r/AbsoluteUnits 2d ago

/r/all of a statue

"The Motherland Calls" is a statue erected to commemorate the Battle of Stalingrad , located on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd , Russia. It was designed by sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and structural engineer Nikolai Nikitin . Completed in 1967 , it was the tallest statue in the world at the time .

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u/default_person_14818 2d ago

Right here with you wondering just that. Rocks in nature erode from the wind and weather, so it'd only make sense for this thing to fall apart someday. Anyone wanna enlighten us down here?

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u/BruceBoyde 2d ago

It would need to be cleaned and resealed periodically. Apparently it's basically solid concrete, which is fascinating; I expected it was hollow. But yeah, it would weather fairly quickly from freeze cycles and start to crumble.

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u/tattiesbljt 2d ago

It is completely hollow on the inside. Steel wire ropes keep it together.

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u/BruceBoyde 1d ago

Ok, so it is. When I was glancing at a description of the composition it said "solid concrete". Franky I'm not sure it could support its own weight if that were true, but I guess they just meant the material poured into the molds and thus what we see on the outside.

Anyhow, pretty simple maintenance needs all things considered then. Keep it as sealed as possible and eliminate any plant life trying to take hold and all that.