6 Feats of Modern Civil Engineering
The field of civil engineering often draws some of the brightest and most creative minds interested in shaping the world around them through the implementation of spectacular architecture and infrastructure. There is no doubt that the contributions made by civil engineers can be breathtaking, in addition to immensely practical and elegant solutions which solve problems that in previous times would have been insurmountable. Let’s examine 6 of the most impressive feats of modern civil engineering.
- Panama Canal. Frustrated by not only the amount of time it took cargo and passenger ships to sail around the southern tip of South America, but also the dangers presented by the unpredictable seas in that area, the United States government in 1903 decided to cut a canal across Panama to join the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. The massive project included building the infrastructure needed to support the construction, as well as efforts in the area to reduce the risk of disease from mosquitoes and other pests. The canal itself wasn’t completed until 1914, but this was in fact two years earlier than had initially been projected. The canal is 50 miles long in total, consisting of many locks and artificial lakes designed to both move ships and control water flow.
- Three Gorges Dam. Spanning the Yangtze River in China, the Three Gorges Dam is 7,661 feet long and 331 feet tall, and holds back a reservoir of water that is 410 miles long and on average just under a mile wide. The dam, which took 12 years to build, is the largest electrical generator in the world, and it uses the force of the river to spin 32 generators at a capacity of 700 megawatts each.
- Channel Tunnel. Sunk beneath the English Channel between the coasts of England and France is the Channel Tunnel, also known as the Chunnel. Almost 31 and a half miles long, this rail link between the two countries is carved through ocean bedrock and carries high speed passenger trains, trains moving automobiles and trucks, as well as freight trains. The project took six years to build and opened in 1994.
- Burj Khalifa. The tallest skyscraper – indeed, the tallest man-made structure – in the world, the Burj Khalifa can be found in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Completed in 2009, the immense building stands 2,717 in height, which dwarfs the previous record-holding structure, a radio mast in Warsaw, by almost 500 feet. The building also has 160 floors, a new world record that beats out the Willis Tower in Chicago. Due to winds in the area, the top of the tower swings by as much as 5 feet when under heavy pressure.
- Langeled Pipeline. Bringing natural gas all the way from Norway to the United Kingdom, this underwater pipeline runs 725 miles underneath the North Sea, making it the longest underwater pipeline in the world. It is capable of delivering 25.5 billion cubic meters of gas in a single year. The project took only three years to build, and was completed in 2007.
- Hong Kong International Airport. Starved for space, civil engineers in Hong Kong decided to reclaim land off the coast from the city in order to construct a larger and less urban airport. Using the island of Chek Lap Kok as a base, the tiny landmass was expanded through the use of landfill until just under six square miles in area had been added to the naturally occurring rock. The airport’s construction was a six year project in total, and it opened in 1998. A second terminal was opened in 2007 and almost 48 million passengers passed through both in 2008.