Wheel out of action for at least six months

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This was published 15 years ago

Wheel out of action for at least six months

By Eli Greenblat
Southern Star

Southern StarCredit: Justin McManus

MELBOURNE'S $100 million Southern Star Observation Wheel is in danger of quickly turning into a giant white elephant after engineers discovered damage caused to the structure during Victoria's recent heatwave will put it out of action for at least six months.

Shopkeepers are yet to learn of the longer than expected delays to the reopening of the tourist site in the Docklands precinct despite a meeting held last week to update concerned business owners on the situation, The Age has learned.

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The 120-metre-high Wheel stopped spinning only seven weeks after it opened when the state's string of blistering 40 degrees-plus days caused parts of the structure to buckle.

Victoria's answer to the London Eye was billed as a key attraction of the revamped Harbour Town precinct on the outskirts of Melbourne's CBD, with the American supermarket CostCo to open in July and the National Ice Sports Centre scheduled to be completed in early 2010.

However, engineers flown in from Japan to inspect the Wheel have reported back to owners ING Real Estate that it might not be safe to spin again until August. Sections of the Wheel were designed by the Osaka-based Neisho Corporation.

A spokeswoman for ING Real Estate and operators Southern Star Management Group declined to comment on the extended delays, but did confirm that engineers from Australia and Japan were working to identify the most appropriate solution.

It is expected that any repairs done on the Wheel would be covered under the manufacturer's warranty.

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The state secretary of the CFMEU's structural division, Bill Oliver, has said that his members had told him there were at least 12 to 14 cracks in a section of the wheel.

Premier John Brumby told reporters at a press conference yesterday that he had not been briefed on the condition of the Wheel but that structures like it were not built to cope with temperatures in the high 40 degrees.

Meanwhile, owners and operators of the many cafes and restaurants in the vicinity have reported that business has dropped more than 50 per cent since this month's heatwave put the Wheel out of action.

Shesh Kumar, manager of the Movenpick ice-cream parlour in the shadow of the Wheel, said: "People used to come here to see the Wheel turning, maybe around 40 per cent were here for the Wheel. We used to have a good business and everyone knows the Wheel is now not working and there is no point of coming here."

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