The world's greatest engineering feats bear witness to the construction capabilities and ingenuity developed by humankind over centuries. Many of these projects have defied nature itself, resulting in unimaginable achievements. These are some of the world's largest constructions and civil engineering works that continue to amaze humanity.
One of the world's greatest engineering feats dates back to 1914: the Panama Canal, a dam specially designed to allow ships of all types to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, saving them the trip around the American continent
According to Wikipedia, the initial chief engineer was John Frank Stevens, who built much of the infrastructure necessary for later construction; slow progress on the canal itself led to his replacement by George Washington Goethals . Goethals oversaw most of the canal excavation, including the appointment of Major David du Bose Gaillard to supervise the most daunting project, the Culebra Cut through the most rugged terrain of the route. On January 7, 1914, the French crane ship Alexandre La Valley became the first to make the crossing, and on April 1, 1914, construction was officially completed with the handover of the project from the construction company to the Canal Zone government.
- This is a dam on the Yangtze River in China that prevents flooding and also serves as a hydroelectric power generator. Regarding dams, the Dutch Delta Works remains a benchmark in dam engineering projects. The entire project, which includes the dam itself, power plants, transportation infrastructure, diversions, and the construction of other related buildings, totaled 27.47 million cubic meters of concrete, according to official figures from 2012. The project has cost more than any other construction project in history, with unofficial estimates reaching up to $75 billion, according to Wikipedia.
- There are ancient structures that, centuries later, remain benchmarks among the world's greatest engineering feats; a prime example is the Great Wall of China, built some 2,400 years ago. Its merit lies in the technology available at the time for carrying out this type of construction.
- Beneath the Alps lies one of the world's most astonishing engineering feats: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), designed to uncover some of the mysteries that still surround our existence. It is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator in existence and the largest machine ever built by humankind. It was constructed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, hundreds of universities and laboratories, and more than 100 countries worldwide.
- The Millau Viaduct may not be one of the most well-known civil engineering works, however it is the tallest vehicular viaduct in the world, located in Aveyron, France, and one of its towers is even taller than the Eiffel Tower itself.
- The Burj Khalifa couldn't be left off our list; it's the tallest building in the world and is located in Dubai. Its 829.8 meters in height make it the tallest building in Dubai, although there are projects to build buildings over a kilometer tall in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
- Another truly remarkable feat of engineering is the Darjeeling Railway in the Himalayas. Completed in 1881, it was designed to circumvent the steep slopes of this region in northern India, but its construction required groundbreaking engineering techniques. This narrow-gauge railway (610 mm) runs between Siliguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, the line is approximately 78 kilometers (48 miles) long.
Sources: Wikipedia, termiser platforms and scaffolding.
