Engineering Projects Works
Exploring the 10 biggest engineering projects in the world is a stu dy in enormous ideas ranging from transportation solutions to an oasis paradise in a once-barren desert. Some of these projects will take you to subzero temperatures, and others will transport you miles above t he Earth. What they all have in common — in addition to their gigantic scope and size — are hefty price tags. And while some have yet to come to fruition (and others have been nixed on the drawing table), ea ch of these projects will leave you in awe of what we're capable of w hen equipped with some tools and sheer ingenuity.
E ngineering Projects Works
Engineering Projects Porks International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest manned object ever sent into space [source: Houston Public Television]. Picture two Boeing 747 airplanes next to each other, and that will give you an idea of the I SS's living and working area — 43,000 cubic feet (1,217.6 cubic meters) to be exact. In fact, it's such a large project that it will soon be visible to the naked eye from 90 percent of the Earth's surface.
Sixteen nations, numer ous corporations and 100,000 people have collaborated to pull off this stellar project. The most expensive s ingle object and the largest space station ever built, the International Space Station has already cost the Unit ed States alone $100 billion, an amount roughly equivalent to the price tag for all Apollo missions to the moo n combined
Engineering Project s Works
Engineerin g Projects Works
Three Gorge s Dam
Some say the Thr ee Gorges Dam was China's largest engineering project since the Great Wall. The dam stretches nearly a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) high and spans a mile and a half (2.4 kilometers) wide, creating a reservoir big eno ugh to bring massive cargo ships 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) inland. A team of 20,000 workers schedul ed in round-the-clock shifts constructed the Three Gorges Dam, which was completed in 2009. More tha n 1.5 million people relocated to make way for the construction of the dam, and 100 towns were leveled in the process. The dam's turbines were designed to generate nearly 10 percent of China's electricity supp ly. After the dam's completion, China continues with its post-construction plan, which includes eco-managem ent and helping people get settled after relocation.
Engineering P rojects Works
Engine ering Projects Works
Big Dig
Boston's Big Dig, one of the most
complicated engineering projects in the world and the most expensive
public works project i n the United States, finally opened in 2003, five
years behind schedule and 30 years in the making. With an o riginal price
tag of around $4 billion (figure adjusted for inflation), the Big Dig
ended up costing more than $1 4 billion. Workers constructed the Big Dig
while traffic roared overhead on Boston's main highway, Inters tate 93.
Giant boring machines pushed prefabricated tunnel sections below frozen
earth and beneath existing underground train lines. Rearranging
centuries-old gas, water, electric, phone and cable lines further
complic ated building a new tunnel with as many as four highway lanes in
each direction. The project also include d a tunnel to Logan Airport as
well as a cable-stayed bridge to replace the double-decker truss bridge
over the Charles River.
Admirers hail it as an architectural
wonder. Ultimately, the project demolished the city's main traffic
artery that for years split city down the middle, and it created a new
landscape that will one day be teeming with parks and green s pace.
Some projects ar e doomed to fail before they even begin.
Engineering Proj ects Works
Engineer ing Projects Works
Yucca Mou ntain Nuclear Waste Repository
There are mor e than 121 sites in the
United States where nuclear waste is currently being stored. While some
say dist urbing this waste is too dangerous, others advocate for moving
it to a centralized repository. And thus, the idea for the Yucca
Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository was born.
Although it h asn't stored one iota of
nuclear waste yet — and may never do so — the Yucca Mountain Nuclear
Wa ste Repository has already cost $9 million. The proposed storage site
for all of the radioactive waste prod uced in U.S. nuclear power plants
is a giant tunnel bored into the side of a mountain some 80 miles (128 .7
kilometers) from Las Vegas. The United States has already spent $58
million planning its waste storage pr oject.
