ASSIGNMENT - 3

CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND

TECHNOLOGY
(CM774)

RICS School of Built Environment

Amity University, Sector-125, Expressway, Noida-201301

2021

Presented To- Ms. Taqdees Anjum

Mr. Suhail Khan

By- Ankit Kumar Gupta (A13559021071)

Vishnu Singh (A13559021052)
Jaideep Joseph Nicholas (A13559021075)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our team is greatly indebted to RICS School of Built Environment, Amity

University for giving us the opportunity of carrying out our research for this
project. We express our sincere thanks and gratitude to Ms. Taqdees Anjum and
Mr. Suhail Khan for their constant guidance, invaluable constructive criticism
and beneficial advice during the project work. We are sincerely grateful to them
for sharing their honest and enlightening notion on several issues related to the
project.

We recognize this opportunity as a big breakthrough in our academic

development. We will try to use our gained skills and knowledge in the best
possible way.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

Chapter-1 Introduction- Statue Of Unity 5-7
1.1 Project Description 5

1.2 Project Details 6

1.3 Project Life Cycle 6-7

Chapter-2 Challenges and Identification of Critical Components 8-12

and Materials
2.1 Challenges 8

2.2 Critical Components and Materials 9-12

Chapter-3 Critical Analysis of Materials Used 13-14

3.1 Major Materials Used 13

3.2 Analysis of Materials 13-14

Chapter-4

Chapter-5

Chapter-6 References

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 LIST OF FIGURES

S No. TITLE PAGE

1 Statue Of Unity 4
2 Foundation of Statue 8
3 Core Wall and Coupling Wall 10
4 Construction process of Core Wall 10
5 Damper Dome Base 11

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 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION- STATUE OF UNITY

1.1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION-

 The Statue of Unity is a colossal statue of Indian statesman known as the “Iron Man

of India” Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel (1875–1950), who was the first deputy prime
minister and home minister of independent India.
 The Statue of Unity is the world's tallest statue, with a height of 182 metres . It is
located in the state of Gujarat, India, on the Narmada River .The project also
includes:-
o An exhibition centre at its base showcasing the life and achievements of
Sardar Patel.
o A 320 m long designer bridge connecting Sadhu Hill to the mainland.
o A memorial and visitors’ centre.
o 4-lane approach road.
o An administrative complex, 3-star hotel and conference centre.
o A 40-m suspended fabric roof structure for the visitors’ centre.

(Figure 1-Statue Of Unity) (Courtesy- Google Images)

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 1.2 PROJECT DETAILS-

1.3 PROJECT LIFE CYCLE-

 Initiation- The project was announced in 2010.The main contractor bid

process was completed on October 27, 2014, when EPC contract was
awarded to L&T Chennai.
 Planning- A Consortium comprising of Turner Construction, Michael
Graves and Associates and the Meinhardt Group supervised the
project. It took 15 months for planning the whole project.
 Execution- L&T commenced the construction on 31 October 2014.  In
the first phase of the project, ₹1347 crores was earmarked for the main
statue, ₹235 crores for the exhibition hall and convention centre,
₹83 crores for the bridge connecting the memorial to the mainland. It
took 40 months for the whole construction to finish.
 Closure- After the construction, 2 months was taken for handling over
the project by the consortium. About ₹657 crores was earmarked for the
maintenance of the structure for a duration of 15 years after its
completion

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Summary- The total cost of the project was estimated to be about ₹2063
crores. The project took 57 months to complete – 15 months for planning,
40 months for construction and 2 months for handing over by the
consortium. The life span of the structure is estimated to be 100 years and
may go beyond it as the structure lies on the river bed and faces no
danger of attack from chlorides and sulphates to the strengthened
concrete structure. This is the first structure in India to have a contractual
requirement for a desired life span of 100 years, despite no significant
danger to it.

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 CHAPTER-2
CHALLENGES AND IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL
COMPONENTS AND MATERIALS

2.1 CHALLENGES-

 The statue will be constructed atop a small hillock in a river basin just
downstream from the Narmada dam- material delivery, staging, and erection
posed unique challenges.
 The logistics and transportation from the yard to the statue is a major concern
for the activities.
 Eight months of the year, the island is accessible on at least one side via land
as the water levels recede post monsoon season. During the monsoon season,
water levels typically rise five meters, and up to 20 meters, with very strong
currents.
 Access to the island is available via two ways. Primarily, a built-up rock
bridge which is constructed at the normal flood level, and then a Bailey bridge
that is built above the high flood levels.
 The Bailey bridge has two lanes, one dedicated to vehicle and material
movement, and the second one for access to workers.
 Natural factors such as earthquakes and wind posed stiff challenges in the
construction of statue of unity. Since, being located in the middle of river
Narmada, it is exposed to the tunnel effects of the wind blowing down the
river.
 Environmental clearance to protect the aquatic and wildlife population in
the area.
 The statue’s stance and orientation and face of the statue was another
challenge.
 Building a high speed lift and emergency stairs inside the legs of the
statue.
 Maintaining the strength and stability without compromising on the
aesthetics.

