Statue of Unity has recently been declared as the tallest statue in the whole world. Now you must all be curious how such a gigantic monument is created. So today we’ll talk about the construction of SOU. Whenever we talk about the construction of any building or monument, we always check for:
- Appearance – Aesthetics matter a lot more than one can imagine
- Structure – The method used to assemble and deploy structural elements of a building plays a very important role in determining the overall strength of the building
- Planning – A building must be well-planned in order to utilize all the space accurately and make sure all the elements blend together and work in harmony
- Earthquake resistance – A building or monument must be strong enough to withstand certain levels of earthquakes
- Fire resistance – Building should be able to withstand fire breakouts and planned in a way so that proper measures can be taken during a fire
- Weathering capabilities – Environment can have adverse effects on the building and hence it should be made sure that proper materials are used everywhere
There are many other factors considered obviously, but above were only to give you an overall idea. Now we can understand what sort of factors must be taken into consideration in the construction of world’s tallest statue. SOU is built by Larsen & Toubro Limited ( they had the lowest bid! ). A consortium of Michael Graves Architecture and Design (MGA&D), Turner construction and Meinhardt group was formed to supervise the project.
Now let us see some construction features of SOU:
- SOU was built in 56 months
- 15 months for planning
- 40 months for construction
- 2 months for handing over the project
- The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 2,989 crore
- 75,000 cubic meters of concrete was used
- 5,700 tonnes of steel structure was utilized
- 18,500 tonnes of reinforced steel rods were used
- Reinforced means to strengthen a material using additional support. Reinforced steel bars are also known as rebar. Rebar is used with reinforced concrete as concrete has weak tensile strength. Rebar significantly increases the overall strength of the structure.
- 22,500 tonnes of bronze sheets were used
- Bronze has been an artist and sculptor’s favorite kind of alloy because of its many good qualities. Detailing on bronze sculpture can be done with precision and it is relatively easy to clean and maintain as well. So these reasons are enough to understand the reason behind use of bronze sheets.
- Iron used in making SOU has been collected from “Loha Campaign”
- Loha Campaign was held to honor farmers for their contribution towards the country.
- The first two phases of the campaign was conducted in 2013-2014.
- All the iron collected from this campaign has been melted and used in the construction of SOU. We are not sure if it has been used in the structural or non-structural parts of the statue. Because they were concerned about the quality of the iron. If it were to be used in the structural parts of the statue, it had to undergo lots of process. Regardless, we can say it is a part of SOU.
- Statue of Unity can withstand winds up to 60 m/sec and 6.5 earthquake
Technology has affected construction in the best way possible. From drones used for surveying to Computer Aided Design software, from responsive clothing to laser scanners, every advancement has made the job easier and faster.
Above mentioned were just a few facts and details about the construction of SOU. Nevertheless, it gives us a vague understanding of the efforts, time, energy, precision and planning it takes to build world’s tallest statue.
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