London Eye Essay Example

London Eye Essay The Merlin Entertainments London Eye, commonly known as London Eye or Millennium Wheel or British Airways London Eye. The Merlin Entertainments London Eye is commonly known as London Eye or Millennium Wheel or British Airways London Eye. It is a giant tall Ferris wheel, which has the height of 135 metre ( 443 feet) and located at the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the south bank of the Thames River in the London Borough of Lambeth in England, which is between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge, London, England. It was also located near to the former Dome of Discovery, which was built for the Festival of Britain in 1951. London Eye was the tallest observation wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, which approximately visited by over 3. 5 million people annually. Besides, it is also one of an extraordinary symbol in extraordinary city and was as a part of London’s millennium celebrations. The Merlin Entertainments London Eye opens daily except on 25th December (Christmas Day) and during its annual maintenance period, which set from 10th until 19th January 2010. London Eye was constructed on the late of 1998. The construction was a huge international effort that involves hundreds of people during that time, since it took seven years and the skills of hundreds of people from five countries to make it into a reality. The architectural team who consists of David Marks and Julia Barfield (who was a husband and wife), Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, Steven Chilton, Frank Anatole and Nic Bailey has designed the structure. The construction of the observation wheel took more than one year and half to complete. We will write a custom essay sample on London Eye specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on London Eye specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on London Eye specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer London Eye was made of 1700 tones of steel as the structure and more than 3000 tones of concrete were used for the foundations. The wheel carries 32 sealed and air-conditioner egg-shaped of passenger capsules, attached to its external circumference, each capsule representing as one of the London Boroughs and has the weight of 10 tonnes. Each of the futuristic looking capsules can accommodate up to 25 passengers, who are free to walk around inside the capsule, although the seating is provided. Each of the egg-shaped capsules has 8 metres long and weight 500 kg. The 25 metre ( 82 feet) of long spindle was built in the Czech Republic. There are 80 spokes that connects the rim with the spindle, and each of the rim has a diameter of 122 m ( 400 feet), which is approximately 200 times the size of a bicycle wheel. The observation wheel itself rotates at 26 cm ( 10 inch) per second ( 0. 9km/h or 0. 6 mph), which the revolution takes about 30 minutes. However, the wheel does not stop to take on passengers, since the rotation rate is slow enough to allow the passengers to walk on and off the moving capsules at the ground level. It is stopped due to allow the disabled or elderly passengers time to go on board and get off safely. A complete turn of the observation wheel takes about 30 minutes. Since the construction of the glass capsules on the outer side of the rim, the passengers have a great 360? view over the London. There are many famous landmarks are clearly visible from there, which are include the Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral even the House of Parliament. During a clear day, the passengers can see approximately as far as 40 km ( 25 miles) in all directions. One of the London Eye capsules, in which inside is full of passengers. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, formally opened London Eye on 31st December 1999. However, the London Eye still not opened for the public yet due to the technical problems, until 9th March 2000. Since the opening, The Merlin Entertainments London Eye has become an iconic landmark and also the symbol of the modern Britain. There are over 3. 5 million tourists who are visiting the attraction each year, which has proved it as the most popular paid tourist destination in London and throughout the world. In August 2009, the London Eye has launched a spectacular new 4D film experience. It was added as a free extra in order to pleasure the passengers in enjoying their ride on the London Eye. The 4D itself used a superb effects and the short film has only 3D aerial footage of the London. Besides, there are also gift shops, which located next to the London Eye Wheel, opposite of the ticket office entrance. It offers many kinds of high quality of London Eye gifts and souvenirs (such as: photography, guidebooks and in-flight mini guides) in order for the visitor feel special for London Eye. Other than gift shops, there are cafes (which offers tea, coffee, drinks, sandwiches, cakes and snacks located inside the county Hall and opposite the gift shop, with great views of the London Eye), toilets as well as the wheelchair loan service to make the visitor more comfortable in enjoying the London Eye. The Merlin Entertainments London Eye has also won over 75 awards for national and international tourism due to its outstanding of architectural quality and engineering achievement since the public opening. There are TripAdvisor. com – Best Attraction in Europe (2007), British Travel Awards – Silver Award: Best Visitor Attraction Coolbrands – third coolest attraction (2008), Group Travel Awards – Best Attraction for Group Visits: Short Visit (2009), and so on. London Development Agency Green500: Platinum Award was the latest achievement that London Eye received on 2010. Since the opening, The Merlin Entertainments London Eye has become an iconic landmark and also the symbol of the modern Britain. There are over 3. million tourists who are visiting the attraction each year, which has proved it as the most popular paid tourist destination in London and throughout the world. The futuristic of architecture design and engineering made the visitors enjoying the sensation in the London Eye capsules, which the visitors can see as far as 40 km ( 25 miles) in all directions. This observing wheel was used as a symbol for the end of the 20th century due to the time that turns into the new millennium until now.