Vadodara: Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel will on Tuesday inaugurate 'Statue of Unity' foundation raft concrete work.
'Statue of Unity', is a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The engineering team working on the project has completed levelling the hillock 'Sadhu Bet', located around 3 kms from the Sardar Sarovar dam across Narmada river in Narmada district, P C Vyas, chief engineer of the project told PTI.
The hillock is flattened to 60 meters for foundation raft concrete work, he added.
"The RAFT work at the foundation site of the statue will be completed in next 7 days by working round the clock. The safe bearing capacity for raft foundation for the proposed monument is 2,300 KPA," Vyas said.
The work order for the project was issued by the state government in October last year to leading engineering firm Larsen and Toubro (L&T).
"This construction work will be completed on June 3, 2018 at an estimated cost of Rs 2,979 crore. Rs 1,347 crore will be spent on the main statue, Rs 235 crore will be spent on the exhibition hall and convention centre while Rs 83 crore will be spent on the bridge connecting the memorial to the main land and Rs 657 crore would be spent to maintain the structure until 15 years after it is completed," Patel had said while awarding the contract to L&T.
The statue will be taller than the 'Statue of Unity' in New York.
"The project includes an exhibition hall and audio-visual presentation on the life of Sardar Patel, which will become the centre of attraction for tourists from across the globe," SS Rathore, Chairman and Managing Director of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) told PTI.
"75,000 cubic metres of concrete, 5,700 metric tonne of steel structure, 18,500 steel rods and 22,500 metric tonne of bronze will be used for this project. The project is expected to generate employment in the tribal area of Narmada district as well as boost the tourism sector," Rathore added.
