Call for explanation of Quantum Leap £1m costs

A Shropshire builder has called for a fuller explanation to be provided on what went wrong with the controversial Quantum Leap sculpture in Shrewsbury.

The project was delayed due to issues with the alignment of the ribs on the sculpture and Shropshire Council has now been landed with a £525,000 bill for the extra costs of the project, taking the final bill for the sculpture over the £1 million mark.

Martin Johnson, owner of Heritage Oak Builders in Aston Rogers, near Shrewsbury, said he hoped either the council or Alun Griffiths Contractors, who carried out the work, would provide the public with more detail on precisely what went wrong during the construction process.

"I actually quite like it and it definitely has a place in Shrewsbury." said Mr Johnson.

"It's a good thing for the town at £200,000 to £300,000 maybe. But when it gets to a million, that's wrong."

"I feel it hasn't been explained at all what went wrong. I would like someone from the council or the contractors to explain their case.

"So far, it has not been explained at all."

Last week, Shropshire Council issued a statement saying that the project had been "incredibly complex" due to the structure being a nine metre arch at its highest point with no straight lines or right angles.

A spokesman said: "During the summer of 2009, problems occurred on the alignment of the ribs which did not follow the correct trajectory to complete the arch and this had to be corrected.

"This caused a delay to the overall project which resulted in additional costs being incurred."

Mr Johnson said that he had been involved in a number of complex projects in his job and was surprised the Quantum Leap sculpture had gone so wrong.

"Whatever the architect designed, it would have set off from one point, gone through a complex loop and landed at another point," he added.

He said he had seen some of the construction process on the sculpture and saw the contractors making use of equipment that should have given them accurate measurements while putting the structure in place.