Brilio.net/en - London had just broken another record by having the tallest, longest and fastest tunnel slide in the world. ArcelorMittal Orbit, the red tall structure that doubles as a sculpture and an observation tower, just got even better with the tubular slide that wraps around. The 114.5 meter (376 feet)-high observation tower is located inside the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, UK.
Riders have to wear a helmet and elbow pads to ensure their safety all the way down. They sit with a bag around their feet for that extra protection. And it only 40 seconds to ride down and pay 17 (USD 22) for each ride. With that price, riders can see the city view of London through the slides transparent top.
ALSO READ:
Brexit: the end of Europe?
The daredevil slide was built due to the amount of people who complained about the eyesore of the structure. A Belgian artist Carsten Hller then added a bit of fun to it by building the 176.8 meters (580 feet) long giant slide as a way to attract more visitors to the tower. It opened to the public on June 24, 2016.
The red tower itself is a project funded mostly by the Britains richest man Lakshmi Mittal, who is also the Chairman of the ArcelorMittal steel company. The idea came as a response to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London at the moment, as he wanted to create a landmark to commemorate the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.
For this project Mittal paid the entire sum of 16 million, while the balance of 3.1 million came from the London Development Agency. Thats why Mittal is also the namesake of the "ArcelorMittal Orbit" tower, combined with the original working title for Sir Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond's design "Orbit".
ALSO READ:
Are you going to become addicted to Peaky Blinders?
Sir Anish Kapoor, the British artist who designed the enormous public art piece, began the construction in 2012 by working with engineer Cecil Balmond. Together they construct the 600 pre-fab star-like nodes made out of recycled steel that is enough to make 265 double-decker buses. They used 35,000 bolts to fix the joints that were precisely made by a team of 100 in Bolton, Lancashire. The metals were then assembled on site by four men and a crane, and lifts were used to create viewing platforms that resulted in the extraordinary skyscraper sculpture.
There are four uses of steel in the ArcelorMittal Orbit: the red superstructure, the spiral stairs, the Corten steel of the canopy and the highly polished steel mirrors in the Upper Deck. The ArcelorMittal Orbit accommodated 130,000 visitors during the Games in 2012, and the additional tubular slide is surely going to attract many more.