Britain’s tallest and most structurally daring sculpture was unveiled this week in Manchester.

The opening of the 56 m high, £1.42m “B of the Bang” went ahead on Wednesday despite one of the sculpture’s 180 spikes falling off last week.

The sculptor, Thomas Heatherwick, named his creation after the phrase used by sprinter Linford Christie to describe the precise instant when he burst off his starting block. By evoking a starburst frozen in time and space, the dynamic sculpture, which stands as high as the adjacent City of Manchester stadium, is intended to symbolise the regeneration of east Manchester.

Investigations into the faulty spike revealed this was caused by a defective weld affecting the tip of 53 of the sculpture’s 180 spikes.

Project manager Nader Mokhtari said the faulty welds were being replaced. He said:

“We have started fixing the rest of the spikes and the work should be finished by Thursday.” He added that the engineers’ original calculations were being checked against the finished sculpture because of the stresses induced by its unusual shape.

The 180-tonne composition is made up of steel spikes up to 35 m long exploding out of a central core. The steel explosion is made even more dynamic by leaning it at an angle of 30°.