The combination of population growth, advancement in technology, and bigger governments has produced the need and ability to construct ridiculously expensive infrastructure objects that cost tens of billions of dollars.
The purposes of these projects vary; they range from the practical and the ostentatious. Whatever the reason though, it is a testament to the ability of modern institutions to concentrate massive amounts of wealth and mobilize a gigantic amount of labor and materials. They're also evidence of the wealth of the countries that constructed them.
The following is a list of 5 recently-constructed structures around the world that fit the criteria from the description above.
This massive infrastructure project is built for the purpose of generating power to sustained China’s massive population.Situated on the Yangtze River, it seeks to harness the power of Asia's longest river. Upon full completion, this hydroelectric dam is expected to have a generating capacity of 22,500 megawatts.In addition to generating power, the dam is designed to reduce floods.
ReutersThis structure is the main airport of Hong Kong, a buzzing Asian financial center.Construction began in 1991 and finished six years later at a price tag of $20 billion. When it first opened, it housed the largest passenger terminal building in the world. Today, it is the third largest.Since 1998, this airport has transported over 500 million passengers.
ReutersThis rail tunnel connects the United Kingdom to continental Europe through northern France. It is the longest underwater railway passage in the world.Unlike most projects on this list, the Channel Tunnel (or ‘Chunnel’) is financed by private entities in France and England instead of their respective governments.From 1994 to 2010, the Chunnel has transported at least 112 million passengers.Some estimates put the construction cost at $15 billion, while others say it’s somewhere between $7 billion to $21 billion.
ReutersPalm Jumeirah is one way the United Arab Emirates government is spending its massive oil wealth.The structure is a man-made archipelago (the largest in the world) that’s shaped like a palm tree. It’s meant to serve as a luxurious resort and a premier tourism destination for the well-to-do of the world.Construction began in 2001, cost $12 billion, and used up 94 million cubic meters of sand and 7 million tons of rock.The UAE government is planning to complete two similar (and bigger) projects: the Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira.
ReutersAmerica is the most oil thirsty country in the world. It’s not a surprise, then, that it would spend over $8 billion (and this was back in the 1970s) to build a pipeline to transport oil from its resource-rich state of Alaska to the continental states.Construction began in 1974 and finished in 1977. The high cost was justified and objections were overcome partly because during that period, America was suffering from the 1973 OPEC oil embargo.Since the opening of the pipeline, the state of Alaska has experienced an economic boom and the continental states have received over 16 billion barrels of oil.
Reuters
