An amusement ride consisting of a large upright rotating wheel having suspended seats that remain in a horizontal position as the wheel revolves.
[After George Washington Gale Ferris (1859–1896), American engineer.]
Dictionary:
Fer·ris wheel fer·ris wheel (fĕr'ĭs) ![]() |
An amusement ride consisting of a large upright rotating wheel having suspended seats that remain in a horizontal position as the wheel revolves.
[After George Washington Gale Ferris (1859–1896), American engineer.]
| How Products are Made: How is a ferris wheel made? |
Background
A ferris wheel is an amusement park ride consisting of a large vertical wheel with places for people to sit or stand spaced evenly around the outer circumference. In operation, the ferris wheel revolves about a horizontal axis, and the riders are alternately lifted and then lowered as they are carried around the wheel in a circle. When the wheel stops, the people in the seat or platform at ground level exit the ride, and new riders take their place. The wheel then revolves a short distance until the next seat or platform is at ground level, allowing more people to exit and enter. This procedure is repeated until all the seats or platforms are filled with new riders, at which time the wheel is set in motion to undergo several complete revolutions. Although the name "ferris wheel" was not used until the 1890s, the wheel itself has been a part of human festivities for hundreds of years.
History
The earliest designs of wheels used for amusement rides may have been based on the large, circular wheels used to lift water for irrigation. In fact, knowing the human spirit, it is probable that adventuresome children used these water wheels for entertainment from the time they were first developed in about 200 B.C.
English traveler Peter Mundy described what he called a "pleasure wheel" with swings for seats after he visited a street fair in Turkey in 1620. In England, small handturned wheels were called "ups-and-downs" as early as 1728.
Whatever they were called, amusement wheels found their way to many parts of the world. One of the first wheels in the United States was built in 1848 by Antonio Maguino, who used it to draw crowds to his rural park and picnic grounds in Walton Spring, Georgia. As the concept of mixing amusement rides with park and picnic facilities caught on, several companies began manufacturing wheels of various designs. In 1870, Charles W.P. Dare of Brooklyn made several wood wheels of 20-and 30-ft (6.1-and 9.1-m) diameters, which he sold as the Dare Aerial Swing. The Conderman Brothers of Indiana made an even larger wheel when they developed a 35-ft (10.7-m) metal wheel in the 1880s.
The race for larger wheels culminated in early 1893 when American bridge builder and engineer, George Washington Gale Ferris, began building a 250-ft (76.2-m) wheel for the 1893 Colombian Exposition in Chicago. Designed like a bicycle wheel, with a stiff steel outer rim hung from the center axle by steel spokes under tension, the wheel could carry as many as 1,440 passengers at a time in 36 enclosed cars. The center axle was 33 in (84 cm) in diameter and 45.5 f (13.9 m) in length. It weighed 46.5 tons (42.2 metric tons) and was the largest steel forging ever produced at the time. The giant wheel opened on June 21, 1893, and drew more than 1.4 million paying customers during the 19 weeks it was in operation. The overwhelming success of Ferris' design ensured that his name would be forever linked with such wheels.
One of the people who rode the ferris wheel at the Colombian Exposition was American inventor and bridge builder William E. Sullivan. Sullivan was fascinated with the wheel and rode it many times. What was especially attractive to him was the possibility of making a smaller wheel that could be taken down and moved from one park or fairground to another. Drawing on his experience with bridges, he designed a 45-ft (13.7-m) transportable wheel with twelve three-passenger seats in 1900. In 1906 he formed the Eli Bridge Company and started manufacturing his wheel in Roodhouse, Illinois. Later he moved the company to Jacksonville, Illinois, where it remains in operation today. Most of the ferris wheels found in carnivals and fairs in the United States are made by the Eli Bridge Company.
Raw Materials
Because of the unique design of a ferris wheel, most of the component parts are fabricated by the manufacturer. Steel is the most common raw material and is used to make the trailer chassis, wheel support towers, wheel spokes, and wheel crossmembers. A variety of structural steel shapes are used depending on the application. They include square tubing, round tubing, angles, channels, and wide-flanged beams. Aluminum diamond tread plate is used for the entrance and exit walk-ways and for the operator's platform.
Aluminum is used to make the seats and the drive rims. The drive rims are rolled out of aluminum angle stock and are attached to the spokes to form a large circle about 10 ft (3 m) smaller in diameter than the outer rim of the wheel itself. Two rubber drive wheels press against the drive rims on each side to rotate the wheel. Aluminum is used in this application because the constant rubbing of the drive wheels quickly removes the paint on the rims, exposing the bare metal. If steel were used, it would rust.
