Ferris wheel

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File:Ain Dubai View.jpg
Ain Dubai, the world's largest Ferris wheel since 2021, in Dubai.

A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules, or pods) attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, they are kept upright, usually by gravity. Some of the largest modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on the outside of the rim, with electric motors to independently rotate each car to keep it upright.

The original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago; although much smaller wooden wheels of similar idea predate Ferris's wheel, dating perhaps to the 1500s. The generic term "Ferris wheel", now used in American English for all such structures, has become the very common type of amusement ride at amusement parks, state fairs, and other fairs or carnivals in the United States.[1]

The tallest Ferris wheel is the Template:Convert Ain Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which opened in October 2021.

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Terminology and design

The term Ferris wheel comes from the maker of one of the first examples constructed for Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. in 1893.

Modern versions have been called observation wheels.[2][3] In 1892, when the incorporation papers for the Ferris Wheel Company (constructors of the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel) were filed, the purpose of the company was stated as: [construction and operation of] "wheels of the Ferris or other types for the purpose of observation or amusement".[4]

Design variations include single- (cantilevered) or twin-sided support for the wheel, and whether the cars or capsules are oriented upright by gravity or by electric motors. The most prevalent design is the use of twin-sided support and gravity-oriented capsules.

Early history

File:Olearius uvesel.jpg
File:Ferris ups.jpg
Early pleasure wheels depicted in 17th-century engravings, to the left by Adam Olearius, to the right a Turkish design, apparently for adults
File:Hora din Dealul Spirei, 1857.jpg
Dancing the hora on Dealul Spirii (Spirii Hill), Bucharest, Romania (1857 lithograph)
File:Magic City3, Paris, 1913.jpeg
Magic-City, Paris, France, 1913

"Pleasure wheels", whose passengers rode in chairs suspended from large wooden rings turned by strong men, may have originated in 17th-century Bulgaria.[1][5]

The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608–1667[6] describes and illustrates "severall Sorts of Swinginge used in their Publique rejoyceings att their Feast of Biram" on 17 May 1620 at Philippopolis (now Plovdiv) in the Ottoman Balkans.[5] Among means "lesse dangerous and troublesome" was one: <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

like a Craine wheele att Customhowse Key and turned in that Manner, whereon Children sitt on little seats hunge round about in severall parts thereof, And though it turne right upp and downe, and that the Children are sometymes on the upper part of the wheele, and sometymes on the lower, yett they alwaies sitt upright.

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Five years earlier, in 1615, Pietro Della Valle, a Roman traveller who sent letters from Constantinople, Persia, and India, attended a Ramadan festival in Constantinople. He describes the fireworks, floats, and great swings, then comments on riding the Great Wheel:[7]

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I was delighted to find myself swept upwards and downwards at such speed. But the wheel turned round so rapidly that a Greek who was sitting near me couldn't bear it any longer, and shouted out "soni! soni!" (enough! enough!)

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Similar wheels also appeared in England in the 17th century, and subsequently elsewhere around the world, including India, Romania, and Siberia.[5]

A Frenchman, Antonio Manguino, introduced the idea to America in 1848, when he constructed a wooden pleasure wheel to attract visitors to his start-up fair in Walton Spring, Georgia.

Somers' Roundabout

File:Somers Wheel (Roundabout) c. 1892.jpg
William Somers' Wheel, installed 1892, immediate precursor to the original Ferris Wheel

In 1891, William Somers installed a fifty-foot wooden wheel at Atlantic City, New Jersey and later others at Asbury Park, New Jersey and Coney Island, New York.[8] In 1893 he was granted the first U.S. patent for a "Roundabout".[9][10] George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. rode on Somers' wheel in Atlantic City prior to designing his wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition. In 1893 Somers filed a lawsuit against Ferris for patent infringement; however, Ferris and his lawyers successfully argued that the Ferris Wheel and its technology differed greatly from Somers' wheel, and the case was dismissed.[11]

The original Ferris Wheel

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File:The Ferris Wheel — Official Views Of The World's Columbian Exposition — 91 (cropped).jpg
The original Chicago Ferris Wheel, built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition

The original Ferris wheel, sometimes referred to as the Chicago Wheel, was designed and constructed by Ferris Jr. and opened in 1893; however, an earlier wheel was created for the New York State fair in 1854, created by two Erie Canal workers.[12][4][13][14]

With a height of Template:Convert, it was the tallest attraction at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, where it opened to the public on June 21, 1893.[12] It was intended to rival the Template:Convert Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris Exposition.

