The Greatest Engineering Achievements

         
An article on online newsletter named 'constructionweekonline.com' inspired me to furnish and compile the following details and full credit goes to them only...

You might not agree with all the entries, or their ranking, but the ingenuity behind each of these projects is undeniable. Each one also represents a massive leap of faith in the power of engineering to overcome the challenges of the natural world and to extend the boundaries of achievement, and especially the Power of Group Force or Team work.

(1) Millau Viaduct

Taking our top spot is quite frankly the world’s most beautiful bridge structure. The Millau Viaduct recently opened up in France and was inaugurated by the French President Jacques Chirac. It's the highest bridge in the world measuring at 343 meters (1125.33 ft) and creates a direct route between Paris and the Mediterranean coast using only seven slender pillars. The Millau Viaduct was designed by Foster + Partners and completed in December 2004, after a three year construction period. Located in southwest France, the viaduct is comprised of eight sections, with lengths of 2x204m and 6x342m, and spans the River Tarn valley. A total of seven reinforced concrete pylons of heights between 78 and 245m support the 32m-wide steel superstructure, with its hollow box girders and the steel pylons carrying the stay cables. Structural engineering was done by EEG Simecsol and Greisch, with Eiffage Construction acting as the main contractor, and Peri providing the formwork

(2) Burj Khalifa

Of course, the crown jewel of Dubai’s high rise bonanza is Burj Khalifa (formerly known as Burj Dubai), the world’s tallest building, was an easy pick for this list. The engineering challenges of doing something for the first time, while busting through all previous height records by a massive margin, are part of the reason this structure has caught so much attention. Designed and engineered by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, (the company responsible for the equally cool, but considerably shorter Infinity Tower) the project officially opened in January 2010, although interior finishing is still ongoing.

(3) Three Gorges Dam

Three Gorges Dam, China , crosses the Yangtze River at Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei province, China. The dam’s name refers to the majestic limestone cliffs of the Qutang, Wu, and Xiling gorges, which stretch for about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Fengjie, in Sichun province, to Yichang, in Hubei province, in China's heartland. China’s unbridled engineering ambition is brilliantly illustrated by the insane scale of the Three Gorges dam. The body of the dam was completed in 2006, but work continues to bring it to full operational status.

The Yangtze is the longest River in Asia and the third longest in the world, running 6,211 kilometers (3,860 miles) from Qinghai Province in the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea near Shanghai. The river’s watershed is massive, spanning 1,722,155 sq.km (1,070,147 sq. miles) with nearly 400 million inhabitants.


(4) Langeled Pipeline
  

Claiming the title of world’s longest under water gas pipeline, Langeled was developed to pipe Norway’s natural gas to a power hungry British market. It runs 1166km and can pump a maximum of 25.5 billion m³ of gas a year. The pipeline was opened in two stages, the first in October 2006, the second a year later.

The pipeline runs through the North Sea from the Nyhamna terminal in Norway via the Sleipner Riser platform in the North Sea to Easington Gas Terminal in England. The pipeline is designated to bring natural gas from the Ormen Lange gas process terminal to the UK, but through the connector at Sleipner Riser it provides also an opportunity to send gas through Gassco's existing network to continental Europe.

The annual capacity of the Langeled pipeline is 25.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). That equates to some 20% of Britain's peak gas demand. With the energy content of natual energy content of natural gas at 39 MJ (megajoules) per normal cubic meter, the capacity energy flux is 31.5 GW (gigawatts). The Langeled pipeline supplements the Vesterled system with annual capacity about 12 bcm, which runs from Heimdal Riser platform in the North Sea to St. Fergus in Scotland. The project cost £1.7 billion.

(5) Qingzang Tibet Railway

Building the world’s highest altitude railway on permafrost was never going to be easy, but once again Chinese engineers thought they’d give it a go anyway. The track runs form the city of Golmud in China, to Lhasa in Tibet, crossing some tough landscape along the way. The highest point is the Tanggula pass, at just over 5000m. Top of the engineering challenges was the paradoxical melting permafrost. The solution was to elevate the tracks a little, to keep the cool air circulating, and mounted the tracks on columns driven deep enough to hit stable earth. The line also lays claim to having the highest rail tunnel in the world with the 1338m-long Fenghuoshan tunnel at 4905m above sea level.

