Ferris Wheel welding disaster

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This is some pics of a ferris wheel that is built in Melbourne Docklands near where i work.A few years ago this thing was planned to be built by the state government as an attraction to the area and give a good view of Melbourne.  Designed bby an overseas company.  I think it might have been the same people that designed the one in London.Opened a couple of years ago and stayed open for about a month before they found cracks in the welds.  Closed down for obvious reasons and has be redesigned but still not completed.  The thing got loose the other week and almost hurt workers on site.  I think the site may be still shut.  Every day i look over, there seems to be no change.Anyhow, the people that designed it didnt factor in our hot weather and it seemed to have happened after about 3-4 days of 42+ degree weather. Attached Images
Reply:MANoMAN!!!!!!!!!!That is beyond words...That just don't happen over night..And Mrs. zap busts my ars every time we go on some sort of ride because I have to check out the welds..Wait until I show her this.....zapI am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:As i said, it was not open long.  Maybe a month and a half max.  There are a lot of shops that opened around the wheel as part af the atraction, and a lot have gone broke and unable to get out of contracts.Dont know who is paaying for all of this but i hope its not the taxpayer.  Surely if the design is not up to the task, they shouold have to pay.The part of the new wheel that is up looks a different than the old one.  Its definatly a new design.Pitty i dont have pics of the old one.  Im sure somewhere one the net there is more info.
Reply:they should have been more concerned about the welds rather then seeing how many bolts they can get in those cleats
Reply:Jeebus that's scary stuff!!And Mrs. zap busts my ars every time we go on some sort of ride because I have to check out the welds..Wait until I show her this..
Reply:For people to waste resources in materials and man hours to design something which serves no practical purpose is ludicrous at best. Putting life and limb in potential harms way for entertainment , on a daily basis is asinine. Ranks up there with jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.Wow, I used two big words in my comment.......
Reply:How thick is the pipe?  A company I worked for ran into a problem similar to that.  We were building a casino in Biloxi, MS, and during that time they had to be built on barges (had to actually float).  These massive plates that connected all the barges together kept cracking every time they were welded.  It was 2" or 3" plate and turned out that it was a heat issue causing the welds to crack.  Luckily they never left the shop.Makes you wonder if someone just went to welding away, and put too much heat in one area at a time.
Reply:What's with the cable, I could have that fixed in no time with my new 110v mig welder."Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:Nothing a little duct tape can't fix.www.thefusionsolution.com
Reply:Originally Posted by Stick-manWhat's with the cable, I could have that fixed in no time with my new 110v mig welder.
Reply:That has nothing to do with the temperature...... That a design flaw, the metallurgist on that job should be kicked in the dick.
Reply:The level of sketch, means I will NEVER ride a ferris wheel.  LOLI also check out the welds on everything I see too.JoeMiller 140 Autoset (2010)Miller Syncrowave 250 (1996)
Reply:At least it was found before anyone got hurt.DanD
Reply:Just the Idea of useing the side of a pipe as a place to weld a solid plate to take so much stress makes me rather queezy. It might have been fine if the plate went clear through the pipe and was welded on both sides.  actualy the pipe was just incorporated to make it look good and maybe cheaper than straight beam consruction. check out some of the oldest ferris wheels in the world they are still running with out any bent sructures at all.  Mac
Reply:Looks to me like faulty design or cheating on the prints.  Those look like they are welded to the tube wall only.  On the proper structural I have done we had to actually weld up the connection plates into a spider then slide the assembly into slots cut on the ends of the tubes.  The tubes were then spliced together as well as the connection plates welded to the tube walls.   By doing it that way all the forces go through to the intersecting plates inside the tube.   I was working for a gypo outfit and day shift were not doing that procedure.  It was a school in Washington state.   I heard second hand that an inspector got suspicious and drilled a hole in a column and looked inside.  The outfit went down over that with all the back charges.
Reply:Originally Posted by DanD78At least it was found before anyone got hurt.
Reply:That really shouldn't be salvaged just torn down.I.B.E.W Electrician and Damn Proud of It !!!! .Virtus Junxit Mors Non Separabit http://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/
Reply:Originally Posted by astaindsoul5446That has nothing to do with the temperature...... That a design flaw, the metallurgist on that job should be kicked in the dick.
Reply:The wall of the pipe looks thin compared to the part that is welded to it.I am not in any way an engineer.   A circle that warms up gets bigger than the arms going to it.  Learned that in physics.    Delta L over L.  Figure the Total circumference around the wheel and the diameter across.  One is way longer than the other so the longer one expands more.Thanks for the pics.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:...........and one of their crosby clamps is on bass ackwards6 Miller Big Blue 600 Air Paks2 Miller 400D6 Lincoln LN-25's4 Miller Xtreme 12VS2 Miller Dimension 812 4 Climax BW-3000Z bore welders Hypertherm 65 and 85Bug-O Track BugPair of Welpers
Reply:This is one of the reasons I swore off any kind of amusement park rides YEARS ago. After I learned a lot about machinery and then got on one, I started noticing bearings squeaking from lack of grease. Cotter pins and keepers not in place, cracked welds and other things that I knew just weren't right. Then looked at some of the people running them, looked like they were usually spaced out on something, who knows what? And these were most likely the same ones that set up the ride in the first place. I don't even go to fairs, carnivals or amusement parks anymore.