Ferris was a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bridge-builder. He began his career in the railroad industry and then pursued an interest in bridge building. Ferris understood the growing need for structural steel and founded G.W.G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, a firm that tested and inspected metals for railroads and bridge builders.

The wheel rotated on a 71-ton, Template:Convert axle comprising what was at that time the world's largest hollow forging, manufactured in Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Iron Company and weighing Template:Convert, together with two Template:Convert cast-iron spiders weighing Template:Convert.[13]

There were 36 cars, each fitted with 40 revolving chairs and able to accommodate up to 60 people, giving a total capacity of 2,160.[4] The wheel carried some 38,000 passengers daily[1] and took 20 minutes to complete two revolutions, the first involving six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter and the second a nine-minute non-stop rotation, for which the ticket holder paid 50 cents.

The Exposition ended in October 1893, and the wheel closed in April 1894 and was dismantled and stored until the following year. It was then rebuilt on Chicago's North Side, near the high-income enclave of Lincoln Park. William D. Boyce, then a local resident, filed a Circuit Court action against the owners of the wheel to have it removed, but without success. It operated there from October 1895 until 1903, when it was again dismantled, then transported by rail to St. Louis for the 1904 World's Fair and finally destroyed by controlled demolition using dynamite on May 11, 1906.[15]

Antique Ferris wheels

File:Wiener Prater Vienna Austria 20476.JPG
File:Wiener Riesenrad DSC02378.JPG
Wiener Riesenrad, Vienna, built in 1897, originally had 30 passenger cabins but was rebuilt with 15 cabins following a fire in 1944
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The Wiener Riesenrad (German for "Viennese Giant Wheel") is a surviving example of 19th-century Ferris wheels. Erected in 1897 in the Wurstelprater section of Prater public park in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna, Austria, to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's Golden Jubilee, it has a height of Template:Convert[16] and originally had 30 passenger cars. A demolition permit for the Riesenrad was issued in 1916, but due to a lack of funds with which to carry out the destruction, it survived.[17]

Following the demolition of the Template:Convert Grande Roue de Paris in 1920,[4][18] the Riesenrad became the world's tallest extant Ferris wheel. In 1944 it burnt down, but was rebuilt the following year[17] with 15 passenger cars, and remained the world's tallest extant wheel until its 87th year, when the Template:Convert Technocosmos was constructed for Expo '85, at Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

Still in operation today, it is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, and over the years has featured in numerous films (including Madame Solange d`Atalide (1914),[17] Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), The Third Man (1949), The Living Daylights (1987), Before Sunrise (1995) and novels.

World's tallest Ferris wheels

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File:Great Wheel.jpg
The 94 m Great Wheel at Earls Court, London, world's tallest Ferris wheel 1895–1900
File:La grande roue, Paris, France, ca. 1890-1900.jpg
The 76 m Grande Roue de Paris, world's tallest Ferris wheel 1900–1920

Chronology of world's tallest wheelsScript error: No such module "anchor".

TimelineScript error: No such module "anchor".

<timeline>

ImageSize = width:850 height:258 PlotArea = left:180 bottom:99 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1890 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =

id:tallestever value:blue legend:world's tallest ever at time of completion
id:tallestextant1 value:pink legend:world's tallest extant 1920–1985
id:tallestextant2 value:green legend:world's tallest extant 1985–1989

Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1

ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1890 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1891

BarData =

bar:Ain text:"Ain Dubai - 250 m"
bar:High text:"High Roller - 167.6 m"
bar:Singapore text:"Singapore Flyer - 165 m"
bar:Star text:"Star of Nanchang - 160 m"
bar:London text: "London Eye - 135 m"
bar:Daikanransha text:"Daikanransha - 115 m"
bar:Tempozan text:"Tempozan Ferris Wheel - 112.5 m"
bar:Igosu text:"Igosu 108 - 108 m"
bar:Cosmo text:"Cosmo Clock 21 - 107.5 m"
bar:Grande text:"Grande Roue de Paris - 96 m"
bar:Great text:"Great Wheel - 94 m"
bar:Techno text:"Technostar - 85 m"
bar:Ferris text:"the original Ferris Wheel - 80.4 m"
bar:Wiener text:"Wiener Riesenrad - 64.75 m"

