World's tallest Ferris Wheel 'Ain Dubai' to open in 2020

The wait is over! The world's tallest observation wheel will be unveiled "in time for Expo 2020 Dubai celebrations".

That's the word from developer Meraas, who confirmed that Ain Dubai will be over 200 per cent taller than the first-ever Ferris wheel.

When completed, Ain Dubai will stand more than 250 metres above the Bluewaters Island destination, looking out across Dubai’s glittering landscape.

Ain #Dubai will be the tallest observation wheel in the world, standing more than 250 metres above the sophisticated Bluewaters island destination, looking out across Dubai’s glittering landscape.@MeraasDubai pic.twitter.com/5LJcNHEhob

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) April 17, 2019

In a statement, Meraas confirmed that the eighth and final 450-tonne temporary spoke has been successfully removed from the structure and the last of the permanent spoke cables has been installed, as progress on the project continues unabated. 

This process marks the first time the modern observation structure has been one complete wheel since construction began.

The eight temporary spokes and braces were originally installed to hold the rim segments in place during the construction of the visually-striking wheel.

Ain Dubai in Numbers

• 5 tonnes: the weight of each permanent spoke cable that holds the wheel rim in place
• 1 football pitch: length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional football pitch
• 2,400: distance in kilometres of all the cable wires housed inside the spoke cables if they were joined end to end. That’s the same distance as Dubai to Cairo.
• 16 Airbus A380s: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim
• 250+: height in meters of Ain Dubai, making it the world’s tallest observation wheel
• 167: height in metres of world’s second tallest observation wheel – the High Roller in Las Vegas, USA
• 135: height in metres of world’s third tallest observation wheel – the London Eye in London, United Kingdom
• 126: length in meters of the legs that support the structure
• 15: London buses can fit inside each leg
• 25: % more steel used in to construct Ain Dubai than iron was used on The Eiffel Tower
• 9,000: tonnes of steel used in the construction of Ain Dubai