 THE giant Mersey Wave structure is to reopen in south Liverpool this spring. The installation - the first sculpture in the UK specifically designed to be viewed from a moving car - will be re--erected on Speke Boulevard after modifications were made to its design. The £700,000 flagship piece of public art, which features 12 individual fins, was taken down early last year after it was discovered that in certain wind conditions the fins moved in a way that could have distracted passing motorists. This problem has now been resolved by the creation of a lattice structure at the top of each fin that allows the wind to pass through the feature. Spanning the dual carriageway, the Mersey Wave is 200ft long and 100ft high - the same size as seven double-decker buses. It is 30ft taller than the famous Angel of the North at Gateshead, and at night its blue lights are visible up to a mile away. Andy Stevenson, civil engineering regional director with the Liverpool Land Development Company - which was behind the Wave's creation - said:: "The unexpected movement of the Mersey Wave, which was irregular and occurred only occasionally, was caused by the slender nature of the structure and its triangular shape. "We have tackled this by changing the design of the structure so that the wind can pass through the open lattice rather than striking the previously impervious fins." He added that, although the need for the redesign was a disappointment, technical problems did sometimes occur in building innovative one-off structures such as the Wave. Balfour Beatty, the main contractor responsible for the design, manufacture and installation of the gateway feature, and for the remediation work, stressed that extensive computer modelling and wind tunnel testing had been undertaken to ensure that the new design could withstand all types of weather conditions. The Wave was originally installed in November 2003 and was designed to celebrate the regeneration of south Liverpool in recent years. It originally took six months to build and was installed using a massive 120-tonne crane. The wave effect was created by setting the giant fins - each one weighing 3.5 tonnes - at different angles from the vertical. The feature was designed by the Czech-born lighting artist Peter Fink in collaboration with urban designer Igor Marko, both of Art2Architecture. Liverpool Land Development Company chief executive David Waugh said: "We are delighted that the Wave is now set to be re-erected on Speke Boulevard and feel sure that the sculpture will receive the same warm reception from all quarters as it did originally." The feature is part of a wider public arts scheme in the area which has involved sculptures being installed on four local roundabouts. Taking flight as their theme, these are also lit at night and act as directional markers in the area. alanweston@dailypost.co.uk | 
News RSS Feed