PlotData=

width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Ain from:21/10/2021 till:end color:tallestever
bar:High from:31/03/2014 till:end color:tallestever
bar:Singapore from:01/03/2008 till:end color:tallestever
bar:Star from:01/03/2006 till:end color:tallestever
bar:London from:09/03/2000 till:end color:tallestever
bar:Daikanransha from:19/03/1999 till:end color:tallestever
bar:Tempozan from:12/07/1997 till:end color:tallestever
bar:Igosu from:26/04/1992 till:01/09/2013 color:tallestever
bar:Cosmo from:25/03/1989 till:end color:tallestever
bar:Grande from:01/01/1900 till:01/01/1920 color:tallestever
bar:Great from:07/07/1895 till:01/01/1907 color:tallestever
bar:Techno from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/2009 color:tallestextant2
bar:Ferris from:21/06/1893 till:01/01/1906 color:tallestever
bar:Wiener from:01/01/1897 till:end color:tallestextant1
</timeline>
Name Height
m (ft)
Completed Country Location Coordinates Remarks
Ain Dubai 250 (Template:Convert) 2021 Template:Country data United Arab Emirates Bluewaters Island, Dubai Template:Coord World's tallest 2021–present
High Roller[28] 167.6 (Template:Convert) 2014 Template:Country data United States Las Vegas, Nevada Template:Coord World's tallest 2014–2021
Singapore Flyer[30] 165 (Template:Convert) 2008 Template:Country data Singapore Marina Centre, Downtown Core Template:Coord World's tallest 2008–2014
Star of Nanchang[30] 160 (Template:Convert) 2006 Template:Country data China Nanchang, Jiangxi Template:Coord World's tallest 2006–2008
Sun of Moscow[30] 140 (Template:Convert) 2022 Template:Country data Russia VDNKh, Moscow Template:Coord Europe's tallest since 2022
London Eye[30] 135 (Template:Convert) 2000 Template:Country data United Kingdom South Bank, Lambeth, London Template:Coord World's tallest 2000–2006
Squirrel Windmill [31][32] Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2020
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Country data China Wuhu, Anhui Template:Coord
Bay Glory 128 (Template:Convert)
2021
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Country data China Qianhai Bay, Shenzhen Template:Coord
Sky Dream[33] 126 (Template:Convert) 2017 Template:Country data Taiwan Lihpao Land, Taichung Template:Coord "Sky Dream Fukuoka" wheel in a new location
Redhorse Osaka Wheel[34][35] 123 (Template:Convert) 2016 Template:Country data Japan Expocity, Suita, Osaka Template:Coord
The Wheel at ICON Park Orlando[36] 122 (Template:Convert) 2015 Template:Country data United States Orlando, Florida Template:Coord
Vinpearl Sky Wheel [37] Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2017
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Template:Country data Vietnam Nha Trang Template:Coord Picture Vietnam's tallest since 2017
Suzhou Ferris Wheel[30][38] 120 (Template:Convert) 2009 Template:Country data China Suzhou, Jiangsu Template:Coord
Melbourne Star[30] 120 (Template:Convert) 2008 Template:Country data Australia Docklands, Melbourne Template:Coord Closed in September 2021
Tianjin Eye[30] 120 (Template:Convert) 2008 Template:Country data China Yongle Bridge, Hongqiao, Tianjin Template:Coord
Changsha Ferris Wheel[30] 120 (Template:Convert) 2004 Template:Country data China Changsha, Hunan Template:Coord
Zhengzhou Ferris Wheel[30][39] 120 (Template:Convert) 2003 Template:Country data China Century Amusement Park, Henan Template:Coord
Sky Dream Fukuoka[30][40] 120 (Template:Convert) 2002 Template:Country data Japan Evergreen Marinoa, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Template:Coord Closed in September 2009
Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel 117 (Template:Convert) 2001 Template:Country data Japan Kasai Rinkai Park, Edogawa, Tokyo Template:Coord
Sun Wheel[41] 115 (Template:Convert) 2014 Template:Country data Vietnam Da Nang Template:Coord "Igosu 108" wheel in a new location
Star of Lake Tai Script error: No such module "Unsubst". 115 (Template:Convert) 2008 Template:Country data China Lake Tai, Wuxi, Jiangsu Template:Coord Template:Usurped
Daikanransha[27] 115 (Template:Convert) 1999 Template:Country data Japan Palette Town, Odaiba, Tokyo Template:Coord World's tallest 1999–2000; closed in August 2022
Cosmo Clock 21 (2nd installation) 112.5 (Template:Convert) 1999 Template:Country data Japan Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, Kanagawa Template:Coord
Tempozan Ferris Wheel[23] 112.5 (Template:Convert) 1997 Template:Country data Japan Osaka, Osaka Template:Coord World's tallest 1997–1999
Harbin Ferris Wheel[42] 110 (Template:Convert) 2003 Template:Country data China Harbin, Heilongjiang Template:Coord
Shanghai Ferris Wheel[43][44] 108 (Template:Convert) 2002 Template:Country data China Jinjiang Action Park, Shanghai Template:Coord
Script error: No such module "anchor".Igosu 108[25] 108 (Template:Convert) 1992 Template:Country data Japan Biwako Tower, Ōtsu, Shiga Template:Coord World's tallest 1992–1997; closed in 2001; moved to Vietnam in 2014
Cosmo Clock 21 (1st installation) 107.5 (Template:Convert) 1989 Template:Country data Japan Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, Kanagawa Unknown World's tallest 1989–1992; dismantled in 1997
Space Eye[45] 100 (Template:Convert) 2000 Template:Country data Japan Space World, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Template:Coord Template:Usurped Closed in 2017; moved to Cambodia
Grande Roue de Paris[4][18] 96 (Template:Convert) 1900 Template:Country data France Avenue de Suffren, Paris Template:Coord World's tallest 1900–1920
Great Wheel[19] 094 94 (Template:Convert) 1895 Template:Country data United Kingdom Earls Court, London Template:Coord World's tallest 1895–1900
Eurowheel[46] 092 92 (Template:Convert) 1999 Template:Country data Italy Mirabilandia, Ravenna Template:Coord
Roda Rico[47] 091 91 (Template:Convert) 2022 Template:Country data Brazil São Paulo, São Paulo
Aurora Wheel[48] 090 90 (Template:Convert) Unknown Template:Country data Japan Nagashima Spa Land, Kuwana, Mie Template:Coord Template:Usurped
Rio Star[49] 088 88 (Template:Convert) 2019 Template:Country data Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Template:Coord
Sky Wheel[50] 088 88 (Template:Convert) Unknown Template:Country data Taiwan Janfusun Fancyworld, Gukeng Template:Coord
Technostar
Technocosmos
[4]
085 85 (Template:Convert) 1985 Template:Country data Japan Expoland, Suita, Osaka (?-2009)
Expo 85, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (1985–?)
Template:Coord
Template:Coord
World's tallest extant 1985–1989Technocosmos renamed/relocated
World's tallest extant 1985–1989
The original Ferris Wheel 080.40 80.4 (Template:Convert) 1893 Template:Country data United States Chicago, Midway Plaisance (1893–1894)
Chicago, Lincoln Park (1895–1903)
St. Louis (1904–06)
Template:Coord
Template:Coord
Template:Coord
World's tallest 1893–1894

