B of the Bang contractors sued by Manchester council

Manchester City Council is gearing up for a £2m legal battle with some of the contractors who built Manchester’s B of the Bang sculpture.

It wants compensation after it spent more than £300,000 fixing the £1.42m sculpture, which has been beset by engineering problems.

Built to commemorate the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the sculpture had to have nine of its distinctive steel spikes removed after one of them fell off in 2006.

Manchester City Council has taken action against designers Thomas Heatherwick Studio, subcontractors Packman Lucas, Flint and Neil Partnership, and Westbury Structures, alleging breach of contract and negligence.

The hearing is slated for the High Court on 24 November and is expected to run for 16 days.

The council says if its lawsuit is successful, it will use the money to repair the structure.

The sculpture ran into its first spot of trouble days before its official unveiling in 2005 when a spike fell off, prompting the precautionary closure of a nearby slip road.

Since then, one spike has been stolen by thieves and another – supposed to be able to withstand strong winds – was seen swaying in the breeze.

It remains fenced off.

Image courtsey of Dullhunk on Flickr.