London's Giant Ferris Wheel

London's famous skyline boasted a new feature Sunday after engineers finished lifting a gigantic Ferris wheel into place on the banks of the River Thames, according to CBS News Reporter Pamela McCall.

The 450-foot wheel, one of London's most conspicuous monuments to the millennium, sits almost opposite the Houses of Parliament. It dwarfs the Big Ben clock tower and nearby Parliament, and is the fourth-tallest structure in the capital at 450 feet.

McCall reports at the top, riders will be able to see 25 miles on a clear day.

The wheel will turn for the first time on the eve of the millennium and is scheduled to remain a part of the skyline for five years.

The wheel, called the London Eye, has hung over the river at a 65-degree angle for a week. During the three-stage operation to raise the wheel, it was lifted about 14 inches every five minutes. It was finally swung into place at a 90-degree angle and locked into position between restraint towers early Sunday.

Reuters

The Big Wheel upright, overlooking the Thames.

An earlier bid to erect the 1,500-ton Millennium Wheel in the British capital was aborted last month because of faulty cables. Despite the delays, organizers insist the giant glass and steel structure will be ready for visitors by December 31.

Architect David Marks said the wheel's backers wanted to mark the millennium with something other than a static monument.

"We felt there needed to be more than that, something that people could participate in, something that would enable them to see London from a completely new perspective," he told Sky television on Saturday evening.

"This is the largest observation wheel in the world."

Thirty-two glass-enclosed observation pods, which will take 30 minutes to do the full circuit, are being shipped from France and will be attached in the next few weeks, along with the mechanism that will turn the giant wheel. Each capsule can carry up to 25 people, allowing the Wheel to accommodate up to 15,000 people per day.

A 30-minute ride will cost $12.40 for adults and $8 for children.

Marks dismissed criticism that the wheel is an eyesore.

"Over the past week that we've seen the wheel being raised from its horizontal position into its vertical position, many people have come up to me and said how beautiful thethink it is, how light and airy," he said.