Southern Star to have new design

Docklands’ Southern Star Observation Wheel will return with a slightly different design.

A spokesperson said the wheel’s operators were taking the opportunity to improve on the structure which failed in January this year.

“We could have rebuilt the wheel in the same configuration with the majority of the original materials. However, we made the deliberate decision to subtly alter the original configuration and build with new materials,” the spokesperson said.

“As announced in May this year, only the columns, hub and wheel building will be retained.  We are currently finalising design details for the new wheel, but it will still be a seven-pointed Federation Star,” the spokesperson said.

The wheel stopped operating in January following a three-day heatwave when cracks were found in supporting members.