The B of the Bang was always an ambitious engineering project. Standing 184ft (56m) tall, it was the same height as the Leaning Tower of Pisa and, weighing 180 tonnes, bigger and grander than the Angel of the North in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
But cost spiraled Costs began to spiral, from £750,000 to £1.42 million, at an early stage. Only two weeks after Christie unveiled the work in January 2005, parts of the sculpture, which swayed alarmingly in the wind, began to fall off and more spikes had to be removed. The cost rose by a further £300,000.
Manchester City Council closed the road amid concerns that a passer-by could be injured by a falling spike. Residents renamed the structure Ker-Plunk after the 1967 children’s game.
