 The Morrison @-@ Bachy Soletanche Joint Venture Team submitted their original design , which resembled a Ferris wheel with four gondolas in 1999 . It was agreed by all parties that the design was functional , but not the showpiece the BWB were looking for . After being asked to reconsider , a 20 @-@ strong team of architects and engineers was assembled by British Waterways . Led by Tony Kettle from architects RMJM the initial concepts and images were created with the mechanical concepts proposed by the design team from Butterley and M G Bennetts . This was an intense period of work with the final design concept completed in a three @-@ week period during the summer of 1999 . The final design was a cooperative effort between the British Waterways Board , engineering consultants Arup , Butterley Engineering and RMJM . 
