L&T-built Statue of Unity features in World Architecture News Awards 2019

The world's tallest, the Statue of Unity in Gujarat -- constructed by Larsen and Toubro in a record time of 33 months -- has been featured in the 2019 World Architecture News Awards, the company said Tuesday.

The prestigious and internationally acclaimed award showcases the best international design in both current and future projects.

"This is a significant and deserving recognition of India's engineering skills and project management prowess," said S N Subrahmanyan, CEO and Managing Director, L&T.

"The Statue of Unity was by far one of the most complex and challenging assignments we have executed and being featured along with several other global engineering marvels is a truly remarkable achievement not only for all of us at L&T but for our entire nation as well," he said.

It has been placed in the 'mixed use category' in the 2019 World Architecture News Awards.

At 182 metres (597 feet), the Statue of Unity towers above all other similar structures in the world, a memorial to contribution of Sardar Vallahbhai Patel in India's freedom struggle and the stellar role he played in unifying the country into a nation.

As much as 6,500 tonnes of structural steel, 18,500 tonnes of reinforced steel, 210,000 cum concrete and 1,700 tonnes of bronze cladding went into its making, the company said adding that is a tribute to the effort of an army of over 4,500 designers, architects, global consultants, engineers and workmen from across the country.

"The Statue of Unity is not only a triumph of teamwork but also that of digitalization," remarked M V Satish, Senior Executive Vice President (Buildings, Minerals & Metals) L&T.