5 years of Statue of Unity: Interesting facts about the world’s tallest statue
Statue of Unity is the world’s tallest statue at 182 metres. It is 23 metres taller than China's Spring Temple Buddha statue and about double the height of the Statue of Liberty (93 metres tall).
It was constructed in three-and-a-half years by an army of over 3,000 men under the supervision of Padma Bhushan award artist Ram V Sutar.
The statue is made to withstand wind velocity up to 60 m/s, vibration and earthquakes.
The Gujarat government funded the entire project, which cost Rs 3,050 crore.
In 2011, Modi's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust collected 129 tonnes of iron tools from millions of farmers in 169,000 villages, forming the statue's base in the 'Loha' campaign.
The Statue has a 153-metre-high viewing platform that can accommodate 200 people and provides a panoramic view of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
The statue is composed of three layers. The deepest layer is reinforced cement concrete (RCC), with two 127-metre-tall towers rising to the statue's chest. The second layer is a steel structure, and the third is a surface cladding of eight mm bronze.
Jiangxi Toqine Company (JTQ) of China completed the bronze cladding of the statue.
The Statue of Unity will naturally age from bronze to green colour after 100 years.