Future wheels

Following the success of the Template:Convert London Eye since it opened in 2000, giant Ferris wheels have been proposed for many other cities; however, a large number of these projects have stalled or failed.[51]

Construction in progress

Abandoned projects

  • The Skyvue Las Vegas Super Wheel[55] (or SkyVue—the official website uses both[56]) was announced as being Template:Convert tall,[57][58] and later reported as Template:Convert[56] and Template:Convert.[59][60][61][62] It was approved by Clark County Commission in March 2011,[63] and announced at a groundbreaking ceremony in May 2011 that "We expect it to be up and running in time for New Year's 2012".[57][64] The completion date for its construction on the Las Vegas Strip was subsequently put back several times.[65] Template:As of, construction had stalled. The project was eventually canceled due to lack of funding and the property was put up for sale in 2020, and again in 2022.[66]
  • The Template:Convert[67][68][69] New York Wheel was first reported in June 2012 and officially announced by mayor Michael Bloomberg in September 2012.[68] Construction at Staten Island, New York City, alongside the planned Empire Outlets retail complex,[67] was originally planned to begin early in 2014,[70][71] and completion was originally expected to be in 2015.[69][71] In October 2014 it was reported that construction would not begin until 2015, with completion delayed until 2017.[72] This was subsequently further pushed back to April 2018, and then delayed indefinitely after developer NY Wheel fired lead contractor Mammoet-Starneth LLC in July 2017 amid a legal dispute over missed design and construction deadlines.[73] In May 2018, the developers of the New York Wheel were given a last chance to obtain funding for the project. As per a ruling in Delaware bankruptcy court, the developers had 120 days, or until September 5, to find funding; however, on September 7, 2018, it was announced that the New York Wheel would not receive $140 million in city funding.[74][75][76] The delays caused concern among EB-5 visa investors, who would lose their visas if the project was not constructed.[77][76] An amendment to the bankruptcy court's ruling gave the developers a final 120-day extension to look for funding. If the developers did not get funding by January 2019, the project would be canceled and no further funding extensions would be given.[78] On September 21, 2018, mayor Bill de Blasio said that the now-$900-million project would not receive a bailout from the city because it was too risky to support the project with bonds. As such, the city would not support tax free status for a $380 million bond sale to complete the project.[79][80] Investors refused to proceed with construction without city support, and stated that it would allow the parts for the Ferris wheel to be auctioned off if the city did not provide funding.[81] Subsequently, investors decided to cancel the project.[82] At this point, investors had spent $450 million on the project.[79]

