We’re into 2017 – witnessing the pace of development and the amazed by how things are taking a turn. While we’re busy counting the joys and the sorrows of our own lives, the beautiful change that the world of construction has taken leaves us mesmerized, wanting for more - skyscrapers are reaching for new record heights, huge tunnels are establishing new transportation connections, and colossal bridges are spanning greater distances than ever before. We’re into 2017 and we just can’t stop talking about these 5 most impressive mega projects around the world.
Port Mann Bridge, Vancouver, B.C.
Time to build: 6 years
Cost to build: Approx. $1.93 billion
The widest bridge in the world (until the Bay Bridge's east span recently opened), the bridge east of Vancouver, B.C., which opened in 2012, remains the second-longest bridge in North America. This cable-stay bridge uses an impressive 288 cables to reach a total bridge length of 6,866 feet – impressing us even more with its magnificent number game.
Three Gorges Dam, China
Time to build: 17 years
Cost to build: $2 billion
On its march to be the world’s largest dam, the dam is consuming unimaginable amounts if concrete. Standing on China's Yangtze River, this 17-year, $59 billion project measures 595 feet tall, 131 feet wide, and more than 7,600 feet long, with 32 main turbines producing electricity – mesmerizing us in every little way.
Aizhai Suspension Bridge, China
Time to build: 5 years
Cost to build: $600 million
Another one of the world's best construction sites is China’s highest bridge, connecting two tunnels in China, making it the world's longest suspension bridges. Opened in 2012, the bridge sits 1,200 feet over the Dehang Canyon and spans a tower-to-tower distance of 3,858 feet. The mountains on either side anchor the suspension towers. Not just anything usual, the bridge has the kind of architecture that leaves the onlookers amazed and flabbergasted.
Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia
Time to build: 10 years
Cost to build: $11 billion
The unending development of a city built from the sand up starting in the 1970s required plenty of logistical scheduling. The new project here, located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, is undergoing an $11 billion extension to modernize all things industrial. The four-phase project over nearly eight square miles comprises of eight blocks of industrial plants, four blocks of petrochemical industry, three blocks of support industries and four blocks of aluminum and other smelting plants. The best of the project is that it doesn't even include removing hills, building tunnels, expanding fiberoptics, building highways and using seawater for daily cooling.
Atlanta Falcons Stadium, Atlanta
Time to build: 3 years
Cost to build: $1.2 billion
The belief is that any new football stadium is probably going to get a retractable roof. This $1.2 billion altar to lavishness, however, has one that's rather unusual: It's made of eight roof "petals" that create a camera lens-like effect when the roof opens and closes. Made of ETFE fabric, the translucent panels allow luminosity into the stadium even when they're closed. The roof will take eight minutes to open and expose the brand-new stadium planned for a 2017 opening.
Magnificence is at its very best when structures like these are imagined, drafted and executed – the world stops and you just can’t stop and say that these are infinitely beautiful structures.
Travel on your mind? Sure, you must but when you do have these places on the list.