27.10.2011

Balls on the Falls

Belfast’s and possibly Northern Ireland's largest sculpture, the Rise, has been completed thanks to the extensive use of aerial lifts and cranes.

The 37.5 metre high by 30 metre wide sculpture was designed by Wolfgang Buttress and originally conceived in 2009, but finally built this year with the installation completed a few weeks ago.
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The assembly of the 2,400 tubes begins

The iconic structure is known locally as the ‘Balls on the Falls’ due to it being made up of two spheres and located close to the well known Falls Road on the old Broadway Roundabout -one of the main gateways to the city.
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Up she goes

The Belfast Rise, as it is officially known, comprises two globes, "cast in white steel, to symbolise the rising of the sun and new hope for Belfast's future. It is intended to bring a new focus to the area, projecting a vibrant, confident image of the city"- so says Belfast's city council which spent almost £500,000 on the structure.
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Several different boom lifts were used on the job

The huge sculpture is made from 2,400 powder coated mild steel tubes fabricated by local steel company M Hasson and Sons of Rasharkin. The assembly and erection was an amazingly complex job and made possible thanks to a number of boom lifts from Belfast based Highway Plant assisted by cranes from Beattie Crane hire of Lisburn, Co Antrim which has a depot in Belfast.
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Beattie Crane Hire supplied a variety of differnt cranes for the job

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If there were 2,400 tubes imagine the number of bolts!

The best way to see how this structure was assembled – which is quite ingenious – is to view the time lapse video: Click here to see the video
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The finished product

Being at the junction of the Westlink and M1 motorway the Rise is visible for miles around the city as well as by the 500,000 cars a week that drive by.