From March to June 2010, the largest and the most judicious restoration work in the history of Christ the Redeemer statue took place. As happened during the renovations of 1980 and 1990, visitors were slightly disappointed to see the famous Rio de Janeiro icon surrounded by scaffolding.
The greatest concern, however, was bringing the 70 tons of equipment to the top of Corcovado, with the heaviest pieces of equipment being the tube scaffoldings themselves. The scaffolding was passed from worker to worker by hand, up from the parking lot to the statue 200 metres (656 feet) farther up. Over 160 staff were employed on the job, including construction, cleaning, and restoration workers as well as engineers, architects, researchers, and assistants.
The restoration was divided into three parts. The first step was to map out all the cracks and damages on the Christ statue that had occurred as a result of lightning strikes. The second step was to steam wash the entire statue.
The final stage was to replace the soap stones, which came from Minas Gerais State, the same region that the original soap stones came from at the construction, and modeled by the same company that originally cut them. The internal structure of the statue was still intact, proving that the engineering calculations were correct in the 1920s.
One of the most important parts to be restored was a hole in the Christ statue’s head that allowed rainwater to get into the monument. Edges of the fingers were also missing, as well as parts of the eyebrow. These edges suffered the greatest damage from lightning strikes.
The restoration was organized by the Rio de Janeiro diocese and cost R$7 million (roughly US$4 million), sponsored by Brazilian company Vale, the world’s largest iron ore producer. Kärcher, a German-company with a branch in Brazil and a world-wide leader in cleaning big monuments, has been in charge of cleaning the statue in the last decades.
For further historic information as well as facts, curiosities and practical tips on visiting the statue get a copy of the e-book (in PDF format) Christ the Redeemer Statue – A Comprehensive Guidebook to Visiting the Rio de Janeiro Landmark atop Corcovado Mountain.
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