Editing Ferris Wheel (1893) (section)

==Design and construction==
The Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by Ferris, a graduate of [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]] and a [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] bridge-builder.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11369/ |title = Bird's-Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 |website = [[World Digital Library]] |date = 1893 |access-date = 2013-07-17 }}</ref> Ferris began his career in the railroad industry before pursuing an interest in bridge building. He 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 was constructed in [[Jackson Park (Chicago)|Jackson Park]] during the winter of 1892–93. To create a foundation for the wheel, dynamite was used to break through three feet of frozen ground. Piles of timber were driven thirty-two feet into the ground, on top of which was laid a grillage of steel that was then filled with concrete. Jets of steam were used by workers to thaw dirt and prevent the poured concrete from freezing.<ref>The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson, p. 193.</ref> With the foundation in place, the wheel was then constructed.

The completed wheel rotated on a 71-ton, 45.5 foot (13.9 meter) long axle that was at that time the world's largest hollow forging. It was manufactured in Pittsburgh by the [[Bethlehem Steel|Bethlehem Iron Company]] and weighed {{Convert|89320|lb|kg}}, together with two {{Convert|16|ft|m|adj=mid|-diameter}} cast-iron spiders weighing {{Convert|53031|lb|kg}}.<ref name="Meehan">{{Cite web |url=http://www.hydeparkhistory.org/newsletter.html |first=Patrick |last=Meehan |title=Chicago's Great Ferris Wheel of 1893 |publisher=Hyde Park Historical Society |year=2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118143455/http://www.hydeparkhistory.org/newsletter.html |archive-date=2013-01-18 }}</ref>
There were 36 passenger cars, each fitted with 40 revolving chairs and able to accommodate up to 60 people, giving a total capacity of 2,160.<ref name="Anderson" />

On June 9, 1893, the wheel was primed for a test run with great anticipation and a good deal of anxiety. The engine that would activate the wheel was fueled by steam boilers whose underground mains rushed steam to propel the pistons of its thousand-horsepower engines. Upon first seeing the wheel which towered over everything in its vicinity, Julian Hawthorne, son of the author [[Nathaniel Hawthorne|Nathaniel]], was amazed that anything of such a size "continues to keep itself erect ... it has no visible means of support – none that appear adequate. The spokes look like cobwebs; they are after the fashion of those on the newest make of bicycles".<ref>Larson (2003), p. 258</ref> Ferris modeled his invention after the structural principles of a waterwheel near his childhood home in Nevada and modeled after the structural principles of a bicycle wheel. The Ferris wheel was supported by an enormous axle and powered by a one-thousand-horsepower steam engine. Correspondents made repeated requests for drawings and information, but Ferris would not release the details. As a consequence, no copies of the original plans or calculations have survived.

Both Ferris and his associate W. F. Gronau also recognized the engineering marvel the wheel represented, as a giant wheel that would turn slowly and smoothly without structural failure had never before been attempted.<ref>Larson (2003), pp. 258–259</ref>

For its inaugural run, no cars had yet been attached. The workmen however, climbed the structure and settled themselves on the spokes to the accompaniment of cheers from an audience of fair employees who had gathered to watch the momentous event.  After the wheel had completed its first rotation, Gronau deemed the test a success. "I could have yelled out loud for joy".<ref name=larson260>Larson (2003), p. 260</ref>

The wheel was erected at a cost of $385,000.<ref name=gwr>{{cite book|title=The Guinness Book of Records 1987|last1=Russell|first1=Alan|publisher=Guinness Superlatives Ltd|year=1986|isbn=0-85112-439-9|page=108|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofre00ster/page/107/mode/2up?view=theater|access-date=March 10, 2024|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>