Statue of Unity: Perfect Symbol of Indian Engineering and Technical Capabilities

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Today in this article we would be sharing some of the facts and details about India’s biggest pride and honor and that is none other than the leading “Statue of Unity” that has set a perfect benchmark as well as an example of Engineering work and all its technical capabilities and aspects.

There was a time when to create or to construct a tall building or statue, the companies used to think for a while. But as there is a saying that change is inevitable in nature. The modern era has developed to a great extent, regardless of any field or business sector. There is a complete makeover for the services and the best example is the development of the world's tallest statue in India and that is none other than the Statue of Unity.

Taking it further here are some of the facts and details that turn out to be a major point of attraction for the said project that is Statue of Unity.

Project Details: :

The foundation of Statue of Unity or the official announcement to lay down the project was declared in the year 2010, by the chief minister of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi, now the Prime Minister of India. When the project was announced there were many top engineering companies who were in the competition to bag the project. After receiving multiple quotations and details, it was the luck that favored “Larsen & Toubro” company who was fortunate to provide entire structural engineering services for the said project.

This was only because the company has quoted the bidding amount less as that compared to other bidders. It was in the year 2013, when the company officially started the project and the total value of the project was Rs. 2989 crores (₹29.89 billion; US$437 million).

It is not at all wrong in saying that this tallest statue ever made is the pride and honor of India and our Indian culture and tradition. To enmark the pride and honor of our first Home Minister of India - the idea of constructing The Statue of Unity was given a ready to go signal. It is that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is known as well as honored as the Ironman of India. Moreover, it was his dedication, and countless contributions that has kept the foundation stone of modern India.

The best and the live example that depicts the true inspiration for every structural engineering services and steel detailing services is none other than “Statue of Unity” which is 182-meters tall and is the highest statue in the world. To add more wings to the excellency, the strong iron and steel statue has been listed on 49th position amongst the world largest and most promising projects by the Institution of Structural Engineers (IstructE).

List of Raw Materials Used for Construction :

Let us proceed further and discuss the raw materials that were used for constructing this tall building that is the center of attraction.

• Cement and Concrete Used: 210,000 cubic metres (7,400,000 cu ft)
• Structural Steel Used: 6,500 tonnes
• Reinforced Steel Used: 18,500 tonnes
• 1,700 tonnes of bronze plates.
• 1,850 tonnes of bronze cladding which in turn consists of 565 macro and 6000 micro panels.

Statue of Unity Construction :

Every project that is getting constructed or is undertaken there is a need to have proper planning, and documentation. Having said this below mentioned is the details that shares the information on how the construction work was done for the tallest statue. Let us have a look into it.

• The Statue of Unity has been constructed in three layers.
• With the use of over 129 tonnes of scrap, the base of the statue was constructed.
• The strength of the statue is good enough to handle the velocity of the wind and earthquake both.
• Wind velocity: up to 60 meters per second.
• Earthquakes measuring below 6.5 on the Richter scale.
• The two towers which is the Innermost layer of the statue is made of reinforced cement concrete.
• The area covered has risen to the chest area which is one of the towers in the construction process.
• To form the second layer of the statue, the use of steel frames were taken into consideration for construction of the concrete tower.
• The external or the surface part of the statue is made up of bronze panel cladding along with the third layer of the statue.

Team of Architects and Engineers

Now comes another aspect without whom it was impossible to construct the much awaited project and adding moments of honor for every Indian.

• The design of Statue of Unity was designed by Padma Bhushan award winner sculptor Ram V Suthar.
• He is the one who has designed more than 50 monuments in his 40 years of career.
• 250+ engineers were employed in the project.
• 3000+ workers were part of this prestigious contract.
• Supervision was done by Turner Construction, Michael Graves and Associates and the Meinhardt Group.

Features of Statue of Unity

Here is the list featured that gives details of the development of the statue of unity.

• Statue of Unity is the world tallest statue with the height of 182-meters (597 feets).
• The support of the entire structure has two concrete vertical cores.
• It has an high-speed passenger elevator at both its sides.
• Steel frames have been supported by the support of two vertical concrete cores which is the base.
• The design and the shape of the statue of unity is a star-shaped structure.
• The gallery viewing is made up at the height of 135- meter in the structure.

Major Challenges faced by the Engineering

Now comes the major part of the entire project and that is none other than the challenges that were faced by the engineers and that indeed needs to be taken into consideration.

Earthquake and Wind

• As the statue is constructed/situated right in the center of river Narmada, the statue is exposed to the tunnel effect of the strong wind that is blowing down towards the river.
• As per the studies revealed by the wind patterns over the year it was revealed that if the speed of the wind is 39m per sec (roughly translated into 130 km/hr. ) could give a high as well as worst-case in the scenario.
• The team of structural engineer therefore engineered the statue with the revelation of wind speed of up to 50m per sec (almost 180 km/hr. )
• The challenge was not only for the wind blowing against the statue, but also the effect that it will have at the back side of the statue too.So, this was also one of the core details that the team of structural engineers have taken into consideration.

Waking Position

• The base of the statue is created or is slender at the base. It is due to Sardar’s leg clad in Dhoti, and having chappals in his feet. Also another thing that needed to be considered was the walking pose of Sardar Vallanbhai Patel.
• This entire process is all going against the norms and conditions that have been followed for other tall statues.
• There is a gap between the walking pose of the statue which is open up. The gap between the two feet is 6.4 meters and this is also required to be tested to make sure that it can withstand the wind velocity.

The Face

• One of the major challenges that turned out to be a challenging aspect is the face of the statue. Since, the face portion is an important aspect, and therefore special care needs to be considered here.
• For the engineers the construction part of the face of the statue was a tough work to do.
• As per the original design submitted by the sculptor Ram Sutar, the head of the statue needs to be held high and the arms by his side that shows the power as well as warmth.
• The statue is supposed to be walking on the water, which is facing towards the Sardar Sarovar dam, and slightly at the left leg slightly forward.
• So to overcome this challenge the team created a mock-up and disclosed it for the people who can view the statue and can comment on it.

Despite all these major challenges and issues the company as well as the team of engineers were successful in completing the project in 33 months, as compared to the China’s Spring Temple Buddha which took 11 years to complete.

With no doubts at all we can proudly say that the engineers in India have made it possible to execute the plan of constructing Statue of Unity with the use of Structural Engineering and Steel Detailing services work. It is indeed considered as a wonder.

Silicon Engineering Consultants Pvt Ltd, is the most trusted and the leading providers of structural engineering services and steel detailing services for construction of any type of buildings, statues, or residential or commercial projects. For more details or to outsource Structural Engineering work, get in touch with us today and get free quotes.