But the Y ucca Mountain project has
been caught in legal and political limbo for years, and in February
2010, it died o n the drawing table. The Department of Energy announced
it would be withdrawing its application for a lic ense to use the Nevada
site, and the Obama administration vowed to redirect funding away from
the project
Engineering Projects Work s
Engineering Pr ojects Works
Dubai Canal
In terms of engineering, m ost things
having to do with Dubai are spectacular, and the Arabian Canal is no
exception. Some sources claim it will be the world's longest man-made
canal, measuring 46.6 miles (75 kilometers) long. Also kn own as the
Dubai Canal, this waterway brings water inland to the vast desert from
the Arabian Gulf. The el aborate plan includes creating a desert oasis
along the entire stretch of the canal.
In terms of engineering, most things
having to do with Dubai are spectacular, and the Arabian Canal is no
exception. Some sourc es claim it will be the world's longest man-made
canal, measuring 46.6 miles (75 kilometers) long. Also known as the
Dubai Canal, this waterway brings water inland to the vast desert from
the Arabian Gulf. The elaborate plan includes creating a desert oasis
along the entire stretch of the canal.
Engineering Projects Works
Engineering Projects Works
Panama Canal
Some have called the Panama Canal the
eight h wonder of the world. When it was originally built, the project
entailed removing enough dirt to fill a tunnel 1 4 feet (4.3 meters) wide
through the center of the Earth.
In 1914, the Panama Canal changed the
wor ld by opening up trade routes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
Ocean. This shortcut through the Isthmus of Panama, only 50 miles (80.5
kilometers) at its widest point, sped up the time it took for cargo to
g et from New York City to San Francisco. The canal reduced travel time
for some ships from 60 to 30 days, and it shortened 13,000-mile
(20,921.5-kilometer) trips that required sailing around South America to
5, 000-mile (8,046.7-kilometer) journeys that passed through Panama.
Now, construction has started on a
new an d improved Panama Canal, widening the waterway nearly double its
original size.
Engineering Projects Works
Engineering Projects Works
Pathway Through the Bering Strait
For more than a century, visionaries
have dreamed of a bridge or tunnel that connects Europe with North
America. World War I foiled Czar Nicholas II's master plan for tunneling
under the Bering Strait, but the project has regained momentum. One
idea calls for a 64-mile (102.9-kilometer) tunnel running under the
Bering Strait, with a price tag of $200 billion. Why a tunnel? The
frigid temperatures in the area limit travel by bridge to only five
months of the year, while a tunnel offers year-round passage. However,
these severe weather conditions would also limit construction — work on
the tunnel would only be possible four months out of the year.
Other proposals for tackling a
pathway through the Bering Strait include the Trans-Global Highway,
which would consist of a series of roads, tunnels and railways that
connect all continents except Australia.
Engineering Projects Works
Engineering Projects Works
Transatlantic Train
So, you want to have lunch in New
York City and be back at the London office in about an hour? The
Transatlantic Train can make it happen. A submerged oceanic tunnel
housing a supersonic train capable of speeds of up to 4,000 miles
(6,437.4 kilometers) per hour can scurry passengers from the Big Apple
to Big Ben in just 54 minutes. At depths of 150 to 300 feet (45.7 meters
to 91.4 meters) and anchored to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, trains
will glide through this neutrally bouyant vacuum tunnel in a magnetic
field, ensuring passengers a smooth ride. Some estimates peg the project
at a cost ranging from $88 billion to $175 billion — that's about $25
million to $50 million per mile (1.6 km)
Engineering Projects Works
Engineering Projects Works
New York Subway System
Each weekday, commuters tally more
than 5.2 million rides on the New York subway system, for a combined
total of 1.6 billion trips annually. Today, the underground rail network
operates nearly 6,500 cars on more than 700 miles (1,126.5 kilometers)
of track; it's the largest subway system in the United States. As of
2007, it was ranked the fourth-largest subway system in the world. Laid
end to end, New York City Transit train tracks would stretch from New
York City to Chicago [source: MTA]. The first line of New York's subway
opened on Oct. 27, 1904, and now its 26 lines and 468 stations offer
service throughout the city's five boroughs. The transit system, which
is owned by the City of New York and leased to a subsidiary of the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, operates 24 hours a day, 365 days
a year.
Engineering Projects Works
