The earliest Ferris wheel was designed by American George Washington Ferris for the Columbus Memorial Exposition in Chicago in 1893, in order to compete with the Eiffel Tower built in Paris at the 1889 Exposition.

The first Ferris wheel weighed 2,200 tons, could take 2,160 people, and was equivalent to a 26-story building. Because of the achievements of the Pharisees, people will call this facility “Ferris Wheel” in the future, which is the Ferris wheel we are familiar with.

The Vienna Ferris Wheel is a surviving 19th-century Ferris wheel that is still in operation today. It was erected in 1897 at the Prater Amusement Park in Leopold City (Second District) in Vienna, Austria, for the Golden Jubilee celebration of Emperor Franz Joseph I, with a total height of 64.75 meters.

In 1920, after the Paris Ferris Wheel was dismantled, the Vienna Ferris Wheel became the tallest Ferris wheel in the world.

Burned down during World War II in 1944, it was rebuilt the following year and still maintained its status as the world’s tallest Ferris wheel until it was surpassed by the Japanese city of Tsukuba in 1985 (85 meters high).

The British Airways London Eye, which once sat on the throne of the world’s largest Ferris wheel for a long time, is located on the banks of the Thames. It is a Ferris wheel with a total height of 135 meters. Pioneer of Design.

However, its world No. 1 status was shattered after the completion and opening in March 2006 of the Nanchang Star in Nanchang City, the People’s Republic of China, a gravity-fed Ferris wheel with a total height of 160 meters

However, Nanchang Star’s No. 1 position in the world did not last long, because the Singapore Flyer, which opened in March 2008, surpassed Nanchang with its total height of 165 meters (wheel diameter of 150 meters).

However, due to the different structural concepts of the two (Singapore Ferris wheel adopts the same observation wheel design as the London Eye), Nanchang Star can still maintain the highest gravity Ferris wheel status until a new challenger emerges.

In addition to the above-mentioned Ferris wheel, there are many large-scale Ferris wheel construction projects under preparation in the world, all of which will challenge the title of the world’s largest, including the Beijing Chaotian Wheel, which is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The Ferris wheel, with an estimated total height of 208 meters and a wheel diameter of 198 meters, adopts the same observation-type Ferris wheel structure as the London Eye.

In terms of the diameter of the Ferris wheel, the largest Ferris wheel in Taiwan is the Ferris wheel in Jianhu Mountain World, Gukeng Township, Yunlin County, with a diameter of 88 meters.

However, the Kaohsiung Eye in Dream Times in Kaohsiung City is only 50 meters in diameter, but because it is erected on the roof of the building instead of the ground, it ranks the highest in Taiwan with a total height of 102.5 meters.

Ground assembly, overall hoisting method

The rim steel structure of Ferris wheel is processed and assembled in sections in the factory. After transporting to the site, the rim is assembled into a whole, and then connected to the internal rigid truss support or flexible steel cable system, and finally the whole is hoisted into place.

The British “London Eye” adopts this construction method. The steel tube truss of the wheel rim is divided into 3 sections and processed in the factory, and then transported to the site to assemble as a whole.

Then the steel cable inside the wheel rim is installed and tensioned, and the prestress is introduced. Finally, the After the roulette structure and the supporting tower structure form an integral structure, hoisting is carried out.

The ground assembly and overall hoisting method are beneficial to the installation of the steel structure, and the installation accuracy is easy to ensure, but the scale and weight of the Ferris wheel are generally large, so a large construction site and strong hoisting capacity are required.

Center rotation installation method

The center rotation installation method means that after the supporting tower and the axle are installed in place, the working platform is set up with the tower, or the Ferris wheel structure system is installed from the center to the periphery by the lifting system. In some small and medium-sized Ferris wheel installation projects more applications.

Vertical rotation installation method

The vertical rotation installation method refers to the construction method in which the temporary rigid spokes are used to drive the segmented rims and steel cables to rotate and install after the supporting towers and axles are installed in place.

The vertical rotation installation method is divided into one-side rotation installation method and two-side rotation installation method, which is suitable for relying on steel cables.

A flexible Ferris wheel structure system that provides centripetal force with cables, this method has been used in Tianjin Cihai Bridge Ferris wheel structure.

The vertical rotation installation method can avoid a lot of high-altitude operations and has a lower risk; however, it requires a larger traction power system and a good braking system, especially the two-side rotation installation method requires special treatment for the center axle of the Ferris wheel.