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2.2 CRITICAL COMPONENTS AND MATERIALS-

2.2.1 Foundation-

The details of the foundation of the statue of unity are explained below:

1. The hillock is used in construction of many fracture planes. It lead for the successful
construction of the foundation, the fracture planes were used in treatment with grout
injection and grouted anchor rods.
2. The levelling of the hillock is done for constructing the foundation mat of the statue.
As the mat sits on the strong rock, pile foundation was not required. However,
grouted rock anchors were used to reduce the localized tension.
3. There was two batching plants of 56 m3/ hour for setting up production capacity . In
each batching plant, silos were set up for storage of the cementitious products. 
4. The foundation was high in tension due to the overturning moments from the lateral
loads. These loads are resisted by rock anchors which are therefore socketed into the
rock and can tensioned at the foundation level.
5. Based on the site investigation results, the average bearing strength of the rock was
found to be 2300 KN/m2, which is more than sufficient to support the statue.
6. Self-compacting concrete of M60 grade was utilized for the mat foundation. In
addition, the temperature level was maintained between 18°C to 22°C.
7. The surface area of the mat foundation was covered with a polythene sheet and, on
top of the sheet, a layer of 100 mm dry sand was placed to avoid any thermal
differences.
8. For construction of the primary raft, quantity of 4354 m3 concrete were used and it
was completed in a single constant pouring of concrete in 132 hours.
9. Constant pouring of concrete in the raft, two on-site batching plants were
continuously used to produce concrete. The positioning of concrete was done so that
there could be proper mixing with the help of fixed pumps. Additionally, concrete
was also pumped horizontally for 420 m through a 125 mm sized steel pipeline.

(Figure 2-Foundation of Statue)

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2.2.2 Super Structure-
Part of the statue enclosed inside the 8mm bronze cladding is a two-layered structure. The
innermost layer has two 127-metre-high towers made from reinforced cement concrete. In
chest area these tower were raised . The second layer of steel frame is between the towers and
the cladding . There were multiple engineering challenges too. One, unlike the Statue of
Liberty and Christ the Redeemer, the Statue of Unity does not have a wider base. A wider
base is required to make a structure stable. As Patel wore a dhoti, the statue is thicker towards
the top and thinner at the bottom. This challenge was overcome by keeping the slenderness
ratio between the width of the statue and its height to 16:19 — significantly higher than the
8:14 ratio rule that is followed in the construction of high-rise structures. Two, the base of the
statue, below the dhoti-clad legs, is about 25 metres high, equivalent to an eight-storey
building. This part of the structure houses two massive lifts, which can carry over 25 people
to a 135-metre high gallery in just above half a minute.

2.2.3 Base of the Statue-

The following points describe the base of the statue:

1. For the construction of the base of statue we used shallow foundation (i.e. raft
foundation) supported over a strong rock.
2. The level of the base varies from +45 m to +52.5 m.
3. The ground floor is at +58 m level. It is made of structural slabs supported by
columns and walls.
4. Both concrete and steel were used thoroughly from +58 m level to +83 m level.
5. The slab at +78 m, +83 m, and inclined roofings are made of composite deck slab
resting on structural beams and trusses.

2.2.4 Core Walls-

The following points describe the core walls of the statue:

1. Two primary vertical core walls of the statue are elliptical in shape. The dimensions
of the core walls are 11.30 m x 8.40 m.
2. The elliptical core walls are 154 m high with openings for lift lobby and fire stairs.
3. The core wall basically starts from +56.575 m level and continues up to +209.50 m
level.
4. The coupling wall is linked to the core walls from +115.0 m level to +193.0 m level.
5. Core walls are confined by an external oval concrete wall up to the podium level at
+83 m.
6. Above the podium level, where the facade geometry of the statue appears, the cores
are coupled together with two RC walls (known as coupling wall) up to the entire
height of core walls.
7. The thickness of the core wall is continuous throughout the height, whereas the
thickness of the coupling wall varies from 0.55 m to 1.33 m.

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8. The elliptical shape of the core wall was achieved by bending the rebar of 32 mm
diameter around the core wall.
9. The core walls were constructed with a self-compacting concrete (SCC) of M65
grade.

