Editing London Eye (section)

===Design and construction===
[[File:Ojo de Londres, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-07, DD 028.JPG|thumb|250px|Supported by an [[A-frame]] on one side only, the Eye is described by its operators as a [[cantilever]]ed observation wheel.]]

The London Eye was designed by the husband-and-wife team of [[Julia Barfield]] and [[David Marks (architect)|David Marks]] of [[Marks Barfield Architects]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The London Encyclopaedia |last=Hibbert |first=Christopher |publisher=Pan MacMillan |year=2011 |isbn=9780230738782 |location=London |edition=3rd}}</ref><ref name=G2>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/aug/30/uk.london |title=London Eye, love at first sight |work=The Guardian |date=31 August 2007 |access-date=7 January 2010 |first=Steve |last=Rose}}</ref> The rim of the Eye is supported by tensioned steel cables<ref name=making>{{cite web |url=http://www.londoneye.com/AboutUs/MakingTheLondonEye/Default.aspx |title=Making of The London Eye |publisher=Londoneye.com |access-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521173640/http://www.londoneye.com/AboutUs/MakingTheLondonEye/Default.aspx |archive-date=21 May 2014}}</ref> and resembles a huge spoked [[bicycle wheel]]. The lighting was re-done with [[Light-emitting diode|LED]] lighting from [[Color Kinetics]] in December 2006 to allow digital control of the lights as opposed to the manual replacement of [[color gel|gels]] over fluorescent tubes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.colorkinetics.com/global/showcase/londoneye |title=London Eye |publisher=Color Kinetics |access-date=17 April 2025}}</ref>

[[Mace (construction company)|Mace]] was responsible for construction management, with Hollandia as the main steelwork contractor and [[Tilbury Douglas]] as the civil contractor. Consulting engineers Tony Gee & Partners designed the foundation works while Beckett Rankine designed the marine works.<ref>{{Cite web |title=London Eye Pier Design |url=https://beckettrankine.com/PS/10039/9730_London_Eye_Pier_Design.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616075448/http://www.beckettrankine.com/PS/10039/9730_London_Eye_Pier_Design.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2013 |website=Beckett Rankine}}</ref>

Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners assisted [[The Tussauds Group]] in obtaining planning and listed building consent to alter the wall on the [[South Bank]] of the Thames. They also examined and reported on the implications of a [[Section 106 agreement]] attached to the original contract, and also prepared planning and listed building consent applications for the permanent retention of the attraction, which involved the co-ordination of an Environmental Statement and the production of a planning supporting statement detailing the reasons for its retention.<ref>{{cite web |title=The London Eye |url=http://www.nlpplanning.com/projects.php?id=3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321074845/http://www.nlpplanning.com/projects.php?id=3 |archive-date=21 March 2007 |access-date=7 January 2010 |publisher=Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners}}</ref>
[[File:Hub of the Eye - geograph.org.uk - 1409599.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The spindle, hub, and tensioned cables that support the rim]]

The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on piled platforms in the river. Once the wheel was complete it was lifted into an upright position by a [[strand jack]] system made by [[Enerpac]].<ref>[http://www.enerpac.com/en-us/integrated-solutions-imperial/london-eye Enerpac strand jacks lift London Eye] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627002852/http://www.enerpac.com/en-us/projects/markets/buildings-and-stadiums-0/london-eye |date=27 June 2015 }}. Enerpac.com. Retrieved 6 February 2012.</ref> It was first raised at 2&nbsp;degrees per hour until it reached 65&nbsp;degrees, then left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift.

The project was European with major components coming from six countries: the steel was supplied from the UK and fabricated in the Netherlands by Hollandia, the cables came from Italy, the bearings came from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub were cast in the Czech Republic, the capsules were made by [[Poma]] in France (and the glass for these came from Italy), and the electrical components from the UK.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1680/cien.2001.144.2.60 |title=Building the British Airways London Eye |journal=Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering |volume=144 |issue=2 |pages=60–72 |year=2001 |last2=Thompson |first2=N. |last1=Mann |first1=A. P. |last3=Smits |first3=M.}}</ref>