Film documents complex statue repair

The Christchurch City Council has just released a short documentary showing the repair of the Scott statue.

The statue honours the life of polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott and commemorates those who lost their lives with him on the return journey from the South Pole in 1912.

It had stood on a plinth in Oxford Terrace for nearly 100 years when it was toppled by the Christchurch 2011 earthquake. The marble statue, carved by Scott’s widow Kathleen Scott, broke at the ankles as it hit the ground.

The break, at the weakest point of the statue, was technically difficult to repair. The project team researched various repair methods before devising an innovative technique that had never been used anywhere in the world to repair a broken statue.

Carbon fibre rods were inserted in the legs and carbon fibre tow (thread) inserted to add strength, giving the statue more resilience in the event of any future earthquakes.

The documentary, created by Mahi Pai Media for the Christchurch City Council, covers the period from January 2017, when the statue was removed from the Quake City exhibition, to the unveiling on 6 October, 2017, just in time for the opening of the 2017/18 Antarctic season.