Quiescent proposals

Incomplete, delayed, stalled, cancelled, failed, or abandoned proposals:

File:Aussichtsrad-berlin 03.jpg
Artist's impression of the 175 m Great Berlin Wheel, a project originally due for completion in 2008, but which stalled after encountering financial obstacles

Script error: No such module "anchor".Nippon Moon, described as a "giant observation wheel" by its designers,[114] was reported in September 2013 to be "currently in development". At that time, its height was "currently undisclosed", but "almost twice the scale of the wheel in London". Its location, an unspecified Japanese city, was "currently under wraps", and its funding had "yet to be entirely secured". Commissioned by Ferris Wheel Investment Co., Ltd., and designed by UNStudio in collaboration with Arup, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Experientia, it was expected to have 32 individually themed capsules and take 40 minutes to rotate once.[115]

Script error: No such module "anchor".Script error: No such module "anchor".The Shanghai Star, initially planned as a Template:Convert tall wheel to be built by 2005, was revised to Template:Convert, with a completion date set in 2007, but then cancelled in 2006 due to "political incorrectness".[116] An earlier proposal for a Template:Convert structure, the Shanghai Kiss, with capsules ascending and descending a pair of towers which met at their peaks instead of a wheel, was deemed too expensive at £100m.[117]

Script error: No such module "anchor".Rus-3000, a Template:Convert wheel planned to open in 2004 in Moscow,[118] has since been reported cancelled.[119] Subsequently, an approximately Template:Convert[120] wheel was considered for Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure,[121][122] and a Template:Convert wheel proposed for location near Sparrow Hills.[123] Another giant wheel planned for Prospekt Vernadskogo for 2002 was also never built.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Variants

File:Finniar SkyWheel Helsinki (Ferris wheel) (2).jpg
SkyWheel Helsinki, formerly known as Finnair SkyWheel, is the only Ferris wheel in the world with a sauna in one of its gondola cabins.[124]

Indoor Ferris wheels

File:Toys-R-Us Ferris Wheel (8502427998).jpg
Indoor Ferris wheel in Toys-R-Us, New York City

At some malls and amusement parks indoor Ferris wheels were realized. The largest of its kind has a diameter of Template:Convert and is situated in the Template:Convert high Alem Cultural and Entertainment Center in Ashgabat.

Motorised capsules

File:Singapore Flyer.JPG
File:Singapore flyer capsule inside.JPG
The Singapore Flyer has 28 cylindrical air-conditioned passenger capsules, each able to carry 28 people[125]
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File:InsidetheLondonEye.JPG
File:An Eye Pod.jpg
The London Eye's 32 ovoidal air-conditioned passenger capsules each weigh Template:Convert and can carry 25 people[126]
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Wheels with passenger cars mounted external to the rim and independently rotated by electric motors, as opposed to wheels with cars suspended from the rim and kept upright by gravity, are uncommon. Typically they are called 'Observation wheels' but there is no standardised terminology.

Only a few Ferris wheels with motorised capsules have been built.

