Mystery in Dubai as mega-wheel stops turning

cracks are opening on the financial might of the Dubai/UAE?

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

In Dubai nothing is as it seems, everything is a facade.

Dubai’s obscene levels of greed and conspicuous consumption based on oil wealth got by its ruling caste may begin sinking as the seas rise because of climate change the Unitrd lArab Emirates like other fossil states will be bled dry by the china led authoritarian bloc. They had their 15 minutes.

Been in and out of Dubai more than 15x, luckily, on the / a companies’ nickel.

Unless you’re independently wealthy, or won the Lottery, you can’t afford it.

Ran out of oil to grease the hub?

Big Wheel can't keep on turnin'? Oh no!

Has anybody checked to see if Proud Mary keep on burnin'?

The symbol of Dubai's end...

Smart to shut it off.

Maybe it offers a strategic view, something not intended. Or maybe it just makes everything below look much smaller.

"no russian passports found nearby?"

Did the Russians build it ?

Scrap it.

They'll have had experts on building on sand foundations, experts on metal fatigue, experts on bearings, erosion, dynamic loading due to winds.

But did they have anyone with ice road experience?

Because an ice road that will withstand a heavily loaded convoy of big trucks driving across it, and their heavy trailers being parked on it for the season, will give way under an unloaded truck being parked on it for a few hours with the engine running. The small, but persistent vibration from the engine does what the flexing under the large loads won't. And my WAG is that that's why it was shut down, and hasn't been fixed.

Getting stuck on that thing must have been an unexpected treat! Anyone check for a wrench?

Hyundai Engineering & Construction built it. The German TUV withdrew its safety certification earlier this year when the axle of the wheel was surrounded by scaffolding. Now it is apparently an expensive light show like Pyongyang's Ryugyong Hotel.