Compared with some big rivers on the earth, the Thames is not too long, but the place where it flows is the essence of British culture. Perhaps on the other hand, the Thames gave birth to brilliant British civilization. Most of the main buildings in London are located on both sides of the Thames, especially those with a history of hundreds or even three or four hundred years, such as Nelson statue symbolizing victory, Westminster Abbey where many great men are buried, St. Paul's Cathedral in Renaissance style, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge in London and so on. Every building is a masterpiece of art. Although these buildings have gone through vicissitudes and even experienced the baptism of war like World War II, they still maintain their inherent appearance and are still used by people today. In the upper reaches of London, there are many places of interest along the Thames, such as Eton, Oxford, Henry and Windsor. The mouth of the Thames is full of busy British merchant ships, but the upper Thames is famous for its static beauty.
The Thames, which runs through the center of London, makes London a rare port in the world. Moreover, the mouth of the Thames is far away from the Rhine estuary in continental Europe across the North Sea, opening a direct shipping channel to the most fertile areas in Europe. At the same time, London is located halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea, so it has become the most ideal commercial port in the region, which undoubtedly promoted the prosperity of London.
The Thames valley plays an important role in British history. British politician john burns once said: The Thames is the most beautiful river in the world, "because it is a flowing history."
As a symbol of London and Britain, Big Ben is huge and gorgeous, weighing 13.5 tons, and its four clock faces cover an area of about two square meters. Big Ben began to tell the time for the City of London at 1859. It has been nearly a century and a half, although it was cracked twice during this period and was resurrected. Now the bell of Big Ben is still clear and beautiful.
Located at the south end of Westminster Bridge, it is connected with the Houses of Parliament and is a traditional landmark in London. You can get off at Westminster station by subway.
Big Ben is located in the north corner of the British Parliament Building. The bell tower is 79 meters high, and the diameter of the circular bell plate around the bell tower is 6.7 meters. Big Ben was built in 1859 and rings every hour according to Greenwich Mean Time. During World War II, the Parliament Building was bombed by the German Air Force, and Big Ben survived.
On the evening of May 27th, 2005, the famous "Big Ben" on the Thames in London, England suddenly stopped for more than 1 hour. The technicians still don't understand why this 147-year-old clock is on strike. An engineer of the British Parliament Building said on the 28th that Big Ben, located in the 95-meter-high bell tower on the east side of the Parliament Building, broke down at 10: 07 local time on the 27th, and its minute hand stopped turning. Then, the minute hand began to rotate slowly and stopped at 10: 20 again. This stop is 1 half an hour, and then it will return to normal.
Some people speculate that hot weather may have caused this problem. On the 28th, the highest temperature in London reached 365,438 0.8 degrees Celsius. The meteorological department said that it was the hottest day in May in England since 1953. However, engineers in the parliament building believe that this statement lacks basis. "We learned that there was a glitch, but then it started running again," he said.
Big Ben has always been famous for its punctuality. Nazi Germany's indiscriminate bombing of London in World War II failed to destroy it. However, after all, he is over 100 years old and has had some minor problems. For example, on New Year's Day in 1962, a heavy snow made its 0: 00 bell later than normal time 10 minute.
The London Eye is the most attractive tourist attraction in London. The London Eye, the world's largest ferris wheel on the Thames in London, will always be a landmark in London.
/kloc-The 0/35-meter-high London Eye was built to celebrate the year 2000. It was initially allowed to operate for five years, but the owner of the "London Eye" wanted to continue to operate.
British Airways, which owns part of the London Eye, said local authorities in London approved it as a permanent landmark. This decision still needs to be approved by London Mayor Livingstone and the British government. Since its opening in March 2000, more than 8.5 million people have taken the "London Eye" to have a bird's eye view of London. The London Eye is also the most popular paid sightseeing spot in Britain. British Airways said that a building with 1500 tons can be used for at least 50 years.
However, the honor that the London Eye is the largest ferris wheel in the world will not last long. Las Vegas, a leisure city in the United States, and Shanghai, an economic and trade center in China, plan to build a bigger sightseeing Ferris wheel.
It is considered as a mathematical miracle; Engineers revealed that the computer computing power needed to build this Ferris wheel exceeded the largest and most complex building in the world.
The London Eye, weighing 1600 tons, was built on a platform floating on the river. It was originally scheduled to stand at attention in early September and will be open to the public next year 1 month. Until now near the completion stage, the engineers in charge of construction confidently revealed that they had done millions more calculations than originally expected in the design and construction to ensure its safety.
There are many obstacles in the construction of Ferris wheel, which makes critics call it "the wheel of misfortune". First of all, the height is reduced by 45 feet compared with the original schedule to reduce the construction time; Recently, various technical and safety problems have forced the installation work to be postponed.
However, these problems are insignificant compared with the achievements in design and construction. It is hard to imagine that the design and construction of such a ferris wheel with the greatest technology and difficulty in history was completed within 16 months.
Thomson, the design manager, said, "anything so huge will be affected by wind and temperature, not to mention it will rotate, so the problem of metal fatigue should also be taken into account." When these factors change with the length and width of the Ferris wheel, the most complicated architectural problems in history arise, which you can't imagine. "
The concept of "London Eye" can be traced back to a competition held by 1993 Times. The newspaper asked the participants to come up with the most ambitious plans to celebrate the Millennium. Two architects took the lead in proposing to build the world's largest Ferris wheel. This project inspired the imagination of Eileen, the chairman of British Airways, and decided to invest money to realize it.
For the designer of the Ferris wheel, apart from its size, the most wonderful thing is that this behemoth can stand firmly on the Thames. Two brackets extending from the land will bear most of the weight of the Ferris wheel, plus six giant steel cables to prevent it from collapsing; To ensure safety, these brackets and steel cable piles will be driven into the ground 180 feet.
Theoretically, such a building will be affected by some potentially destructive forces. For example, the Ferris wheel may be full of 800 tourists, but suddenly it encounters a strong wind. These variables should be included in the calculation and strengthened. In general static buildings, this scheme is extremely complicated, and the Ferris wheel will rotate repeatedly, and the calculation difficulty is really unheard of.