Reply:Someone call Spielberg! I can see another plot to a Movie for 2013.Lincoln 305GUnion Carbide TorchDon't Worry About the Mule~Load the Wagon!
Reply:Good thing nobody was hurt. What do they use to weld something this heavy duty? Stick?Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Is this the ferris wheel in the pics?Melbourne Docklands, Southern StarMillermatic 200Hobart Handler 120Victor O/A & Ramco BandsawLincoln 225 ACSnapOn AD HoodMiller XMT304/22AHypertherm Powermax 1650 G3Lincoln Idealarc DC600 w/Extreme 12 VSMiller Digital Elite "Joker"
Reply:The Southern Star observation wheel was designed and constructed by ING Real Estate Development Australia, Japanese manufacturer Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corporation, head contractor Hansen Yuncken and steel fabricator and erector, Alfasi Steel Constructions.From The AgeMelbourne's big wheel to open next monthReko RennieOctober 27, 2008 - 12:34PMI tend to think it's more the design then the welding itself.....go thing someone saw it before  it crumbled.....
Reply:Wheel out of action for at least six monthsEli Greenblat February 25, 2009MELBOURNE'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.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.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.”_________________
Reply:I rode on the Singapore Flyer last year, and must say, as a welder/fabricator, did look at the weldments. It rises to a little over 550 feet, and can't imagine what the results of weld failures such as shown here, would be. I am not an engineer, but looks to me to be a design flaw. Scary stuff!!!Bgbkwndo.
Reply:Cameron HoustonJuly 5, 2009HUGE rips in the Southern Star Observation Wheel have raised more serious concerns about design and construction of the $120 million tourist attraction and whether it complied with Australian design standards.An investigation by The Sunday Age can also reveal that cracks up to three metres long were only discovered inadvertently by a contract worker installing lights on the 120-metre-tall structure.Several photographs reveal the full extent of damage to seven nodes that join the wheel's spokes to the hub. One node was almost completely torn from its welded joint.RMIT senior lecturer in structural engineering Saman De Silva said the the massive cracks were most likely the result of poor- quality welds by Japanese manufacturer Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corporation."From the photographs, it seems that adequate testing had not been conducted and validation of the welds had not been fully established before the wheel was commissioned."It would definitely have compromised the structural integrity of the wheel, but I am not saying it would have collapsed," Dr De Silva said.He said the structure was unlikely to comply with Australian design specifications.Last week, it was revealed that the wheel's owners ignored several warnings from the manufacturer when the giant Ferris wheel was opened to the public in December last year. During testing in November, two of the cabins were severely damaged.Greg Boyd, chief executive of the wheel's owner, ING Real Estate, conceded there was a serious design error with the wheel but denied the cracks posed any safety threat to patrons. "We categorically refute that the wheel could have collapsed and we had advice from four independent engineering firms. It may look severe, but the structural integrity (of the wheel) was never compromised."Mr Boyd said a comprehensive investigation was launched when, after just 40 days in operation, the wheel was shut down by WorkSafe in January.Mr Boyd confirmed the cracks were discovered by a contract worker erecting LED lighting, but he said the damage would have been detected by weekly inspections of the entire wheel."There's a whole series of checks that take place daily and weekly, and prior testing on that element was done three days earlier," Mr Boyd said. He said most of the wheel, including the outer rim and all the spokes, would be replaced.But Jay Sanjayan, an associate professor in civil engineering at Monash University, questioned the Japanese design of the 1500-tonne structure."When the wheel turns, the steel connections are subjected to alternate tension and compression, which causes low-cycle fatigue in the steel, leading to cracks."The wheel was designed according to the Japanese design standard, which does not have adequate provisioning for low-cycle fatigue," Mr Sanjayan said._________________
Reply:Hi,It would make a great artificial reef.Jeff
Reply:Before and after ( new construction ) Attached Images
Reply:http://www.thesouthernstar.com.au/MediaCentre.aspxMedia CentreThe Southern Star Observation Wheel was temporarily closed in January 2009.  As a result of extensive design and technical reviews a conclusion was reached to build a new wheel.Sanoyas Rides Corporation who are undertaking all works,  have engaged a world wide group of expert engineers including Arup, Aurecon, Hyder Consulting, Pitt & Sherry, Robert Bird & Associates and Brown & Tomkinson.Arup, a renowned worldwide structural engineering firm, have extensive experience in the design of the only two other giant observation wheels in operation in the world, the London Eye and the Singapore Flyer.  Representatives from their London office are part of the Melbourne based team working on this project.The design for the brand new Southern Star Observation Wheel is complete, materials have arrived and works are underway.  Standing 120 metres high, the geometry of the new design will reveal 'a star within a star'.  The Southern Star Observation Wheel will feature 21 enclosed air-conditioned glass cabins and its unique state of the art structure will also feature an extensive LED lighting display providing stunning ever changing displays at night. The Southern Star will be Australia's first and only giant observation wheel and the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.  One of the most exciting new tourism attractions in Melbourne, the Southern Star Observation Wheel will be a stunning addition to the landscape that boasts some of the most spectacular views overlooking Melbourne's CBD, Victoria Harbour and beyond.For any construction based media enquiries, please contact Marjorie Johnston at Wordmakers on 61 3 9654 4428 or [email protected]. For all other marketing and communication enquiries, please contact Tracy Hore, Head of Sales & Marketing for Southern Star on 61 3 8628 6069 or [email protected].