The cushions used on the seats are molded from a self-skinning polyurethane foam. This material forms a solid, smooth skin on the outside, while the inside remains a compressible foam. Nylon is used for some of the bushings, and a phenolic plastic is used in some of the electrical components. Support cables within the wheel structure may have a plastic cover for appearance and protection from the elements. The electrical rings that carry electrical power from the hubs to the lights along the rotating spokes are made of copper, and the brushes that bring the power to the rings are made of carbon.
Some ferris wheel components are purchased from other manufacturers and are installed on the ferris wheel when it is built. These include the axles, brakes, tires, and wheels on the trailer. Other purchased components include the electric drive motors, the electrical wires and cables, and the electrical light bulbs and sockets.
Design
Ferris wheels that are designed to be transported on the road from one location to another must conform to the overall width, height, and length restrictions for highway vehicles. Although these restrictions vary from state to state, most states limit the trailer width to 8.5 ft (2.6 m), the height to 13.5 ft (4.1 m), and the length to 55 ft (16.8 m). No matter how big or small the ferris wheel is when it is opened and in operation, it must fold down to meet these restrictions when it is travelling on the highway.
The ferris wheel must also be designed to operate safely. This requires calculations to ensure the horizontal and vertical forces of the fully loaded wheel can be supported when the wheel is in operation. It also requires the design of safety interlocks to prevent the wheel from revolving during loading and unloading operations, and to prevent the operator from inadvertently operating the wheel in an unsafe manner.
The Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing processes used to make ferris wheels varies with the design of the wheel and the manufacturer. Most of the components are built in different parts of the shop before they are brought to the main construction area for final assembly. Here is a typical sequence of operations used to build a transportable ferris wheel used in carnivals and county fairs. In operation, the wheel described is about 60 ft (18.3 m) in diameter with a capacity to carry up to 48 riders in 16 seats.
Building the chassis
Installing the towers
Installing the spokes
Finishing the wheel
Safety Considerations
As with any amusement park ride, safety is the primary concern of both the manufacturer and the operator. Current safety regulations governing ferris wheels vary from city to city and state to state. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is in the process of developing a comprehensive standard for the design, testing, manufacturing, and operation of all amusement park rides. Ferris wheel manufacturers and amusement park operators are actively participating in this process.
The Future
Having provided entertainment for several hundred years, if not several thousand years, the ferris wheel will probably continue to be a pleasurable experience for many years to come. Although roller coasters and other thrill rides may dominate amusement parks, the ferris wheel will still give riders the gentle thrill of being carried up in the air in an open seat to hang high above the crowds on a warm summer evening.
Where to Learn More
Books
Anderson, Norman D., and Walter R. Brown. Ferris Wheels. New York: Pantheon Books, 1983.
Periodicals
Marks, D., and J. Barfield. "Riding High." People Weekly (November 15, 1999): 62-63.
Other
Eli Bridge Company. http://www.elibridge.com (October 13, 2000).
[Article by: Chris Cavette]
| US History Encyclopedia: Ferris Wheel |
A noted feature of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 was a huge upright steel wheel three hundred feet tall and thirty feet wide, with thirty-six passenger cars, each of which could hold sixty people, swinging around the wheel's rim. This was the Ferris wheel. Although not the first such contraption, it became the most famous. George W. G. Ferris, a Pittsburgh engineer, built the wheel upon hearing the lament that there was nothing planned for the fair as novel as the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Exposition of 1889.
His wheel became one of the main attractions on the exposition's Midway Plaisance.
Bibliography
Adams, Judith A. The American Amusement Park Industry: A History of Technology and Thrills. Boston: Twayne, 1991.
—Alvin F. Harlow/A. E.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Ferris wheel |
| Wikipedia: Ferris wheel |
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. The name later came to be used generically for all such rides.
Contents |
The Ferris wheel is named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and he was 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 first 264 foot (80 m) wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893. The wheel was intended as a rival to the Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris Exposition. This first wheel could carry 2,160 persons. The Ferris wheel was the largest attraction at the Columbian Exposition, standing over 250' tall and powered by two steam engines. There were 36 cars, accommodating 60 people each (40 seated, 20 standing). It took 20 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 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 in 1906.[1] At 70 tons, its axle was the largest steel forging of the time. It was 26 stories tall, only a quarter of the Eiffel Tower's height.[2]
Sections of this Ferris wheel were used to construct a bridge across the Kankakee River, about 45 miles (72 km) south of Chicago, just north of Tefft, Indiana.[3]
The Travels of Peter Mundy, 1608–1667, describes and illustrates "Several sorts of Swinginge used in their Publique rejoyceings att their feast of Biram" in the Ottoman Balkans. Among means "lesse dangerous and troublesome" only for children was a Ferris wheel "like a Craine wheele att Customhowse Key", where the passengers swing on short swings, sometimes sitting, sometimes hanging trapeze fashion. The illustration here is of a different Turkish design, apparently for adults.
