A Ferris wheel (also known as an observation wheel or big wheel) is a nonbuilding structure, consisting of an upright wheel with passenger gondolas attached to the rim.

The original Ferris wheel was designed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It is said that Ferris got the idea from the water wheel on the farm where he lived as a child in Carson City. The term Ferris wheel later came to be used generically for all such rides.

London Eye

[edit] History

The first Ferris wheel, built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago

Wiener Riesenrad, Vienna

The Ferris wheel is named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., 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.

Ferris designed and built the Chicago Wheel^[1][2] for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. The wheel was intended as a rival to the 324-metre (1,060 ft) Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris Exposition. It was the largest attraction at the Columbian Exposition, with a height of 80 metres (260 ft), and was powered by two steam engines. The axle, a single 700.000-ton solid hammered steel forging, was forty-five feet long and thirty-two inches in diameter.^[3] There were 36 cars, accommodating 40 people each, giving a total capacity of 1,440. It took 190 minutes for the wheel to make two revolutions—the first to make six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter; the 2nd, a single non-stop revolution—and for that, the ticket holder paid 50 cents. When the Exposition ended, the wheel was moved to the north side, next to an exclusive neighborhood. William D. Boyce filed an unsuccessful Circuit Court action against the owners of the wheel, to have it moved. It was then used at the St. Louis 1904 World's Fair and eventually destroyed by controlled demolition using dynamite on May 11, 1906.^[4]

The Wiener Riesenrad is a surviving example of nineteenth century Ferris wheels. Erected in 1897 in the Prater park in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna, Austria, it has a height of 64.75 metres (212.4 ft).^[5] Following the demolition of the 100-metre (330 ft) Grande Roue de Paris in 1920,^[6] the Riesenrad was the world's tallest extant Ferris wheel until the construction of the 85-metre (280 ft) Technocosmos for Expo '85 in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

[edit] World's tallest Ferris wheels

The 165 m Singapore Flyer, world's tallest Ferris wheel since 2008

• 1893: the Chicago Wheel, the first-ever Ferris wheel, was 80 metres (260 ft) tall. It was built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, and later moved to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. It was demolished in 1906.

• 1895: the Great Wheel was built for the Empire of India Exhibition at Earls Court, London, UK. Construction began in March 1894^[7] and it opened to the public on July 17, 1895.^[8] Modelled on the Chicago original, it was 94 metres (310 ft) tall ^[9] and was the first of over 200 Ferris wheels built by Australian engineers Adam Gaddelin and Gareth Watson. It stayed in service until 1906, by which time its 40 cars (each with a capacity of 40 persons) had carried over 2.5 million passengers, and was demolished in 1907.^[10]

• 1900: the Grande Roue de Paris was built for the Exposition Universelle of 1900, a world's fair held in Paris, France. It was demolished in 1920,^[6] but its 100-metre (330 ft) height was not surpassed until almost 100 years after its construction.

• 1997: the Tempozan Harbor Village Ferris wheel in Osaka, Japan, opened to the public on July 12, and is 112.5 metres (369 ft) tall.^{[citation needed]}

• 1999: the Daikanransha at Palette Town in Odaiba, Japan, is 115 metres (380 ft) tall.^{[citation needed]}

• 2000: the London Eye, in London, UK, is 135 metres (440 ft) tall. It was officially opened (by Tony Blair) on December 31, 1999, but did not open to the public until March 2000, because of technical problems. It is still the tallest in the Western Hemisphere.^[11]

• 2006: the Star of Nanchang, in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, opened for business in May 2006 and is 160 metres (520 ft) tall.

• 2008: the Singapore Flyer, in Singapore, is 165 metres (541 ft) tall, and currently the world's tallest Ferris wheel. It started rotating on February 11, 2008, and officially opened to the public on March 1, 2008.

