Monday Exposure: The Kelpies

The Kelpies were unveiled in April 2014 in Falkirk, Scotland. The statues bestride an intersection of the Forth & Clyde canal with a new canal extension reaching to the River Forth.

                    1          year of fabrication and assembly

                    2          Kelpie heads

                    8          years of planning by the artist

                    9          number of the motorway, the M9, which runs past the Kelpies

                  30          welder fabricators who assembled the internal structures

                  32          meters down for the piles into bedrock

                  90          days of assembly on-site

                  98          feet high

                300          weight of each Kelpie in tonnes (i.e., 661,286 pounds)

                990          unique stainless steel skin plates

             1,200          tons for the foundations

           18,000          components for each Kelpie

         350,000          expected visitors per year

      5,000,000          pounds sterling for total cost of design and construction

A "kelpie" is a mythical creature residing in Scottish lochs, often taking the shape of a horse. These kelpies are modeled on Clydesdales.

Created by Glaswegian artist Andy Scott, the statues are the largest art installation in Scotland and the largest equine statues in the world.