World’s largest equine sculptures open to public

Atkins-engineered project hopes to draw 350,000 visitors a year to Scotland's central region

Two 300-tonne, 30-metre high horse heads engineered by Atkins have opened to the public in Scotland.

The Kelpies, part of the new 350 hectare Helix Park in Falkirk, are the biggest art installation in the country and the largest equine sculptures in the world. 

The sculptures form a dramatic entrance to the Forth and Clyde canal, which crosses central Scotland, and it is hoped they will draw 350,000 visitors to the area each year.

John Bullock, Atkins’ principal engineer, said: “The engineering of the Kelpies was extremely technical and involved a number of challenges. For example, the idea that visitors would be allowed inside the horse heads meant that we couldn’t engineer normal central support columns to counteract the force of wind that the Kelpies would be exposed to on an open site. Because of this we had to place vertical supports at the front and back of the horse heads close to the horse’s ‘skin’ so the visual of the internal structure for visitors wasn’t compromised.”

Atkins has been involved in the project since its beginning in 2008, having completed the initial feasibility study for Scottish Canals, a public corporation that is part of the Scottish government. The company worked with commissioned artist Andy Scott throughout, from providing feedback on his initial maquette designs to figuring out how best to achieve the horse skin appearance that he envisaged.

The Kelpies are based on mythological water horses which inhabit lochs and rivers in Scottish legend.