Seattle's DJC today told me a little something that made me smile - it might make you smile too.  The foundation is getting laid! :)

Manson Construction Co. is laying the foundation for a 175-foot-tall Ferris wheel that will sit at the end of Pier 57 on the Seattle waterfront.



The contractor has been working since January, driving 53 150-foot-long steel piles into the bottom of Elliott Bay. The 36-inch-diameter piles are being filled with concrete, and construction of the cap beams, which lay across the piles, is under way.

Manson project manager Simon Johnston said about three to four weeks of foundation work remain. An erection company will begin setting up the Ferris wheel in early May.

The wheel is manufactured by Chance Morgan of Wichita, Kan. Great Western Pacific, which owns the pier, is paying for the project.

Great Western Vice President Kyle Griffith told the DJC in 2010 that the wheel will help attract customers to waterfront businesses while the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Elliott Bay seawall projects are under way.

The Ferris wheel will have 42 gondolas with heating and air conditioning. The Associated Press reports that the wheel will extend 40 feet from the end of Pier 57, so riders on that side will be suspended over Elliott Bay.

Hal Griffith, the owner of Great Western Pacific, told KING-TV the Ferris wheel should be spinning this June.