File:Southern Star Complete.jpg
Southern Star (now Melbourne Star), tallest in the Southern Hemisphere, in 2008
  • The Template:Convert Melbourne Star (previously the Southern Star) in Australia has ovoidal externally mounted motorised capsules and is described by its operators as "the only observation wheel in the southern hemisphere",[135] but also as a Ferris wheel by the media.[136][137][138]
  • The Template:Convert Nanjing OCT Funland Ferris Wheel is China's second giant observation wheel with motorised capsules which has passed national inspections in early 2023 and is about to open to the public.[53]

Official conceptual renderings[139] of the proposed Template:Convert New York Wheel also show a wheel equipped with externally mounted motorised capsules.[67]

Centreless wheels

File:Big O Ferris Wheel.jpg
Big O, a Template:Convert tall centreless wheel at Tokyo Dome City in Japan

In the centreless (sometimes called hubless or spokeless) wheel design, there is no central hub and the rim of the wheel stays fixed in place. Instead, each car travels around the circumference of the rim. The first centreless wheel built was the Big O at Tokyo Dome City in Japan.[140] Its Template:Convert height has since been surpassed by the Template:Convert high Bailang River Bridge Ferris Wheel on the upper deck of the Bailang River Bridge in Shandong Province, China, which opened in 2017.[141]

The first centreless wheel in North America opened in January 2019 at the indoor Méga Parc in Quebec City, Canada.[142][143] The Template:Convert wheel at Méga Parc was designed and manufactured by Larson International.[144]

Transportable wheels

Transportable Ferris wheels are designed to be operated at multiple locations, as opposed to fixed wheels which are usually intended for permanent installation. Small transportable designs may be permanently mounted on trailers, and can be moved intact. Larger transportable wheels are designed to be repeatedly dismantled and rebuilt, some using water ballast instead of the permanent foundations of their fixed counterparts. Larger transportable wheels were designed with a self erecting mechanism in the absence of mobile cranes reaching high enough since 1958 in Europe. Spokes must be stiff being able to carry their own weight for assembling the wheel without auxiliary scaffolding.Template:Fact


Fixed wheels are also sometimes dismantled and relocated. Larger examples include the original Ferris Wheel, which operated at two sites in Chicago, Illinois, and a third in St. Louis, Missouri; Technocosmos/Technostar, which moved to Expoland, Osaka, after Expo '85, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, for which it was built, ended; and Cosmo Clock 21, which added Template:Convert onto its original Template:Convert height when erected for the second time at Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, in 1999.

The world's tallest transportable wheel Template:As of is the Template:Convert Bussink Design R80XL.[145][146][147][148]

File:Roue De Paris (Geleen).jpg
Roue de Paris, a Ronald Bussink R60 transportable wheel, at Geleen in the Netherlands in 2005

One of the most famous transportable wheels is the Template:Convert Roue de Paris, originally installed on the Place de la Concorde in Paris for the 2000 millennium celebrations. Roue de Paris left France in 2002 and in 2003–04 operated in Birmingham and Manchester, England. In 2005 it visited first Geleen then Amsterdam, Netherlands, before returning to England to operate at Gateshead. In 2006 it was erected at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar in Bangkok, Thailand, and by 2008 had made its way to Antwerp, Belgium.[149]

Roue de Paris is a Ronald Bussink series R60 design using Template:Convert of water ballast to provide a stable base. The R60 weighs Template:Convert, and can be erected in 72 hours and dismantled in 60 hours by a specialist team. Transport requires seven 20-foot container lorries, ten open trailer lorries, and one closed trailer lorry. Its 42-passenger cars can be loaded either 3 or 6 at a time, and each car can carry 8 people.[150] Bussink R60 wheels have operated in Australia (Brisbane), Canada (Niagara Falls), France (Paris), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur & Malacca), México (Puebla), UK (Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield), US (Atlanta, Myrtle Beach), and elsewhere.

Other notable transportable wheels include the Template:Convert Steiger Ferris Wheel, which was the world's tallest transportable wheel when it began operating in 1980.[151] It has 42 passenger cars,[152] and weighs 450 tons.[153] On October 11, 2010, it collapsed at the Kramermarkt in Oldenburg, Germany, during deconstruction.[154]