(Figure 3-Core Wall and Coupling Wall)

(Figure 4-Construction process of Core Wall)

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2.2.5 Dampers-
Fitting these vibration-causing machines inside the statue’s two vertical cores, the first of its
three layers, was a challenge for the engineers. Three, engineers had to factor in the speed of
wind, and the possibility of earthquakes and flood. Being built on an island in the middle of
Narmada, the statue will have to face the tunnel effect of winds blowing down the river. The
walking pose of the statue opened up a gap of 6.4 metres between the two feet. To deal with
these issues, the cladding used in the statue has overlapping panels, which allow it to move
vertically and horizontally, to resist earthquake and wind forces. Two 250- tonne mass
dampers, which are installed in structures to reduce the amplitude of vibrations, have been
used. As a result, the statue is capable of withstanding wind blowing at almost 220 km per
hour and surviving earthquakes measuring up to 6.5 on the Richter scale.

(Figure 5-Damper Dome Base)

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 CHAPTER-3
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MATERIALS USED

3.1 MAJOR MATERIALS USED-

 Cement
 Coarse and Fine Aggregates
 Water
 Concrete
 Structural Steel
 Reinforced Steel
 Bronze Plates
 Bronze Cladding
 Sand
 Polythene Sheets

3.2 ANALYSIS OF MATERIALS-

 The core of the statue used 210,000 cubic metres (7,400,000 cu ft) of cement and
concrete, 6,500 tonnes of structural steel, and 18,500 tonnes of reinforced steel.
 The outer façade is made up of 1,700 tonnes of bronze plates and 1,850 tonnes of
bronze cladding which in turn consists of 565 macro and 6000 micro panels. 
 For the construction of the statue, the required concrete strengths varied between
40 MPa to 65 MPa. The statue required 21,0000 m3 of concrete, reinforced with
18,500 tonnes of grade 500 MPa bar.
 Additionally, the composite cores of statue, suspended space frame, cladding
substructure, and podium framing required 6500 tonnes of structural steel with a
minimum grade of 355 MPa.
 The structural steel in the cores and space frame of the statue is comprised of W-
360 I-shaped sections.
 As a part of the ‘Loha’ campaign, iron tools were collected from farmers across the
country with the intent of it being melted and converted into rebars for use in the
foundation.
 The ordinary Portland cement used is of the grade 53.
 The structural steel was supplied by Tata Steel and SAIL.
 The bronze panels were cast in Jiangxi Tongqing Metal Handicrafts Co. Ltd (the
TQ Art foundry) in China as facilities large enough for such casting were
unavailable in India. The bronze panels were transported over sea and then by road
to a workshop near the construction site where they were assembled.

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 Self-compacting concrete of M60 grade was utilized for the mat foundation. In
addition, the temperature level was maintained between 18°C to 22°C for the
placement of concrete in mat foundation.
 The surface area of the mat foundation was covered with a polythene sheet, and on
top of the sheet, a layer of 100 mm dry sand was placed to avoid any thermal
differences.
 The core walls were constructed with a self-compacting concrete (SCC) of M65
grade.
 Structural steel of shape W-360 was embedded in the composite core walls.
 The elliptical shape of the core wall was achieved by bending the rebar of 32 mm
diameter around the core wall.
 The W-360 shapes of structural steel were then connected with the internal bracing
of the 150 mm x 150 mm (6” x 6”) angles.

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 CHAPTER-6

REFERENCES

 (Panwar, 2020)
Bibliography

Panwar, R., 2020. theconstructor.org. [Online]

Available at: https://theconstructor.org/case-study/statue-of-unity-structural-
construction-features/61410/
[Accessed 22 october 2021].

 (Anon., n.d.)
Bibliography

Anon., n.d. https://meinhardtgroup.com/. [Online]

Available at: https://meinhardtgroup.com/portfolio-item/statue-of-unity/
[Accessed 25 october 2021].

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 Anon., n.d. https://www.larsentoubro.com/. [Online]
Available at: https://www.larsentoubro.com/corporate/products-and-services/sardar-
patel/the-statue-of-unity/#
[Accessed 25 october 2021].

Anon., n.d. https://www.turnerconstruction.com/. [Online]

Available at: https://www.turnerconstruction.com/experience/project/752B/statue-of-
unity
[Accessed 25 october 2021].

 (William howell, 2015)

Bibliography

William howell, M. N. J. W., 2015. Logistical and Structural Design Challenges of the
World's Tallest Statue. CTBUH Research Paper, p. 15.

 (Anon., 2021)
Bibliography

Anon., 2021. https://www.wikipedia.org/. [Online]

Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Unity
[Accessed 26 November 2021].

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