High Roller (Ferris wheel)

High Roller
High Roller in 2015
General information
Status Operating[1]
Type Ferris wheel
Location Las Vegas Strip, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Address 3545 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Coordinates 36°07′03″N 115°10′05″W / 36.117402°N 115.168127°W / 36.117402; -115.168127 (High Roller)
Opening March 31, 2014 (2014-03-31)[1]
Owner Caesars Entertainment Corporation
Height 550 feet (167.6 m)[2][3]
Dimensions
Diameter 520 feet (158.5 m)[4]
Design and construction
Engineer Arup Engineering[4]
Website
caesars.com/linq/high-roller

High Roller is a 550-foot tall (167.6 m),[2][3] 520-foot (158.5 m) diameter[4] giant Ferris wheel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States of America. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation.

It opened to the public on March 31, 2014 and is currently the world's tallest Ferris wheel. It is 9 ft (2.7 m) taller than its predecessor, the 541-foot (165 m) Singapore Flyer, which had held the record since 2008.[5][6][7][8]

Design

High Roller was announced in August 2011[9] as the centerpiece[10] of Caesars Entertainment Corporation's $550 million The LINQ.[6] Arup Engineering, which previously consulted on the Singapore Flyer, acted as the structural engineer.[4]

The wheel rotates on a pair of custom-designed spherical roller bearings, each weighing approximately 19,400 lb (8,800 kg). Each bearing has an outer diameter of 7.55 feet (2.30 m), an inner bore of 5.25 feet (1.60 m), and a width of 2.07 feet (0.63 m).[11]

The outer rim comprises 28 sections, each 56 feet (17 m) long, which were temporarily held in place during construction by a pair of 275-foot (84 m) radial struts, prior to being permanently secured by four cables.[12]

The passenger cabins (or capsules) are mounted on the wheel's outboard rim and are individually rotated by electric motors to smoothly maintain a horizontal cabin floor throughout each full rotation.[13] Preliminary designs anticipated 32 passenger cabins, each with a 40-passenger capacity[14] —with the final design accommodating 28 40-person cabins and a total capacity of 1,120 passengers.[7][15]

Each 225-square-foot (20.9 m2)[4] cabin weighs approximately 44,000 pounds (20,000 kg), has a diameter of 22 feet (6.7 m), includes 300 square feet (28 m2) of glass, and is equipped with eight flat-screen televisions and an iPod dock.[16][15][7][17]

At night the wheel is illuminated by a 2,000-LED system[18] which can display a single solid color, differently colored sections, multiple colors moving around the rim,[19] and custom displays for special events and holidays.[18]

Construction

Located on Las Vegas Boulevard, across from Caesars Palace,[7] construction was originally scheduled to begin in September 2011 with a late 2013 completion;[14] subsequently revised to early 2014.[20]

The outer rim of the wheel was completed on September 9, 2013.[21] The first passenger cabin was delivered and installed in November 2013 and the final cabin was installed the following month.[7][17][22]

After preliminary testing, High Roller's lighting system was illuminated at sunset on February 28, 2014.[23][18]

High Roller opened to the public at 4 p.m. EST on March 31, 2014.[1]

Ticketing

Tickets were originally expected to cost less than $20 per ride,[7] but estimates had risen to "about $25 per person" by mid-2012 then "about $30 per person" in September 2013 news reports.[21]

When High Roller opened to the public in March 2014, tickets for a single 30-minute ride, the time taken for the entire wheel to rotate once, cost $24.95 (daytime) and $34.95 (nighttime). Other ticket options included a $59.95 Express Pass, allowing the holder to skip the line and ride any time.[24]

Successor as world's tallest

Both the New York Wheel, in the United States, and the Ain Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, will, if completed as proposed, be taller than High Roller.

The 192 m (630 ft) New York Wheel was first reported in June 2012 and officially announced in September 2012, with construction planned to begin early in 2014 and completion in 2015, but the project has been severely delayed. Construction began in late 2017, and was expected to be completed in early 2018.[25][26][27]

The 210 m (689 ft) Ain Dubai was announced in February 2013, with construction to begin in June 2013 and completion in 2015. Construction eventually began almost two years behind schedule in May 2015. Erection of the main support structure was completed in 2016 and it is now expected to open in 2017.[28]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Trejos, Nancy. "World's tallest Ferris wheel opens in Vegas". USA TODAY. USA TODAY. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Las Vegas to build world's tallest observation wheel". Archived from the original on 2015-10-20.
  3. 1 2 "World's tallest observation wheel in Vegas".
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Las Vegas Review-Journal". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  5. ↑ Press, Associated (11 September 2013). "High Roller: world's largest Ferris wheel hoisted into place in Las Vegas" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. 1 2 "A vital Linq for Las Vegas".
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Colorado's Leitner-Poma to build cabins for huge observation wheel in Las Vegas". 15 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "404". Channel NewsAsia.
  9. ↑ "Moscow plans an observation wheel to beat Las Vegas 'High Roller' project".
  10. ↑ "High Roller: World's Tallest Wheel Offers New Spin on Vegas - NBC News".
  11. ↑ "SKF Wins Contract for Caesars Las Vegas High Roller Wheel". Design News. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "The LINQ Hotel & Casino- Las Vegas Strip Hotel & Casino" (PDF). www.caesars.com.
  13. ↑ "Colorado Company To Build Las Vegas Observation Wheel". 16 November 2011.
  14. 1 2 "Las Vegas plans to top London Eye with massive Ferris wheel - USATODAY.com". www.usatoday.com.
  15. 1 2 Ashby, Charles. "High-flying deal for Leitner-Poma - GJSentinel.com". www.gjsentinel.com.
  16. ↑ "The LINQ Hotel & Casino- Las Vegas Strip Hotel & Casino" (PDF). www.caesars.com.
  17. 1 2 "Las Vegas High Roller Observation Wheel reaches new heights". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09.
  18. 1 2 3 Olmsted, Larry. "Las Vegas Strip: Brand New Half-Billion Dollar Attraction Woos Tourists".
  19. ↑ "Las Vegas Review-Journal". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  20. ↑ "Hurricane Sandy drives quarterly losses for Caesars". 25 February 2013.
  21. 1 2 "NBC News - Breaking News & Top Stories - Latest World, US & Local News".
  22. ↑ "Final passenger cabin affixed to High Roller, but work continues". 3 December 2013.
  23. ↑ "Official lights-on for giant Vegas Ferris wheel". Associated Press (AP). The Washington Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  24. ↑ "The LINQ". Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  25. ↑ "Staten Island's observation wheel pushes opening date to 2018".
  26. ↑ "New York Wheel Project on Staten Island Also Bringing New Activity to Brooklyn Waterfront".
  27. ↑ "First ride on New York Wheel pushed back to April 2018".
  28. ↑ "The Dubai Eye has been renamed to Ain Dubai – What's On". 12 July 2016.
  29. ↑ Adams, Mark E. "Voyager Las Vegas". www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com.

Coordinates: 36°07′04″N 115°10′05″W / 36.117698°N 115.16815°W / 36.117698; -115.16815

Records
Preceded by
Singapore Flyer		 World's tallest Ferris wheel
2014–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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