Over the centuries, civil engineers have created numerous structures that have gained notoriety for their design, beauty, or simply how difficult it was to construct them. Here are some of the greatest modern achievements:
1. Falkirk Wheel
Location: Scotland
Year Built: 2002
The Falkirk Wheel is the world's first and only rotating boat lift. It serves to connect two canals—the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Union Canal—which sit at different elevations. Boats sail into the Falkirk Wheel and, as the wheel rotates, are lifted or lowered 82 feet and deposited into one of the two canals. The Falkirk Wheel is an ingenious solution to the problem of terrain elevation between waterways when traditional locks are not feasible.
Image courtesy of Contemporist.com
2. Three Gorges Dam
Location: China
Year Built: 2009
The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. Stretching more than a mile across the Yangtze River and rising 600 feet above the floor of the valley below, it is truly an awe inspiring feat of engineering prowess. However, many critics believe it will turn out to be an environmental disaster.
Image courtesy of BlogtheBest.com
3. The Big Dig
Location: Boston, Mass.
Year Built: 2006
Quite possibly the largest public works project in world history, the Big Dig replaced a deteriorating six-lane elevated highway with an eight- to 10-lane underground highway in downtown Boston. The project also included two new bridges over the Charles River, extended I-90 to the Logan International Airport, and reconnected downtown Boston to the waterfront. Funding for the project was established in 1987, but completion wasn't reached until 2006. Despite the fact that it took far longer and was much more expensive than predicted, it is nonetheless an incredible engineering marvel.
Image courtesy of Massachusetts Department of Transportation
4. The Millau Viaduct
Location: France
Year Built: 2004
The Millau Viaduct in France is the tallest cable-stayed bridge in Europe, reaching 1,125 feet at its highest point, which is slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower. As the final link in the A75 expressway from Paris to Barcelona, the Millau Viaduct, spanning a 1.2-mile valley in the Mastiff Central mountain range, has established a new standard in bridging technology. Construction on the project took three years and involved nearly 500 workers.
Image courtesy of RoadTraffic-Technology.com
5. Channel Tunnel
Location: UK and France
Year Built: 1994
The Channel Tunnel, also known as the Chunnel, links the United Kingdom and France by spanning the 32 miles of the English Channel … underground. Reaching a depth of 246 feet at its lowest point, the Channel Tunnel possesses the longest portion (24 miles) of undersea tunnel in the world. Construction began in 1988 and was completed in 1994 at a cost of $21 billion.
Image courtesy of BoGoBoo
6. Panama Canal
Location: Panama
Year Built: 1914
Despite the fact that it has been around for nearly a century, the Panama Canal continues to inspire curiosity. Linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at the narrowest point on the North American continent, the canal stretches for 50 miles and contains twelve locks, six in each direction. The locks serve as water lifts, raising and lowering ships. One little known fact: commercial transportation through the Panama Canal account for about 5 percent of the world trade.
Image courtesy of Panama Canal Authority
7. Delta Works
Location: Netherlands
Year Built: 1997
Built to protect the lowest-lying areas of the Netherlands from flooding, the Delta Works consist of several lines of gates, sluices, dikes, storm surge barriers, and dams. These works can be adjusted to allow the natural ebb and flow of the sea, or to protect the low-lying communities from catastrophic flooding.
Image courtesy of 7Wonders.org
8. Rion-Antirion Bridge
Location: Greece
Year Built: 2004
The Rion-Antirion Bridge spans the Gulf of Corinth from Rion in southern Greece to Antirion on the Greek mainland. Its suspended deck is 7,388 feet long—a length that at one time made it the world's longest cable-stayed deck in the world. It took seven years to build and a number of engineering feats were achieved during the construction, including the installation of piers on gravel beds (instead of buried into the seabed) so they can move during an earthquake.
Image courtesy of RoadTraffic-Technology.com
9. Venice Tide Barrier
Location: Venice, Italy
Anticipated Completion: 2014
In 2008, nearly two meters of sea water partially submerged a portion of Venice, Italy. In response, the Italian government is building a line of 78 protective steel barriers that will rise from the seafloor whenever high tides threaten to flood the city. The construction of giant swinging barriers may not sound too impressive, but the fact that they are being constructed on the floor of the Adriatic Sea is an engineering marvel.
Image courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk
10. Toshka Project
Location: Egypt
Anticipated Completion: 2017
The Toshka Project was born out of the need for more arable land in Egypt. There are two key elements of the Toshka Project: the Mubarak Pumping Station (which opened in 2005), and the Sheikh Zayed Canal. The goal of the project is to reclaim 500,000 acres of desert for irrigation. Since coming into service, the station has pumped more than 14 million cubic meters of water out of Lake Nasser. When the project is completed, there will be 72 kilometers of canals into which the water will be pumped. The total anticipated cost of the project is around $70 billion.
Image courtesy of Water-Technology.net
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