71 years into independence despite the obstacles in its way India has clearly chosen the path ofunity. When the British left India there were 565 princely states with the optionof joining India, Pakistan or remaining independent. The mammoth task ofintegrating each princely state with the Dominion of India fell upon theshoulders of one man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, our firstDeputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. He made the impossible possible. Historycalled him the Iron Man of India - the great unifier. Fittingly his birthday on 31st Octoberis marked as Rashtriya Ekta Divas. It has been a long-standing dream of ourPrime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to pay tribute to the great Sardar Patel. In Hindi "एक तिरंगे झंडे के नीचे हिन्दुस्तान देख रहें हैं, उसका श्रेय सरदार वल्लभभाई पटेल को जाता है।" On 31st October 2013, Shri Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, laidthe foundation for the tallest statue in the world - The Statue of Unity. In keepingwith its ethos L&T took up the challenge head-on. Located on Sadhu Bet, 3.5kilometers from the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada the Statue of Unity is anunparalleled confluence of engineering and art. Although L&T had successfullycompleted a plethora of prestigious projects including power plants andcommercial complexes, a structure of such scale was one of a kind. The honor of sculpting Sardar Patel'slikeness went to Patma Bhushan awardee Ram Sutra. The first challenge was to select an apt pose and expression to do justice to him.Although L&T's role was that of an EPC contractor, they still took activeinterest in the selection process.
Extensive discussions with historiansand experts ensued. After sifting through thousands of photographs the team wasunanimous in how the statue should look. Shri Ram Sutar created sculptures invarying sizes honing every detail again and again. The latest 3D scanning techniques andcomputer controlled production ensured accurate reproduction of minutedetails. Immense statues the world over have abroad base to achieve structural stability. Sardar Patel statue was slatedto be the tallest ever and the greatest task was to achieve the design. His dothi needed to end above theankle. He is in a walking stance. Thus the feet were not parallellaly aligned. Theassertive stride meant a gap between the feet.
Statue Of Unity Design
But the LNT team was equal to thetask. Operations commenced in 2013 withexhaustive surveys of the land, riverbed, river and wind. This was followed bycritical engineering design - a test of L&T's experience and technicalcapability. In such a remote location, planning and logistics would be the keyto all the operations. The Loha campaign was launched in earnest with aview to employing used implements donated by farmers around the country asa symbolic tribute. This iron forms the steel rebar in the raft foundation - ahomage to the Iron Man of India. A reinforced concrete core created withcritical concreting methods gave the structure a stable base. This wouldsupport the primary and secondary steel trussing. The bronze plates then coveredthe entire structure forming the sculpture. Locally available Sandstone and Baswaramarble has also been used. Besides the statue are the key elementslike the Memorial and Visitors Center, main access bridge, bridges and roadswere made to precision. The Shrestha Bharat Bhavan is a three-star facility forthe tourists and guests. To bring socio-economic development tothe region, students and vendors from nearby villages and towns were alsotrained for the project, thereby generating ample employment. Theultra-modern BIM technology for the design and project monitoring broughtsynchrony between the team and 30 consultants globally.
The statue housestwo 200 tons suspended tuned mass dampers to make it stable enough to withstandviolent winds plus seismic activity. L&T created macro panel assemblies onsite for the smaller micro panel bronze castings. This ensured speed and seamless assembly . Every plate was unique and RFID tagged and bolted in its place. As workprogressed at blazing speed the engineered structure transformed and thestatue began to take shape. Designers, engineers, experts, specialistsand workers from different parts of India have toiled night and day in aunited effort unto one goal - The Statue of Unity. Colossal enough to remindfuture generations of his epochal contribution. A structure as enduring asthe vision of modern Indian nationhood. As Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel himself said, "Mankind without unity is not a strength, only when harmonized by unity doesn'tbecome a spiritual power."
Statue Of Unity Height
Recently a new statue as joined the groupof colossal statues or one at least 100 feet or 30 meters tall, the assumed height of theColossus of Rhodes this statue that stood at the entrance to the harbor of the Greekcity of Rhodes. Located 62 miles or 100 km southwest of thecity of Vadodara, India is the site of the world’s new tallest statue. Dethroning what was the world’s talleststatue the Spring Temple Buddha of China, the Statue of Unity is significantly tallerand here you can see a lineup of the 6 tallest statues in the world. The Statue of Unity was completed on October30th, 2018, this date is important as it is the 143rd birth anniversary of Independenceactivist Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. If you haven’t heard of him, Sardar Patelor the face of this statue was the first deputy prime minister and home minister of independentIndia and the chief adherent of Mahatma Gandhi during the non-violent Indian Independencemovement. Patel was loved and respected for his leadershipand unification of India. The project was announced in 2010 with constructionbeginning in 2013 at a cost of 82 million dollars.
This statue is a replica of a statue thatwas installed at the Ahmedabad International Airport. 3 sizes were first created a 3 foot or 0.91meter,18 foot or 5.5meters and 30 foot or 9.1 meters were initially created. Once approved a detailed 3d scan was producedwhich was cast in a foundry in China. This statue is easily the world’s tallestat 600 feet or 182 meters feet, the total height of the structure is 790 feet or 240meters with the base included. When you approach the statue you can see howtruly big it is by the size of the feet. For an old guy, he’s got nicely manicuredtoenails. To put this statue in comparison it is 2.5times bigger than the statue of liberty. Constructing it required a massive amountof materials. 135 metric tonnes of scrap iron were collectedwhere 109 tonnes were used, 210,000 cubic meters or 7.4 million cubic feet of cement,6500 tonnes of steel, 18,500 tonnes of reinforced steel, and 1700 tonnes of bronze plate forthe outer facade with 1850 tonnes of bronze cladding which makes up more than 6000 panels.
Spanning 57 months to complete construction,Over 3000 workers and 250 engineers were employed during the construction of this project. Because the design called for dhoti and sandalsthe design was thinner at the base than the top which would create instability. A slenderness ratio of 16:19 was maintainedinstead of a customary 8:14 ratio of typical tall buildings. Able to withstand 110 mph or 180 km/h winds,two 250 tonne tuned mass dampers keep the statue stable and able to withstand earthquakes6.5 on the Richter scale. Current prime minister Narendra Modi paida visit to the statue which anyone can do. There is a lobby at the base of the statuewith more information as well as the viewing lobby up top. Concrete towers built within Patel’s legshouse elevators that carry people to the top for a view from above. Each of the 4 elevators can carry 26 peopleto the top in 30 seconds. Technically the viewing platform is not atthe top but instead inside his chest which is maybe a bit creepy depending who you ask. Different events take place at the statueincluding animated laser shows. There has been criticism that the money spent on this statue should have gone into, infrastructure, sewer systems, public services etc
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