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When building great engineering projects money is not always the limiting factor. In fact, for many it is not a factor at all. Instead, they focus on the grandeur, mission, or overall size of their engineering project. This way of thinking has lead to the building of some of the worlds most expensive engineering endeavors. With that in mind, check out the list below for 10 of the Worlds most expensive engineering projects.
#10: Abraj Al Bait Hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
The city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia is one holiest spots in the Muslim religion. This city is home to the Kaaba, Islam’s most sacred shrine. All Muslims must make a pilgrimage to this shrine at least once in their lifetime. Around 24% of the world’s population, or about 1.8 billion people, are Muslim. As such, a lot of people visit Mecca during Ramadan every year. In fact, during Ramadan, millions of people poor into the city. Sometimes there is not enough space to house all of the religious tourists, leading to tent cities popping up all over the place.
In order to help accommodate them, the Saudi government started to build a lot of hotels. The biggest and most expensive of these hotels is the Abraj Al Bait Hotel, at a cost of over $15 billion. It is the tallest hotel in the world and can hold over 100,000 people.[1]The Skyscraper Center – Makkah Royal Clock Tower The 5 star hotel looks over the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba and provides easy access for its guests to them.
#9: Apollo Space Program engineering Project
The Apollo space program is one of the most important achievements in mankind. In 1969, Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong was the first human being to ever walk on the surface of another extraterrestrial body. At the time, humans were only 66 years removed from the first human flight in history by the Wright brothers. In order to accomplish this great achievement, a lot of time, effort, and money were poured into this project. In fact, the US government invested around $25.4 billion dollars in the Apollo Space Program.[2]History NASA – Project Apollo: A Retrospective Analysis This was one of the greatest leaps in technological achievement. The harshness of space has required us to rise above ourselves and come together to solve the difficult engineering problems that it presents. In fact, the achievements of the Apollo Space Program have gone on to benefit the rest of mankind.
#8: Kensai International Airport in Osaka, Japan
Kensai International Airport is located in Japan’s second largest city, Osaka. Local officials started talking about constructing the airport as early as the 60s due the fear that the city was losing economic trade and resources to Tokyo. They thought that a large international airport would help support international trade. The final cost for this mega construction project was $29 billion, making it one of the worlds most expensive airports. One of the main reasons that the airport was so expensive was because it was built entirely on an artificial island. The city officials built the airport on this island in order to help it resist earthquakes and tidal waves as well as reduce noise pollution in Osaka.[3]Japan Guide – Kansai International Airport
#7: Songdo International Business District in South Korea
Songdo International Business District in Songdo, South Korea, is one of the worlds most expensive mega construction projects at over $40 billion. The Korean government built it as part of a larger plan to promote business and trade domestically and internationally. In fact, architects designed the city to be a green city by making everything including schools, work, shopping, and recreation areas only walking distance apart thus reducing people’s need for cars. One of the main reasons it is so expensive is because the designers built the business district on reclaimed land. In fact, they poured 500 tons of sand into the local marshlands to lay the foundation for the Songdo International Business District.[4]K Geography – Songdo Free Economic Zone in South Korea: A Mega-project Reflecting Globalization?
#6: Gorgon natural gas site in Australia
The Gorgon natural gas site is an extremely important project in Australia. In fact, it’s the largest natural gas deposit ever in the country and one of the largest in the world. The site is located around 80 to 125 miles off of the Northwestern coast of the Australia underneath the Indian Ocean. Three major energy companies (Shell, Exxon, and Chevron) run the site. Geologists estimate that there is approximately 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the ocean’s floor.[5]Sequestration – Gorgon Fact Sheet: Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project Experts estimate that the resources are worth over $150 billion. Therefore, the cost of $57 billion to construct the site, is well worth it to the companies working the site.
#5: DubaiLand in Dubai
The government has not finished construction of DubaiLand. They halted construction for this project in 2008 due to the economic financial crisis in Dubai at the time. In 2013, they restarted construction. To this date, they have spent $76 billion on the project. However, experts expect that they will spend much more to complete the project. Designers originally envisioned DubaiLand to be a family friendly attraction that would complement the other attractions in the area. To achieve this goal, architects included a Disney theme park, movie theaters, walking and running trails, and various outdoor activities areas.[6]Gulf News – Dubai’s largest park coming up in DubaiLand
#4: King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia built King Abdullah Economic City in order to diversify its oil based economy. The city is only about 1 hour away from the Islamic holy city of Mecca on the coast of the Red Sea. The city adds many luxury hotels, tourist attractions, a large airport, and residential communities at a cost of of $95 billion.
#3: Masjid Al-Haram, the Great Mosque of Mecca
Muslims constructed the Masjid Al-Haram or the Great Mosque of Mecca in order to house the Kaaba, Islam’s most sacred site. In fact, Muslims throughout the world considered it the House of god. As such, the Saudi government saw it fitting to build a mosque that would fit accordingly. In fact, they didn’t cut any corners. They spent around $100 billion to construct one of the worlds most expensive mega construction projects. The mosque can hold up to 4 million people at one time.[7]Mecca – Masjid al-Haram and the Kaaba Unfortunately, if you are not Muslim, you can’t go see this large and beautiful architectural marvel.
#2: The Kashagan Oil Fields in the Caspian Sea
The Kashagan Oil fields in the Caspian Sea are the largest oil fields that petroleum engineers have discovered in the past 40 years. In addition, they are the largest oil fields outside of the Middle East. Not surprisingly, many oil companies including Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total, China National Petroleum Corps as well as the Kazakhstan state controlled oil company KazMunaiGas have spent around $116 billion to develop the Kashagan Oil fields. The high costs come from the companies having to build several artificial islands in the Caspian Sea in order to get access to the oil. In addition, the high pressure of the oil make it more difficult, dangerous, and expensive to get.
#1: The International Space Station (ISS)
The International Space Station (ISS) is one of the worlds most expensive engineering projects at over $150 billion. In addition, it is truly an achievement of all of mankind. This mega construction project includes 15 nations from 5 different national and international space agencies who have come together to build, crew, and maintain this station. The space agencies started construction for the space station in 1994. However, they did not send the first parts into space until 1998.
For the last two decades, ISS has continually served in space with a crew. The main reasons the international community came together to build the worlds most expensive space station was to conduct experiments in fields such as astronomy, biology, and physics that were only possible in zero to low gravity environments. In addition, scientist also wanted to test new technologies to see how they worked in space as well as learn about the physiological impacts of living in space for long periods of time. As NASA and other space agencies look to send humans farther and farther into space, it’s important to understand these things. As such, the International Space Station (ISS) is an important part of humankind’s future.[8]NASA – What Is the International Space Station?
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