The London Eye

It seems like yesterday that The London Eye was under construction on the banks of the River Thames. More than ten years have passed since the original British Airways London Eye opened to the public as the largest observation wheel in the world. Since it's construction the wheel has become a major landmark and tourist attraction with more than 35 million people having ridden the wheel since it's opening.

The London Eye, which is now owned by Merlin Entertainment, incorporates 32 air conditioned capsules which take approximately 30 minutes to complete one revolution, giving up to 25 passengers in each pod views of London and beyond up to a distance of 45 miles on a clear day. Construction of the wheel was achieved by floating sections up the River Thames on barges and assembling it in situ on top of huge piles before the wheel was hoisted up in two phases.

Initially the project was a joint venture between British Airways and the Marks Barfield Family who were the lead architects on the project. Nowadays, with the British Airways association dropped, the wheel is owned by the Merlin Entertainments after it's takeover of The Tussauds Group who took ownership of the wheel in 2006. This video demonstrates some of the construction of a landmark which has become synonymous with the London skyline in it's tenth year of operation.

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