Reply:The people of Melbourne didn't want it.  When it opened the first time, the amount of people through the gates were well down on the numbers expected.  Most people think it too expensive for what it is to ride on. If you look at the second pic of the construction, to the left is Melbourne CBD and Docklands precinct.  Forward of it is the bay.  Behind where the pic was taken is the Melbourne rail yards and to the right is wharf/dock with ship unloading cranes and thousands of shipping containers.The scenery aint that good in 50% of the view.
Reply:Couple of pics in post 31.  120m tall.Will take some current construction pics when i go back to work on Monday.  Long weekend here in Australia.Last edited by LarryO; 01-25-2012 at 06:48 PM.
Reply:The proper design would have been to birdmouth or slot all the pipes and have one continuous plate weldment acting as the hub then the pipes fitted bolted then welded to the plates.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:LOLJust think it's funny that some of the most renowned and respected engineer firms in the world are reviewing the design/construction and we've got posters telling them how to do it.As an engineer, I think I'll just sit on the sidelines and let the experts "do their thing".Reminds me of a discussion I had with my son several years ago.  We were discussing Civil Engineering vs Naval Architecture, as I'm a Civil and he's a Naval Architect.  I mentioned that in designing a building the CE has to take into account, soil/bearing condition, wind loads, snow loads, earthquake zone, etc, etc.  His response, was yea, we take all that into account also, but we also have to design for operation in 40' sea conditions as well.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:You can see the differnance in design in the before and after pics.The arms have changed shape and there in now an internal support between the arms before the outer ring.
Reply:Common failure, too many fat chicks.Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:Respected engineers designed the first POS. As with aircraft, the folks who work on them may not all be qualified or competent to design the entire system, but may know their specific "piece of the system" very, very well. That's why aircraft makers have tech reps to facilitate flow of information and "discovered defects" and suggestions between factory and field!
Reply:YIKES I rode on that..... Everytime we pass it on the Bolte or is it the westgate? Bridge I wonder what is going on, weeelll I know now. YIKESTons of hand tools mostly KingchromeArc welderMiG weldersO/A setupMany grindersair compressorsmany air toolsIndustrial drill pressTwo Forkliftsmany more toolsMan has his will, but woman has her way.- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Reply:that crack looks like metal fatigue. whoever designed that thing ,needs to find a new profession before someone dies because of their stupidity. that pipes wall thickness is obviously much to thin to handle the  stresses it is being subjected to just supporting its own weight. the gusset thats welded  to it is at least 1/2" thick if not more. what the hell were they thinking when they built this thing.i guess they don't have weld inspectors or metalurgists working where  thing was built either.....
Reply:At least they discovered the fatigue before it collapsed. Steel structures... when they decide to yield... they go in a hurry. Kinda reminds me of the forklift hitting the pallet racking... hit one column and the whole thing collapsed. Lucky that dude could run.
Reply:That guy definitely has good reaction time. Not sure if he's got good common sense though..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I am too lazy to look it up, can anyone advise what "blistering 40 degrees" would feel like standing in America?Millermatic 211Everlast 200DX Thermal Arc 181iKlutch ST80i lunchbox stick welderLincoln Weld-Pak 100Century Stick welderPowermax 30 plasma cutterHenrob 2000 torchLogan 200 lathe (60 years old)Clausing 6339 Lathe (for sale)
Reply:Originally Posted by yesindeedI am too lazy to look it up, can anyone advise what "blistering 40 degrees" would feel like standing in America?
Reply:Originally Posted by forhireHot as hell... 104F
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWTell that to guys in Arizona when temps hit 112! They'd probably appreciate a nice cool day like that.
Reply:one goes and they all go.....He sure did move fast didn't he........
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWTell that to guys in Arizona when temps hit 112! They'd probably appreciate a nice cool day like that.
Reply:If we're welding at 10,000 degrees, I don't think 40*C is going to crack it. 40* is actually pretty nice weather unless you're welding inside a tank!  [sweating, not 'cry'ing]Back in the good old days, we hit a 122* record temp at about 2pm while I was at a jobsite, leaning over the hood of my car, reviewing some blueprints with the owner of a project called "Arizona Ski Springs" [water skiing from a cable on a donut shaped lake].   The owner was from Switzerland ...    ... I'm still here ... Here's the headline:  http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/loc...cc4c002e0.html   Last edited by Fabn4Fun; 01-29-2012 at 11:36 PM.