Huge rotor blade artwork installed in Hull for City of Culture 2017 Published duration 8 January 2017

media caption A 250ft-long rotor blade forming a major new art installation is lifted into position.

A 250ft-long (75m) rotor blade forming a new art installation has been lifted into position in Hull.

"The Blade" is the first in a series of temporary commissions marking Hull's year as UK City of Culture.

The 28-tonne structure will remain on display in Queen Victoria Square until 18 March.

The artwork was transported from the Siemens factory on Alexandra Dock, where it was made, through the city overnight in a complex operation.

More than 50 items of street furniture had to be removed to allow it to reach the square.

It arrived on Sunday morning and large crowds gathered to watch it slowly lifted into its final position by late-afternoon.

image caption Large numbers of people gathered to watch the blade being lifted into place

image copyright Hull City of Culture image caption It runs across the whole length of the square, rising to 16ft (5m) at one end allowing traffic to pass beneath it

Project director Richard Bickers said it had been a demanding effort.

"Blade is not only a dramatic artistic installation, but in terms of its transportation and exhibition, a significant engineering feat.

"A major challenge we encountered was manoeuvring the structure through Hull's narrow city centre streets."

The artwork has been designed by Nayan Kulkarni who said he was impressed by the smooth operation to install it.

"They did a study, they did a drawing, they planned the route meticulously.

"The drawings looked difficult, the movements through the city were graceful, I mean it looked effortless."

image caption The huge structure was made by workers at Siemens' new Alexandra Dock factory

image copyright Hull City of Culture image caption It was transported from the factory to the city centre overnight

image copyright PA image caption More than 50 items of street furniture, including traffic lights and lamp posts, had to be temporarily removed

B75 rotor blades - which would normally form the top of a wind turbine - are the world's largest handmade fibreglass components to be cast as a single object, organisers said.

Martin Green, CEO and director Hull 2017, said: "It's a structure we would normally expect out at sea and in a way it might remind you of a giant sea creature, which seems appropriate with Hull's maritime history.

"It's a magnificent start to our Look Up programme, which will see artists creating site specific work throughout 2017 for locations around the city."