Name	Height (m)	Completed	Country	Location	Remarks
Singapore Flyer	165	2008	Singapore	Singapore	World's tallest
Star of Nanchang	160	2006	China	Nanchang	World's tallest at time of construction
London Eye	135	2000	UK	London	Europe's tallest
Suzhou Ferris Wheel [12]	120	2009	China	Suzhou
The Southern Star	120	2008	Australia	Melbourne	Tallest in Southern Hemisphere
Tianjin Eye	120	2008	China	Tianjin	Tallest built over a bridge
Changsha Ferris Wheel [citation needed]	120	2004	China	Changsha
Zhengzhou Ferris Wheel [citation needed]	120	2003	China	Zhengzhou
Sky Dream Fukuoka	120	2002	Japan	Fukuoka
Diamonds and Flowers Wheel [citation needed]	117	2001	Japan	Kasai Rinkai Park, Tokyo	Picture
Daikanransha [citation needed]	115	1999	Japan	Palette Town, Odaiba	World's tallest at time of construction Pictures
Star of Tai Lake [citation needed]	115	2008	China	Wuxi, Jiangsu
Cosmo Clock 21 [13]	112.5	1999	Japan	Yokohama	Pictures
Tempozan Harbor Village Ferris wheel	112.5	1997	Japan	Osaka	World's tallest at time of construction
Harbin Ferris Wheel [citation needed]	110	2003	China	Harbin
Jinjiang Park Ferris Wheel [citation needed]	108	2002	China	Shanghai
Grande Roue de Paris	100	1900	France	Paris	World's tallest 1900-1920 Demolished 1920 [6]
Space Eye [citation needed]	100	?	Japan	Kita-Kyushu
Great Wheel [9]	94	1895	UK	London	World's tallest at time of construction Demolished 1907
Aurora Wheel [14]	90	?	Japan	Nagashima Spa Land, Mie
Eurowheel [15]	90	1999	Italy	Mirabilandia, Ravenna	Currently Europe's second tallest
Janfusun FancyWorld [citation needed]	88	?	Taiwan	Yunlin
Technocosmos	85 [16]	1985	Japan	Expo '85, Tsukuba	World's tallest extant wheel at time of construction
Mashhad Fun Fair [citation needed]	80	2001 ?	Iran	Mashhad
Chicago Wheel	80	1893	USA	Chicago (1893-1903) St. Louis (1904-1906)	First-ever Ferris wheel Demolished 1906
HEP Five [17]	75	1998	Japan	Osaka	106 m tall including the building it stands on
Moscow-850 [18]	73 [19] or 75 [20]	1995 [20] or 1997[21]	Russia	All-Russia Exhibition Centre, Moscow	Tallest extant wheel in Europe at time of construction [20]
Polaris Tower [citation needed]	72	1993	South Korea	Daejon
Miramar Entertainment Park	70	2002	Taiwan	Taipei	100 m tall including the building it stands on
Riesenrad Vienna	64.75	1897	Austria	Prater, Vienna	World's tallest extant wheel 1920-1985
Texas Star [22]	64.6	1985	USA	Fair Park, Dallas	Currently tallest in North America
Kobe wheel [citation needed]	63.5	1981	Japan	Portopia, Port Island, Kobe	Dismantled Aug.2006? Picture
Shining Flower Wheel [23]	61.4	?	Japan	Inagi
Belfast Wheel [24]	60.5	2007	UK	Belfast City Hall, Belfast	Currently tallest in Ireland

Proposed, delayed, or not yet completed:

• The 208-metre (682 ft) Beijing Great Wheel, originally planned to open in 2008, has been delayed until 2010.^[25]

• The 198-metre (650 ft) Baghdad Eye has been proposed for an as yet undetermined site in Baghdad, Iraq.^[26]

• The 185-metre (607 ft) Great Dubai Wheel has been proposed for Dubailand, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.^[27]

• The 180-metre (591 ft) Voyager^[28] has been proposed several times for Las Vegas, Nevada.^[29]

• The 175-metre (574 ft) Great Berlin Wheel, originally planned to open in 2008, has been delayed until 2009.^[30]

• The 150-metre (492 ft) Jeddah Eye has been proposed for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.^[31]

• The 122-metre (400 ft) Great Orlando Wheel for Orlando, Florida was announced in June 2008^[32] but then suspended in early 2009 after losing its funding.^[33]

• The 87-metre (285 ft) Pepsi Globe has been proposed for Meadowlands Xanadu in New Jersey.^[34]

The Shanghai Star, initially planned as a 200-metre (656 ft) tall wheel to be built by 2005, was revised to 170 metres (560 ft), with a completion date set in 2007, but then cancelled in 2006 due to "political incorrectness"^[35].

Rus-3000, a 170-metre (558 ft) wheel planned to open in 2004^[36] in Moscow,^[37] has since been reported cancelled.^[38] More recently, an approximately 180-metre (591 ft) ^[39] wheel has been considered for Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure,^[40][41] and a 150-metre (492 ft) wheel proposed for location near Sparrow Hills.^[42]

[edit] Observation wheels

Southern Star

Some operators prefer the term observation wheel to Ferris wheel and large Ferris wheels are sometimes marketed as observation wheels, to differentiate them from smaller Ferris wheels; however, the two are actually the same and any distinction between the two names is at the discretion of the wheel operator. Ironically, many of the wheels whose owners reject the term Ferris wheel, actually have more in common with the original Chicago Ferris wheel of 1893, particularly in terms of being an iconic landmark for a city or event.

The world's tallest wheel, the Singapore Flyer, is described as an observation wheel by its operators.^[43]

The London Eye (world's tallest, 2000-2006) is also described as an observation wheel by its operators.^[44]

The Star of Nanchang (world's tallest, 2006-2008) is usually referred to as a Ferris wheel, and less commonly as an observation wheel.

