SKF has been awarded a contract by American Bridge Company to supply advanced technological solutions for the main hub for Caesars Entertainment Corporation’s Las Vegas High Roller observation wheel. The 550-foot-tall wheel will be equipped with two SKF spherical roller bearings that are the largest ever produced at the SKF manufacturing facility in Gothenburg, Sweden, along with related technologies within SKF’s platforms of seals, lubrication, and consulting services. “We are really proud to supply the High Roller because it represents some of the largest bearings we have produced and shows the broad range of challenges that SKF knowledge engineering can solve,” says Tom Johnstone, SKF President and CEO. “By combining our technical knowledge across our platforms with the extensive experience from many specialized industries we are able to provide a solution for this fantastic project.”

The two custom-designed SKF spherical roller bearings (one within each side) weigh approximately 8,800 kg with a 2,300mm outer diameter, 1,600mm inner diameter, and a width of 630mm. Each of the wheel’s 28 cabins revolves independently and will accommodate up to 40 people. The Las Vegas High Roller is the centerpiece of The LINQ, a planned $550 million, open-air retail, dining, and entertainment district situated between Imperial Palace and Flamingo Las Vegas. “The Las Vegas High Roller is a complicated engineering feat,” said David Codiga, executive project director of The LINQ. “Only a handful of manufacturers in the world are capable of supplying products of this scale and complexity, and we are pleased to have SKF on our team to create the world's largest and most dynamic observation wheel.” The Las Vegas High Roller is the latest big-wheel project using SKF expertise within large bearing solutions. The Navy Pier Ferris wheel in Chicago includes two SKF spherical roller bearings and the Liseberg Wheel in Gothenburg, Sweden spins on SKF Explorer bearings.