The British Airways London Eye
This distinctive edition to the London skyline is a 135m tall ‘ferris’ wheel
The British Airways London Eye on the South Bank of the River Thames at Westminster is a unique structure. It consists of a wheel 135m in diameter carrying 32 spectator capsules on the periphery of the rim, the whole being axle supported from one side only by two tapered tubular steel struts and four sets of cables.
The rim of the wheel is formed as a triangular crosssection steel truss; the spokes are prestressed steel cables. The rotating hub and spindle are formed from thickwalled steel castings with integral attachment points for the two supporting struts and the tie cables. This configuration allowed the wheel to be assembled in the horizontal position and then to be lifted and tilted into the vertical plane with minimal temporary works. The scale of the structure posed many unusual problems in design, fabrication and erection.
| young engineer profile |
Julie Knox
Age: 24
Job: Graduate engineer, Babtie
I work in the Babtie engineering team that specialises in rides. We design rides, check the designs produced by ride manufacturers and their calculations for new rides and also inspect rides on site. I even get to try them out! Since leaving university with a degree in civil engineering, I have learned lots about how structures work, how the world of structural
engineering links into mechanical and electrical engineering and how to mix theory and practice.
The London Eye is the biggest and most famous ride our group has worked on, but we’ve also worked on the famous Pepsi Max roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, where one of my jobs is helping with the annual inspections. Right now we are helping to plan the next new big ride - but the details of this are a secret. All new graduates have to get a broad mix of experience to further their career and I am currently seconded to work full time on a construction site to better my skills in practical building.
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“The scale of the structure posed many unusual problems in design, fabrication and erection” |
