Top 10 Civil Engineering Wonders

Civil engineering projects continue to dominate headlines across the world. From the world’s tallest building to the biggest manmade islands, people everywhere are dependent upon civil engineering innovations. All of this innovation and construction ties back to one main purpose, supporting human life. With this purpose in mind, let’s look at some of the most […]

Civil engineering projects continue to dominate headlines across the world. From the world’s tallest building to the biggest manmade islands, people everywhere are dependent upon civil engineering innovations. All of this innovation and construction ties back to one main purpose, supporting human life. With this purpose in mind, let’s look at some of the most awe inspiring civil engineering wonders and construction projects throughout time.

Three Gorges Dam (2003)

The world’s largest dam, as well as largest hydroelectric power plant, stands tall at 185 m. Its name comes from the fact that it floods three rivers, the Qutang, Wu Xia, and Xiling. The hydroelectric plant is built inside the walls of the structure, producing a total of 4.7 billion kWh each year. During construction, builders used 27.2 million cubic metres of concrete. That’s enough concrete to fill 10,200 Olympic sized swimming pools.

Three Gorges Dam [Image Source: Wikimedia]

Jeddah Tower (Under Construction)

Formerly known as the Kingdom tower, crews began construction on this building in Spring 2013. When completed, the Jeddah Tower is estimated to cost 1.2 billion US dollars and top the charts as the world’s tallest building. Originally engineers sought to build the structure as high as 1 mile (1.6 km). However, in the design phase, it was scaled back to 3281 ft (1000 m). Even with the downsizing, this building will beat out the current tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, by 591 ft (180m) when completed.

Jeddah Tower under construction [Image Source: Hamed1122, Wikimedia]

Carlsbad Desalination Plant (Under Construction)

Water is becoming one of the most precious resources on the planet. In southern California specifically, fresh drinking water is hard to come by. Many cities in the area pump drinking water from hundreds of miles away. As the price of fresh water has gone up, desalination has become a more viable option for water sourcing. The Carlsbad Plant aims to take the salt out of 50 million gallons per day and supply San Diego County residents with drinking water.

Birdseye view of current plant [Image Source: carlsbaddesal.com]

Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge (2010)

This 102.4 mile (164.8 km) bridge holds the title of world’s longest, and it took four years to construct. Unlike most bridges, it is built in a viaduct design, spanning many valleys and connecting the cities of Shanghai and Nanjing in the Jiangsu province of China. The railway that the bridge connects spans 818 mi (1317 km), which is an engineering feat of its own.