Standing 13.1 metres high and stretching 12 metres long, the Dalahästen in Avesta weighs 66.7 tonnes. It was built using a load-bearing steel frame covered in an epoxy-painted shell of steel-fiber-reinforced sprayed concrete. The construction was inaugurated on 13 December 1989.
The horse was unveiled to mark the opening of the nearby Dalahästen shopping centre. At the time, it surpassed the previous record-holder in Mora, Minnesota, to become the largest Dalahäst in the world. By 1997, reports surfaced of cracks in the concrete, and the structure was painted again.
By 2017, the condition had deteriorated significantly. A technical investigation revealed that the horse was poorly constructed, with the concrete needing to be replaced. The municipality eventually stepped in to renovate and repaint the statue in 2019. They purchased the construction and 300 square metres of surrounding land from the previous owner for a symbolic sum of one krona.
Today, the site functions as a public park. The area around the horse has been upgraded with paving, lighting, and seating. A beam nearby marks the world pole vault record of Armand Duplantis, which is raised every time he breaks his own mark.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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