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    Knuckleboom cranes for London Eye: installation and safety lessons for engineers

    April 29, 2026|

    Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

    Knuckleboom cranes for London Eye: installation and safety lessons for engineers

    First reported on The Construction Index

    30 Second Briefing

    Hiab has installed two eX.232 HiPro E-5 knuckleboom cranes on pedestals on the north side of the London Eye, replacing the original 2000 units during five consecutive nights of work while the wheel stayed in operation. The year-long planned project, delivered with Nick Sampson Mechanical Engineering Services and a Liebherr mobile crane, required threading the mobile crane through the wheel’s spokes within very tight clearances while the structure was slowly rotated. Each crane is EN 280-compliant with MEWP personnel baskets, a 2‑tonne hoist, SPACEevo electro-hydraulic control with Olsbergs V200 valve, and an interlock that blocks wheel rotation unless the cranes are fully stowed.

    Technical Brief

    • Each Hiab eX.232 HiPro E-5 is configured as a fully certified MEWP under EN 280.
    • Personnel baskets on the knucklebooms formalise safe access at height in confined capsule and hub zones.
    • Built-in redundancy within the SPACEevo electro-hydraulic control and Olsbergs V200 valve reduces single-point failure risk.
    • Similar urban attractions with moving structures and public proximity can adopt MEWP-certified knucklebooms plus motion interlocks as a safety baseline.

    Our Take

    Hiab’s role on the London Eye sits alongside its equipment trial with Elliotts and Isuzu in the New Forest (18 March 2026), signalling that Hiab is pushing deeper into both constrained urban and restricted‑access delivery environments in the UK.

    Within our 805 Infrastructure stories, relatively few safety‑tagged pieces involve retrofitting lifting systems to long‑running attractions like the London Eye, so this project will be watched as a reference for lifecycle upgrades on other high‑profile public structures in the United Kingdom.

    The 2 t hoist capacity and five‑day installation window imply that maintenance planning on the London Eye must prioritise rapid, modular lifting solutions, a pattern that operators of other ageing landmark structures may adopt to minimise closure times and public disruption.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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