Script error: No such module "anchor". Notable transportable Ferris wheel installations
Name Years Country Location Coordinates
Belfast Wheel 2007–2010 Template:Country data UK Belfast Template:Coord
Brighton Wheel 2011–2016 Template:Country data UK Brighton Template:Coord
Delhi Eye see article Template:Country data India Delhi Template:Coord
Eye on Malaysia 2007–2008
2008–2010
Template:Country data Malaysia
Template:Country data Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Malacca
Template:Coord
Template:Coord
Estrella de Puebla 2013–2020 Template:Country data Mexico Puebla
Royal Windsor Wheel various  Template:Country data UK Windsor, Berkshire Template:Coord
Wheel of Birmingham various  Template:Country data UK Centenary Square, Birmingham Template:Coord
Wheel of Brisbane 2008– Template:Country data Australia South Bank Parklands, Brisbane Template:Coord
Wheel of Dublin 2010–2011 Template:Country data Ireland North Wall, Dublin Template:Coord
Wheel of Liverpool 2010– Template:Country data UK Liverpool Template:Coord
Wheel of Manchester various  Template:Country data UK Manchester multiple locations – see article
Wheel of Sheffield 2009–2010 Template:Country data UK Fargate, Sheffield Template:Coord
Yorkshire Wheel various  Template:Country data UK York multiple locations – see article

Double and triple wheels

A double Ferris wheel designed to include a horizontal turntable was patented in 1939 by John F. Courtney, working for Velare & Courtney. In Courtney's design, there were two independent Ferris wheels, each rotating at either end of a cantilever arm. The cantilever arm was supported in the middle by a tall vertical support, and the cantilever arm itself rotated around its middle pivot point.[155] The design was similar to the earlier Aeriocycle, but the double wheel patented by Courtney allowed the cantilever arm to make a complete rotation, while the Aeriocycle was limited to a seesaw motion.[156] Courtney continued to file additional patents on improved designs through the 1950s to make them more portable,[157][158] and at about the same time, the Velare brothers patented the "Space Wheel", a side-by-side double with four total Ferris wheels.[159]

The design was later sold to the Allan Herschell Company in 1959 and marketed as the "Sky Wheel"; the first sale as the Sky Wheel was to 20th Century Rides in October 1960.[160] The Sky Wheel seated up to 32 riders in 16 two-person cars, with 8 cars per wheel, and riders reached a peak of approximately Template:Convert. The height and popularity of the Sky Wheel was eclipsed by larger single wheels in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it has since largely disappeared from common use.[161][162] Template:As of, there are four known Sky Wheels that remain in operation.[163]

In March 1966, Thomas Glen Robinson and Ralph G. Robinson received a patent for a Planetary Amusement Ride, which was a distinct double wheel design. In the Robinsons' patent, the cantilever arm was bent at a slightly obtuse angle, and the cars were carried on a spoked "spider" rotating structure at each end of the cantilever. With the obtuse-angle cantilever, one spider could be lowered to the ground in a horizontal plane so that all the cars on that spider could be unloaded and loaded simultaneously, while the spider on the other end of the cantilever would continue to rotate in a near-vertical plane.[164][165]

Robinson sold two of these rides – Astrowheel, which operated at the former Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas,[166] and Galaxy, which operated at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. Both were manufactured by Astron International Corporation.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".[167] Astrowheel was part of the original lineup of rides when Astroworld opened in 1968;[168] it was removed in 1981 to make way for the Warp 10 ride.[169] Astrowheel had an eight-spoked spider at the end of each arm, and each tip had a separate car for eight cars in total on each end.[170] In contrast, Galaxy had double the capacity with a four-spoked spider at the end of each arm; each tip bore an independent four-spoked sub-spider for sixteen cars in total on each end. Like Astrowheel, Galaxy was part of the lineup at Magic Mountain when the park opened in 1971, and was removed in 1980 when Six Flags took over ownership of both parks.[171]

Swiss broker Intamin marketed a similar series of double wheels manufactured by Waagner-Biro, comprising a vertical column supporting a straight cantilever arm, with each end of the cantilever arm ending in a spoked Ferris wheel. The first Intamin produced was Giant Wheel at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which operated from 1973 to 2004.[167] Other double wheels made by Waagner-Biro/Intamin include Zodiac (Kings Island, Mason, Ohio; 1975–86;[172] moved to Wonderland Sydney and operated 1989–2004), Scorpion (Parque de la Ciudad, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 1982–2003), and Double Wheel (Kuwait Entertainment City, Kuwait City, Kuwait; 1984–91).[173]

