The Great Wheel Corporation originally forecast the wheel would start turning on August 1, 2008, one week in advance of the Beijing-hosted 2008 Summer Olympics.[1] In 2007, Chinese state media reported that construction had begun, with completion delayed until 2009 due to design issues.[1] Completion was subsequently rescheduled for 2010.[2][3]
On 3 May 2010 it was reported that Great Beijing Wheel Co., the company set up to build the wheel, had gone into receivership after breaching the conditions of a loan, with Ferrier Hodgson and Zolfo Cooper appointed as administrative receivers.[4]
Design
If it had been completed, the wheel would have had a diameter of 198 m (650 ft), and each of its 48 air conditioned observation capsules would have been able to carry up to 40 passengers.[5]
It would have been rotated by four drive units, each capable of producing over 16 million lb-ft of torque and comprising a pair of hydraulic drive modules, each module containing a hydraulic power unit driving four hydraulic motors. Each of the 32 hydraulic motors was to have powered a planetary gearbox driving rubber tyres against the wheel's circumferential rim.[5]
An automated boarding system would have enabled the wheel to rotate continuously while passengers boarded and disembarked the capsules via electric feeder vehicles.[5]
It was expected that, on a clear sunny day, passengers would have been able to see the Great Wall of China in the mountains to Beijing's north.[6]
