Wheels go round

China begins world-record wheel http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7081588.stm

Ok so your on board you've been to one of those Asian lunches and a few beers and you now at the top 682' 208m further away from the nearest toilet.



<!-- S BO --> <!-- S IIMA --> http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...els_inf416.gif

<!-- E IIMA --> <!-- S SF --> China has started to build what will be the world's biggest wheel, dwarfing its rivals, including the London Eye. The observation wheel, due to open in 2009, will stand at 208m (686ft) - the third-tallest structure in Beijing.
Designed to commemorate the 2008 Olympics, the Beijing Great Wheel is expected to hold about 1,920 people.
Officials say visitors will get "an unsurpassed view of the city", although some analysts have joked that pollution might stop visitors from seeing much. <!-- E SF -->
When completed, the $99m (£50m) structure will eclipse the Star of Nanchang - the current highest wheel, also in China, which stands at 160m.
The next-closest competitor, the London Eye, is more than 70m shorter, standing at a mere 135m.
The Great Wheel Company, which is also building another giant wheel in Singapore, originally intended the Beijing wheel to begin turning on 1 August 2008, just days before the start of the Olympic Games.
But the firm said it had pushed the opening back to allow time for design improvements.
There are expected to be 48 capsules on the Beijing wheel, each of them capable of carrying up to 40 people.<!-- E BO -->

That's a wheely big wheel.

When I first heard of the plans for the London Eye, I though 'they've got to be joking'. What next? Overhead power grids so that everyone can drive dodgem cars to work? I suppose the clowns in planning would feel right at home now though. They've turned their city into a circus.
It's one of the ugliest eyesores I've seen, and in such a historic city, and now they've got a gherkin to back it up. :no:

If they built a big chasis for those four wheels, then at least they'd have a mass transport system that would serve some productive purpose. :cool: