In its Jan. 25 statement, SkyVue said that the observation wheel’s cast-in-place concrete columns have reached a height of 247 ft with two remaining concrete pours until their completion. The wheel’s bearings, yokes and main axle are in the final stages of manufacturing and will arrive at the job site, across from the Mandalay Bay hotel and two blocks from McCarren International Airport, in May or June of this year. The site’s construction crane, which was disassembled in September, is scheduled to arrive for assembly and the final concrete pour at that time. 



The project additionally called for a two-story, 200,000-sq-ft base building, with two dozen retail shops, a 10,000-sq-ft food court, and four national chain restaurants, plus 21,000 sq ft of convention space. SkyVue sits on 38.5 acres of raw undeveloped Strip real estate, but occupies less than one-third of the site.

The project is located less than two miles from a similar observation developed by Caesars Entertainment. The High Roller, a cable wheel, will be 550 ft tall and is scheduled to accept passengers in the first quarter of 2014.
Caesars’ wheel anchors Linq, its $550-million open-air promenade that links together a handful of Las Vegas Strip mega-resorts. The quarter-mile-long, 200,000-sq-ft Linq project will add about 40 new shops, restaurants and bars directly across the street from the company’s namesake property, Caesars Palace.

A spokesperson for Caesars Entertainment says that the wheel’s four support legs are fully erected at 255 ft tall, and the support brace leg, hub, and spindle will be assembled and erected in about a month. The engineer behind the London Eye–U.K.-based Arup–is the wheel designer and engineer, with American Bridge Co., Pittsburgh, as general contractor.