 10-minute fireworks displays taking place involving fireworks fired from the wheel itself.

A predecessor to the London Eye, called the “Great Wheel of London”, was built in Earl’s Court in 1895 and was capable of carrying 1,600 people at one time.  It closed in 1906, and was demolished in 1907.

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