The Top 10 Biggest Construction Achievements In The World

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The Top 10 Biggest Construction Achievements In The World

2017 is set to be a big year for the construction industry. With the UK government infrastructure investment pipeline set to reach a massive £500 billion  and a Trump presidency promising massive construction plans in the US, 2017 will be an interesting year for the whole industry.

Every day, construction workers around the world are working on exciting new projects and in the last century alone, the world has seen many super-structures with impressive architecture, engineering and craftsmanship.

Here’s our list of the top 10 biggest construction achievements in the world… 

  1. The Burj Khalifa, Dubai

The Burj Khalifa is a mega-tall skyscraper in Dubai and is currently the tallest structure in the world, standing at 829.8 m, making it three times taller than the Eiffel Tower. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago,

The building was previously named The Burj Dubai, but due to economic struggles, the country had to turn to Abu Dhabi for help funding the completion. After lending their neighbour £15.5 Billion, it was agreed that Dubai would name the structure Burj Khalifa in honour of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.

The structure took 6 years to build and at the peak of construction there were 12,000 workers on the building per day and in total there were 3 deaths.

  1. Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, Japan

The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, connects the city of Kobe and Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture. It is the world’s longest suspension bridge, with its central span measuring 1,991m, made up of six lanes with a combined length of 3,911m. The Bridge was designed to resist both strong wind, 80m/sec, and earthquakes which are normal occurrences around the Pacific Ocean. Huge foundations had to be constructed in the deep sea of 60m and under the fast tidal current of 4.5m/sec. The structure also has to support the vertical force of 120,000t.

The structure cost £3 Billion and took 10 years to build.

3. Gotthard Base Tunnel

In 2016, after 17 years of development, the Gotthard Base Tunnel opened. Situated in the Swiss Alps, the tunnel is the longest and deepest of its kind at 35miles long and provides fast speed rail services to increase local transport capacity through the Alpine barrier.

To cut construction time in half, four access tunnels were built so that construction could start at four different sites simultaneously, with a fifth tunnel added later. 9 lives were lost during the construction of the tunnel and the project cost £8.3 billion.

  1. The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai

The Palm Jumeirah is an artificial archipelago in Dubai, created using land reclamation designed and developed by Helman Hurley Charvat Peacock/Architects, Inc. The Crescent of Palm Jumeirah stands a little more than 13 feet above low tide sea level and sits in 34 feet of water at its deepest point. Although five workers were swept away­ by a wave and one drowned, the designers at Nakheel believe the palm island is safe and protected from average gulf weather and storms. The  palm is home to 120,000 residents and includes some of the worlds largest super-hotels. The cost of the palm construction was around £10 billion.

5. The Great Wall Of China, China