Quantum Leap: Shrewsbury's £1 million 'Slinky' needs more repair work

Shropshire Council says it is currently investigating the cost of repairs to the sculpture, more commonly known as "The Slinky", at Smithfield Road, Shrewsbury, following the discovery of more damage.

Clive Wright, council chief executive, said: "We have had it surveyed and there are bits that are falling off the surface.

"The render on it is failing in places and we are working to find the perfect match for that render so it can be repaired."

The council has said it will check the warranty for the sculpture to see if the cost of the repairs will fall on the taxpayer.

It has also been revealed that the council cannot simply apply new render to the damaged areas because its appearance would not match that originally chosen by the artist.

As a consequence it is in discussions with the original supplier in an attempt to obtain an exact match.

Tim Sneddon, Shropshire Council's operations manager – highways, transport and environmental maintenance, said: "We're intending to replace the sculpture's fairing coat – the top layer of material. The mixture for the coat was originally chosen to have a pinkish hue and flecks of mica.

"It would be difficult to reproduce this appearance using local sources, and not using an exact match could detract from the appearance of the sculpture. For this reason we're having to approach the initial supplier of the mixture, to see if they can reproduce an identical match. We're currently waiting to hear back from them."

Council leader Malcolm Pate said it had been a mistake to commission the artwork.

He said: "It should never have been built in the first place. That money could have been used far more appropriately."

The latest repairs come after damage to the sculpture was discovered in December last year.

At that point Chris Edwards, the council's area commissioner, said: "An area of fairing has weathered away down to concrete render to the left face of the left abutment of Quantum Leap, on the Smithfield Road side. Similar weathering is becoming apparent to the riverside abutment.

"Planned maintenance is due to take place shortly, to rectify the situation and to reapply the missing fairing coat, together with a number of other minor maintenance items."

The sculpture was commissioned to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Shrewsbury's most famous son, Charles Darwin, in 2009.

Made from cast stone, standing at 12 metres high and 17.5 metres long, it weighs in at more than 100 tonnes.

The project was beset by problems and ended up costing more than £1 million, despite initial projections which indicated that the bill would be £600,000.

In summer 2009 the 31 stone 'ribs' – each weighing three tonnes – had to be realigned to complete the arch, leading to an increase in costs.

Shropshire Council took the construction firm which built the sculpture to an independent adjudicator after a dispute over the bill for the alterations. As a result the authority was ordered to pay an extra £410,000 to the contractor.