French ropeway transportation company Poma Group has been awarded a ‘large’ engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) subcontract from South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction for Ain Dubai, the world’s tallest observation wheel at 250m that will open on Meraas’s Bluewaters Island in time for Expo 2020 Dubai, which kicks off on 20 October.Â
In a statement on its website, Poma said the subcontract includes the delivery of 48 high-tech capsules for Ain Dubai.Â
Poma said project management, engineering, and procurement work for its contract had commenced.Â
The company, which defines a ‘large’ contract as one worth $50-100m, has previously delivered capsules for observation wheels such as the London Eye and the High Roller in Las Vegas.Â
Ain Dubai developer Meraas said this April that the eighth and final 450-tonne (t) temporary spoke had been removed from the project, and the last of its permanent cables had been installed.
The 250m-tall Ain Dubai is supported by 126m-high legs, with the structure requiring 9,000 t of steel to construct.
At 250m, Ain Dubai is 200% taller than the first Ferris Wheel in the world, and also larger than both other wheels that Poma has worked on.
Las Vegas’s 167m High Roller is now the world’s second-tallest observation wheel, followed by the 135m London Eye in the UK, Meraas said in a statement this April.
