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B of the Bang
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B of the Bang is a sculpture in Manchester, England, located next to the City of Manchester Stadium at Sportcity. Commissioned to mark the 2002 Commonwealth Games, It is one of the tallest structures in the City of Manchester, was briefly the largest sculpture in the UK. It is taller and leans at a greater angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It takes its name from a quotation of British sprinter Linford Christie in which he said that he started his races not merely at the 'bang' of the starting pistol, but at 'The B of the Bang'.
The sculpture was commissioned in 2003, and construction was completed by 2005, having overrun in both time and money.
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Encyclopedia
B of the Bang is a sculpture in Manchester, England, located next to the City of Manchester Stadium at Sportcity. Commissioned to mark the 2002 Commonwealth Games, It is one of the tallest structures in the City of Manchester, was briefly the largest sculpture in the UK. It is taller and leans at a greater angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It takes its name from a quotation of British sprinter Linford Christie in which he said that he started his races not merely at the 'bang' of the starting pistol, but at 'The B of the Bang'.
The sculpture was commissioned in 2003, and construction was completed by 2005, having overrun in both time and money. Even before it was unveiled, the sculpture suffered structural problems as the tip of a spike fell off, with another spike falling off a year later. Legal action started a year later, resulting in an out-of-court settlement refunding the cost of the sculpture. In February 2009 Manchester City Council announced that the sculpture would be dismantled, as the "only practical alternative". The council has expressed its comittment to working closely with the design team in order to "determine whether there is a robust and affordable strategy for the re-construction of the structure on the site".
Design
B of the Bang is tall and has 180 hollow tapered steel columns or spikes radiating from a central point. It is angled at 30 degrees, and is supported by five long, heavy steel tapered legs, which connect to the spikes above the ground. The sculpture weighs 165 tonnes, with the concrete in the foundations weighing over 1,000 tonnes, including a reinforced concrete slab. The foundations are deep. The sculpture was made from the same weathering steel as the Angel of the North sculpture, and gradually changed to a rusty colour as it was exposed to the weather. However, it will not corrode, nor rust internally. The sculpture sways slightly in the wind, and can withstand gusts in excess of . There is a time capsule in the centre of the sculpture containing children's poems and paintings, due to be opened circa 2300.
The sculpture is located next to the City of Manchester Stadium at Sportcity, in Beswick, at the corner of Alan Turing Way and Ashton New Road, at coordinates . It takes its name from a quotation of British sprinter Linford Christie in which he said that he started his races not merely at the 'bang' of the starting pistol, but at 'The B of the Bang'. The structure has been nicknamed KerPlunk by the locals after the popular children's game from the 1970s.
Prior to the construction of Aspire at the University of Nottingham, B of the Bang was Britain's tallest sculpture at twice the height of the Angel of the North's . It was designed to look like an exploding firework, and is taller and leans at a greater angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was commissioned by New East Manchester Limited to mark the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The design was selected by a panel consisting of both local residents and art experts via a competition in 2002, and was designed by Thomas Heatherwick.
Construction
The sculpture was constructed in Sheffield by Thomas Heatherwick Studio, Packman Lucas, Flint and Neill and Westbury Structures. It was approved at the start of 2003. The central core arrived in Manchester on the 13 June 2004; this was the largest load that could be transferred via road from the factory, and required a police escort. The main part of the sculpture was lifted into place in August 2004. It was officially unveiled on 12 January 2005 by Linford Christie. It was supposed to be finished by July 2003, but was delayed during construction. As a result it was dubbed The G of the Bang.
It cost £1.42 million to design and construct—twice the original estimate as that neglected installation costs—with the North West Development Agency contributing £500,000 and the local council providing another £120,000, with the rest from various other sources.
Structural problems and legal action
The tip of one of the spikes fell off on the 6 January 2005. At the time the sculpture was closed off to the public, and the junction and pathway near the sculpture were temporarily closed afterwards. As a result some of the joints were re-welded, with equipment put in place to stop the spikes moving. Another spike had to be cut off by firefighters in May 2005 after it was discovered hanging loose.
In 2006 another of the spikes fell off, resulting in a total of nine spikes being removed. The sculpture was also fenced off. In October 2007 it was announced that Manchester City Council were taking legal action against the makers of the sculpture, with the aim of completing the necessary repairs to the sculpture.
In November 2008 an out of court settlement was reached between Manchester City Council, the project's designers Thomas Heatherwick Studio Ltd, and the engineering and construction subcontractors Packman Lucas Ltd, Flint and Neill Partnership and Westbury Structures Ltd to pay the council £1.7m in damages for breach of contract and negligence.
Acting on a report in January 2009, the city council recommended that B of the Bang should be dismantled, and that it would be put into storage.
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