Use of BIM in World’s Tallest Statue

To pay tribute to the ‘Iron Man of India’, the country’s first Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a stalwart of the Independence Movement who unified princely states into Indian Union, the Government of India commissioned world’s tallest statue on the banks of Narmada river near the Sardar Sarovar Dam, which is 100 kms from Vadodara.

At 182 metres, the steel, concrete and brass-clad statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, dwarfs the world’s tallest structures like the Statue of Liberty in New York, and Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. The total cost of the project was estimated to be about 2,063 crores by the Government.

Considering the complexity of the assembly, especially in terms of accommodating the fabricated manufacturing within a specific size of the galvanizing bath tub, it was a painstaking task for the stakeholder. However, the constructible 3D BIM model generated on Tekla enabled the engineers to complete the job accurately and within the stipulated time frame.

Saravanan Kaliappan

Senior Vice President, Eversendai Construction Private Limited

Challenges

1. The structure was developed from a real-life photograph of

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. 2. To balance a 182 metre tall statue and to design in a walking pose with 6.5 metres gap between the two legs. 3. To engineer in a way that it can withstand wind speeds of 180 kilometres/hr and the suction effect it could create at the back of the statue. 4. To prepare the structural design to survive earthquakes measuring up to 6.5 on the Richter scale. 5. To build a viewing gallery to accommodate 200 visitors at the height of 135 metres from ground level.

The Statue of Unity also holds the distinction of being among the fastest to be completed in just 34 months.

It devoured 210,000 cubic metres of cement concrete, 18,500 tonnes of reinforced steel, 6,500 tonnes of structured steel, 1,700 tonnes of bronze and 1,850 tonnes of bronze cladding.

Trimble's structural engineering software, Tekla Structures helped complete the construction of the statue a full two months ahead of schedule and with a 25 percent efficiency gain.

The contractor for the statue's structural steel framework was awarded to Eversendai Construction Private Limited.

Solution

This massive project had multiple teams working simultaneously on various aspects utilizing different tools; therefore, accurate and complete exchange of information and smooth cooperation between every stakeholder was of utmost importance.

Tekla software made multinodal real-time teamwork possible, which eliminated the clashes at an early stage. Tekla’s interoperability feature helped Eversendai’s project team to execute the project flawlessly with zero errors.

The constructible 3D BIM models enabled the team to identify and rectify at least 70 clashes before the fabrication stage, reduce wastage, help save time & cost, avoid rework.