foundation for a bronze statue

huangyhg

foundation for a bronze statue
a client purchased a large bronze statue and needs a foundation.  unfortunately, the sculptor provided no means of anchoring the statue to a base and will not help in any way.  i can design the footing easy enough, but anchoring the statue to the footing is puzzling.  the statue is hollow.  i can cut holes in the statue, place vertical dowels in the statue, grout bars into the hollow voids and then braze bronze plates to cover the holes.  i am concerned about damaging the statue during the hole cutting and brazing process.  also, concerned that the grouted voids will not provide the stability needed.  this is a first for me.  anyone do this type of thing before?  any recommendations?
check out our whitepaper library.
can you weld some kind of bronze dowels to the bottom and epoxy them into the footing?
that might be an option.  the contractor is trying to find a person experienced in brazing bronze.  when/if he does, we will talk to that person about options like that one.
does the statue need to resist uplift? i would assume you're just worried about lateral loads correct?
eit with bs in civil/structural engineering.
if this statue is of a person, you could always cast the statue up to the knees in concrete and claim the mafia did it.
mike mccann
mmc engineering
there will be uplift due to the lateral loads and due to someone hanging off the front of the statue.
yea, but again, you can blame that on the mafia.
mike mccann
mmc engineering
the contractor suggested burying the statue in concrete and saying it's stuck in the mud.  lol.  maybe you all are on to something there.
another question, how big is a large bronze statue? are we talking like a 6' tall, few hundred pound statue?
eit with bs in civil/structural engineering.
i have seen 1-1/2" diameter stainless steel dowels welded into the base of bronze sculptures. there is a specific process for welding the stainless steel to bronze, a welding specialist should be able to provide this information. there may need to be an internal network of stiffeners added to the sculpture to adequately support the dowels. welding bronze to bronze should not be a problem, it's done all the time. using templates of the dowel locations, holes can be drilled into the concrete base, checked to ensure alignment, cleaned and then filled with epoxy. as you set the sculpture down onto the footing, i find setting the sculpture down on a bed of thin grout helps improve full contact between the base of the sculpture and the top of the concrete footing. be aware that using this method makes removal of the sculpture for relocation and/or maintenance very difficult.
the statue is approximately 12 feet tall and is a horse rearing on its hind legs.