A triple variant was custom designed for the Marriott Corporation and debuted at both Marriott's Great America parks (now Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, Illinois, and California's Great America, Santa Clara) in 1976 as Sky Whirl. Each ride had three main components: the three spiders/wheels with their passenger cars; the triple-spoked supporting arm; and the single central supporting column. Each wheel rotated about one of the three ends of the supporting arm. The supporting arm would in turn rotate around its central hub as a single unit about the top of the supporting column. The axis about which the supporting arm turned was offset from vertical (i.e., the plane of rotation was not horizontal), so that as the supporting arm rotated, each wheel was raised and lowered. When lowered, one wheel was horizontal at ground level. At the same time, the other wheels remained raised and continued to rotate in a near-vertical plane at considerable height. The lowered horizontal wheel was brought to a standstill for simultaneous loading and unloading of all its passenger cars.[174]

The Sky Whirl was also known as a triple Ferris wheel,[175] Triple Giant Wheel,[176] or Triple Tree Wheel; it was Template:Convert in height.[177] The Sky Whirl in Santa Clara was filmed for a memorable rescue scene in Beverly Hills Cop III (renamed to "The Spider" for the film).[178] The Santa Clara ride, renamed Triple Wheel in post-Marriott years, closed on September 1, 1997. The Gurnee ride closed in 2000.[174] Two triple wheels were built for Asian clients: Tree Triple Wheel at Seibu-en (Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan; 1985–2004) and Hydra at Lotte World (Seoul, South Korea; 1989–97).[173]

Eccentric wheels

An eccentric wheel (sometimes called a sliding wheel[179] or coaster wheel[180]) differs from a conventional Ferris wheel in that some or all of its passenger cars are not fixed directly to the rim of the wheel, but instead slide on rails between the rim and the hub as the wheel rotates.

The two most famous eccentric wheels are Wonder Wheel, at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Coney Island, US, and Pixar Pal-A-Round (previously Sun Wheel and Mickey's Fun Wheel), at Disney California Adventure, US. The latter is a replica of the former. There is a second replica in Yokohama Dreamland, Japan.[181]

Pixar Pal-A-Round is Template:Convert tall[179] and has 24 fully enclosed passenger cars, each able to carry six passengers. Each passenger car is decorated with the face of a Pixar character. Sixteen slide inward and outward as the wheel rotates, the remainder are fixed to the rim. There are separate boarding queues for sliding and fixed cars, so that passengers may choose between the two.[182] Inspired by Coney Island's 1920 Wonder Wheel, it was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and Waagner Biro, completed in 2001 as the Sun Wheel, later refurbished and reopened in 2009 as Mickey's Fun Wheel, and again rethemed as Pixar Pal-A-Round in 2018.[179]

Wonder Wheel was built in 1920, is Template:Convert tall, and can carry 144 people.[183]

Gallery of notable wheels

Major designers, manufacturers, and operators

Allan Herschell Company (merged with Chance Rides in 1970)[187]

  • Seattle Wheel (debuted 1962): 16 cars, two passengers per car[188]
  • Sky Wheel (debuted 1939; also manufactured by Chance Rides): a double wheel, with the wheels rotating about opposite ends of a pair of parallel beams, and the beams rotating about their centres; eight cars per wheel, two passengers per car[189]

Chance Morgan/Chance Rides/Chance Wheels/Chance American Wheels[190][191]

Eli Bridge Company[195]
Contemporary models include:
  • Signature Series: 16 cars, 3 passengers per car; transportable
  • Eagle Series: 16 cars, 3 passengers per car; transportable
  • HY-5 Series: 12 cars, 3 passengers per car; transportable
  • Aristocrat Series: 16 cars, fixed site
  • Standard Series: 12 cars, fixed site
  • Lil' Wheel: 6 cars, 3 passengers per car; transportable and fixed site models

Great Wheel Corporation[196] (merged with World Tourist Attractions in 2009 to form Great City Attractions)[197]

Intamin/Waagner-Biro[198] (Rides brokered by Intamin—manufactured by Waagner-Biro)[199]

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Ronald Bussink[201] (formerly Nauta Bussink; then Ronald Bussink Professional Rides; then Bussink Landmarks since 2008)

Wheels of Excellence range (sold to Vekoma in 2008) has included:
Bussink Design:

Sanoyas Rides Corporation (has built more than 80 Ferris wheels[202])

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Senyo Kogyo Co, Ltd.
World Tourist Attractions / Great City Attractions[204] / Wheels Entertainments[205] / Freij Entertainment International[206]

See also

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Ferris wheel Template:Authority control

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  9. explorepahistory.com – Ferris Wheel Inventor Historical Marker Template:Webarchive
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