engineering projects works

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