WHAT happens when a nation of peole who can dry out the sea, set
their minds to building a roller coaster with a difference?
You get the Windwheel, soon to be built by the Dutch Windwheel
Corporation. (And, of course, Wheels
will be the first to report on this development in print.)
The giant wheel is to be environmentally friendly, will be a
tourist magnet and if the spectacular views over Rotterdam are not enough for
the million or more visitors, the inside hosts a 3D roller-coaster interactive
cinema which provides a trip through the history of Dutch water
management.
This may sound like a drip, but this is a nation whose notions of
water management are considered extreme hydraulics anywhere else on the
globe.
Hence part of the ride takes the people under water.
So far, the Windwheel is only a nice screen saver, but an alliance
is already being formed between developers, investors, research institutes,
operators, government agencies, energy companies and marketing organisations to
build it.
Based on the current number of visitors to the Netherlands and
Rotterdam, it is expected that around 1,5 million people will visit the Dutch
Windwheel per year, based on hospitality research by NBTC Holland Marketing in
2013.
The outer ring houses 40 cabins that run on rails. The innovative
lighting and digital information layer in the windows of the cabins make these
cabins an experience in themselves.
Built with materials from the Rotterdam region, the harbour and
the surrounding steel industry, the Dutch Windwheel is designed for disassembly
and reuse. A pioneering wind turbine converts wind energy with a framework of
steel tubes into electricity without moving mechanical parts.
