2 minute read time.
Throughout the ages people have valued a good view. Whether it is to obtain some strategic advantage over enemies or just to enjoy the scenery, people have stood on hilltops, built watch towers or added viewing areas to high-rise buildings so as to provide a good view.

c8466ca3e0ba6e692efb6e9ec6560a98-huge-downs.jpgSussex, like many other parts of the country, has hills that provide good scenic views. The South Downs, once denuded of forest, provided uninterrupted views of the coastal plain and out to see in one direction and across the Weald to the North Downs in the other. As well as a ‘safe’ route for travelling along the top of the Downs, early settlers also found the top of the steep chalk escarpment a good place to build fortifications.

93da2fbfd302142574128df761e3c1c6-huge-wheel.jpgIn more recent times, entrepreneurs have used technology to offer the public an enhanced viewing experience. Although the travelling fun fairs might include a ferris wheel to lift punters to rooftop level, the ‘giant’ wheels found in many major cities, such as the London Eye, prompted the installation of a slightly smaller version on Brighton seafront, next to the Palace Pier. Such a wheel requires little energy to keep it rotating and its slender structure provides occupants of the gondolas with a good view, even if 180 degrees of that view is only sea!

9dcc280e2744c5f99a372ebc05e9f590-huge-i360tower.jpgMore recently a new type of technology has replaced the wheel, offering visitors to Brighton the chance to experience a ‘vertical pier’. The designers of the London Eye came up with the i360, a 4 meter diameter and 162 meter tall tower up which an enclosed viewing platform rises. That ‘pod’ is 18 meters in diameter and holds up to 200 people. With a height-to-diameter ratio of 40:1, the i360 tower it is claimed to be the world's slenderest tall tower. The foundations for the tower are six and a half meters deep and apparently a greater weight of gravel was excavated than the weight of the concrete  foundations and the tower and pod that have been added. Although the top of the tower can suffer a deflection of one meter, water filled dampers counteract variable wind forces.

0b7a655db6198d06c898ae737691b034-huge-i360pod.jpgIn my view the design and technology involved with the i360 is more interesting than the view (half of which is still sea). During its first few weeks of operation the pod became stuck on a few occasions, it seems due to the control system rather than a mechanical fault. It’s a pity that the enterprise is currently loosing money!



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  • I wonder if the volunteers in IET Sussex could organise a 'special visit' to the tower (after public visiting hours of course) with a lecture from the engineers who designed and built it while at the top? Obviously there will have to be a delegate charge for it but I'd be happy to pay! :o)
  • The failure to cover the costs are in part due to the very unrealistic numbers expected. However it is an interesting sight on the seafront. I have not yet been up the i360 even though I live in Brighton and wonder if the IET could hold an event up the tower, particularly if Lisa is interested in seeing it!
  • I think I may be taking a trip to Brighton some time very soon! :o)