Another Ferris wheel, with a height of 65 meters (213 ft), dating back to 1897, is the Riesenrad in Vienna's Prater, in the second district of Leopoldstadt. It was designed by Hubert Cecil Booth.
London, UK had its very own 'Gigantic Wheel' built at Earls Court in 1895, which was modelled on the original one in Chicago. This wheel stayed in service until 1906, by which time it had carried over 2.5 million passengers. It was built by two young Australian engineers, named Adam Gaddelin and Gareth Watson and was the first of over 200 Ferris wheels that they built.
For the 1900 Paris Exposition, a 'Grande Roue', of similar size and design to Ferris', was constructed. It was demolished in 1937. The wheel had 40 cars (as opposed to Chicago's 36), and is clearly visible in photos of the 1900 exhibition.[4]
The world's tallest Ferris wheel is the Singapore Flyer, in Singapore. It is 165 metres (541 ft) high. It started rotating on February 11, 2008 and officially opened to the public on March 1, 2008.
The Star of Nanchang, in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, previously held the record. It is 160 metres (520 ft) high and opened for business in May 2006.
The preceding record holder was the London Eye, in London, UK. It is 135 metres (440 ft) high and is still the largest in the Western Hemisphere.[5] 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.
The Shanghai Star, initially planned as a 200 metres (660 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"[6].
A 198-metre (650 ft) wheel, the Baghdad Eye, has been proposed for an as yet undetermined site in Baghdad, Iraq.[7]
A 185-metre (607 ft) wheel, the Great Dubai Wheel, has been proposed for Dubailand, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[8]
A 122-metre (400 ft) wheel, the Great Orlando Wheel, has been proposed for Orlando, Florida.[9]
An 87-metre (285 ft) wheel, the Pepsi Globe, has been proposed for Meadowlands Xanadu in New Jersey.[10]
| Name |
Height (m) |
Completed |
Country |
Location |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing Great Wheel |
|
|
Beijing | ||
| Great Berlin Wheel |
|
|
Berlin | ||
| Singapore Flyer |
|
|
Singapore | Currently world's largest | |
| Star of Nanchang |
|
|
Nanchang | ||
| London Eye |
|
|
London | Currently Europe's largest | |
| Suzhou Ferris Wheel [11] |
|
|
Suzhou | ||
| The Southern Star |
|
|
Melbourne | ||
| Tianjin Eye |
|
|
Tianjin | Largest built over a bridge | |
| Changsha Ferris Wheel [citation needed] |
|
|
Changsha | ||
| Zhengzhou Ferris Wheel [citation needed] |
|
|
Zhengzhou | ||
| Sky Dream Fukuoka |
|
|
Fukuoka | ||
| Diamonds and Flowers Wheel [citation needed] |
|
|
Kasai Rinkai Park, Tokyo | ||
| Sky Wheel of Odaiba [citation needed] |
|
|
Odaiba | ||
| Star of Tai Lake [citation needed] |
|
|
Wuxi, Jiangsu | ||
| Cosmo Clock 21 [12] |
|
|
Yokohama | ||
| Tempozan Harbor Village Ferris wheel |
|
|
Osaka | ||
| Harbin Ferris Wheel [citation needed] |
|
|
Harbin | ||
| Jinjiang Park Ferris Wheel [citation needed] |
|
|
Shanghai | ||
| HEP Five |
|
|
Osaka | ||
| Ferris Wheel of Paris |
|
|
Paris | Demolished 1937 | |
| Space Eye [citation needed] |
|
|
Kita-Kyushu | ||
| The Great Wheel [13] |
|
|
London | Demolished 1907 | |
| Aurora Wheel [14] |
|
|
Nagashima Spa Land, Mie | ||
| Eurowheel [15] |
|
|
Mirabilandia, Ravenna | Europe's second largest | |
| Janfusun FancyWorld [citation needed] |
|
|
Yunlin | ||
| Mashhad Fun Fair [citation needed] |
|
|
Mashhad | Largest in Iran | |
| The Ferris Wheel [citation needed] |
|
|
Chicago | First-ever Ferris wheel Demolished 1906 |
|
| Moscow 850 [citation needed] |
|
|
Moscow | ||
| Polaris Tower [citation needed] |
|
|
Daejon | ||
| Miramar Entertainment Park |
|
|
Taipei | 100 m tall including the building it stands on | |
| Texas Star |
|
|
Dallas | Largest in North America | |
| Riesenrad Vienna |
|
|
Vienna | ||
| Shining Flower Wheel [16] |
|
|
Inagi |
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.[17]
The London Eye (world's tallest, 1999-2006) is also described as an observation wheel by its operators.[18]
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"[19] but also as a Ferris wheel by the media.[20][21]
| This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009) |
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]
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