The Southern Star is described by its operators as "the only observation wheel in the southern hemisphere"^[45] but also as a Ferris wheel by the media.^[46][47]

[edit] Double and triple wheels

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Illustration of a Ferris wheel with sliding gondolas, built at Coney Island in the 1920. It still operates at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park. A replica can be found in Disney's California Adventure Park.

In the mid to late 1970s, coaster company Intamin AG invented a twist on the Ferris wheel. Using long arms to hold the wheels, they created a way to load and unload Ferris wheels more quickly. In 1976, two Sky Whirls opened, one at each of two Marriott's Great America theme parks (Illinois and California), and were the first triple wheels. Triple wheels contained three separate "wheels," each attached to one of three long boom arms which radiated from a spinning point on top of a central tower. When loading/unloading passengers, the 3 arms would rotate until one arm was above the loading area (while the other two wheels were still spinning in the air) and hydraulics would bring that arm/wheel to the ground.

A two-arm version, titled "Zodiac," was also installed at Kings Island in Ohio, as well as at Hersheypark in Pennsylvania, titled "Giant Wheel." The double wheels were attached to a long, straight arm. The arm was mounted in the center, on a central tower. When the hydraulics lowered one side, the other raised. The Kings Island Zodiac was relocated to Australia's Wonderland, but it closed there in 2004.

All models featured cages, holding eight to ten passengers. The cages were attached to the wheels by chains. When the wheel was in the loading position, it was horizontal and all cages could be loaded at once. As the arm raised or rotated, the wheel moved to a vertical position and provided a typical Ferris-wheel ride, only much higher from the ground.

Another version of this ride existed at Magic Mountain in California titled "Galaxy." This ride was similar to the Zodiac, except the arms did not raise as far off the ground. The arms on this ride were shaped more in a "V" than a straight line, and the central tower was shorter. On each wheel were four smaller wheels that also rotated, providing a double vertical rotating movement.

A fourth version of the ride was installed and removed at Astroworld in Texas, titled "Astrowheel." It was also similar to the Zodiac model, but had the shorter tower/"V" arm configuration of the Galaxy.

The Pike in Long Beach, CA had a double Ferris wheel that was one wheel atop another wheel of equal size. The two moved on an axis making a large circle as big as the two wheels combined, while each wheel turned on its own axis at the same time as they were both moving on the larger axis. Each wheel was the size of a regular style Ferris wheel.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Manufacturers

Texas Star

Ferris wheel on the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey, USA

Drive-in Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel on Bürkliplatz in Zürich, Switzerland

Ferris wheel at the Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto

• The Great Wheel Corporation
• Allan Herschell Company
  • Seattle Wheel: has 15 cars with up to two people per car.
• Eli Bridge [2]
  • Eagle Wheel: 16 cars with up to three people per car.
  • Hy #5 Big Eli Wheel: some are cable driven, others are rim driven. Has 12 cars with up to three people per car.
  • Little Wheel: much smaller in dimensions, but it still has 12 cars with up to two people per car.
• Ronald Bussink Professional Rides (formerly Nauta Bussink) [3]
  • R60: 60 meter wheel with 42 enclosed capsules with air conditioning. The largest transportable Ferris wheel in the world. Seen in Germany (Dresden), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Spain (Seville), UK (Belfast, Birmingham, London, Manchester, York) and elsewhere. It requires at least twenty 40 ft (12 m) containers to transport it and is ballasted with water.
• Chance Morgan
  • Astro Wheel: 16 cars (eight facing one way, eight facing the other way) with up to two people per car.
  • Century Wheel: 15 cars with up to four people per car.
  • Giant Wheel: 20 cars with up to six people per car. This is one of the biggest production Ferris wheels, and requires at least two 18-wheelers to transport it.
  • Sky Wheel: a double wheel. There is a wheel on top, and bottom of the ride. There are eight cars per each wheel with up to two people for each car.
• Intamin AG
  • Mickey's Fun Wheel: this type of Ferris wheel is a little different. Some of the 16 cars move on a track in the middle of the wheel. There are also eight cars on the outside of the ride, that do not move much and do not have a track. One of these is located at Disney's California Adventure and another is located at Coney Island. Each car can hold up to six people.
• Roger Wadkins (formerly Bob Childress—Expo Wheels LLC)
  • Expo Wheel: 16 cars with up to two people per car. The seating on this wheel is much like the Eli Bridge Hy #5, or Chance's Astro Wheel.

[edit] In popular culture

• The Wiener Riesenrad in Vienna is the stage for a key scene in the 1949 film noir The Third Man. It is also featured in the 1987 James Bond film, The Living Daylights, and appears in the 1995 Richard Linklater film Before Sunrise.
• The hero of Robert Lawson's children's book The Great Wheel is part of the construction crew for the original Chicago Wheel.

[edit] See also

Abandoned Ferris wheel in Fort Dodge, Iowa

A transportable Ferris wheel in England

• List of amusement parks

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ferris wheel

• Ferris wheel patents