One of the high-altitude railways in the world, Qingzang Railway also referred as Qinghai-Tibet railway links up Xining, Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, in China. Inaugurated by President Hu Jintao on 1st July 2006, the railway is named after its first two passengers “Qing 1″ from Golmud, and “Zang 2″ from Lhasa. Qingzang is the first railway to link up China with Tibet Autonomous Region – the last province-level entity in China to have a conventional railway, due to its high altitude and tough terrain.

The 815 kilometers section from Xining to Golmud was opened way back in 1984. The remaining 1,142 kilometers section from Golmud to Lhasa was built after China’s recent economic growth. The work in this section was formally started on 29th June, 2001. With more than 80% of the railway running at an altitude of 4000 meters above sea level, the trains are especially built to survive the high altitude environment. The Qingzang railway project engaged over 6,000 pieces of industrial equipment, and more than 20,000 workers. It is considered as one the major architectural achievements of China in 21^st century.

(6) Taipei 101

Today Taipei 101 may not be the world’s tallest building, but it still has some clever engineering to help it deal with Taiwan’s significant earthquake activity and typhoon season. Engineered by Thorton Tomasetti, the building is designed to cope with wind speeds up to 216kph and the strongest earthquakes expected to occur in cycles over literally thousands of years. As part of the strengthening measures required, the building contains a giant steel pendulum, which acts as a tuned mass damper. The strength of the foundations was put to the test when an earthquake struck during construction, toppling cranes from the incomplete structure, but leaving the core of the building undamaged.

Taipei 101, famous for being one of the world’s tallest buildings, is set to get some major eco-upgrades in an effort to save money, reduce its impact, and gain the much coveted title of “World’s Tallest Green Building.” In 2007, the Burj Khalifa surpassed Taipei 101 in terms of height, but the Taiwanese building won’t give up the fight, throwing down $1.8 million in energy efficiency upgrades, which are expected to yield $20 million annually in savings and make it the Earth’s greenest building that’s also closest to the heavens!

(7) Hangzhou Bay Bridge

Currently the record holder as the world’s largest sea bridge, this structure was completed in 2007 and chopped 120km off the drive between Ningbo and Shanghai. The bridge was engineered to deal with the massive tides in the area, plus the seasonal storms that can rip through the area. The possibility of a ship colliding with the bridge also had to be accounted for in the design. The bridge has six express lanes in two directions and an orthotropic steel deck is used on its main spans and five ramp bridges, and was paved with 50 millimeters epoxy asphalt concrete. The bridge is more than 36 km long, the second longest bridge and the longest sea crossing bridge in the world, connecting Shanghai and Ningbo, across the Hangzhou Bay at the East China Sea. The construction took about four years to complete and the cost was $1.5 billion. Keep in mind that this is also a “made in China”.

(8) Big Dig aka the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T)

Billed as the most expensive highway project in the US, the Big Dig is the colloquial name given to Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T). The project turned a highway through the centre of the city into a tunnel, plus added bridges and tunnels to the existing network. It was ambitious, to say the least, and had a rough road to completion. The $16 billion Central Artery/Tunnel Project involved construction of a new tunnel across Boston Harbor, placing of the Central Artery underground, and construction of a new Charles River crossing. This was the most complex and costly urban highway project in U.S. history.

(9) Ras Laffan Gas Trains

Qatar’s quest to be the world’s largest source of LNG has been boosted by the steady development of the gas trains in Ras Laffan. Train number seven, brought online in late February 2010, is the fourth 7.8 million tons per annum in the Ras Laffan 3 facility, which are the largest in the world. Qatar's phenomenal gas projects have stunned the world with their speed and scope. As the country enters a new era of production we take stock of the nation today

Qatar is mainly known as a gas player, with its reserve base centred on the offshore North Fields which adjoin Iran’s South Pars complex. The country accelerated into world gas export market leadership in 2006 and now plans to increase LNG production to 77 million tonnes a year by early 2010 through a number of large-scale projects. Qatar operates several joint ventures with international oil companies to produce LNG under the Qatargas and Rasgas operating companies.

Qatar also has six offshore fields: Bul Hanine, Maydan Mahzam, Id al-Shargi North Dome, al-Shaheen, al-Rayyan, and al-Khalij. Despite the country’s significant oil production and reserves, oil accounts for less than 15% of its domestic energy consumption.

(10) Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, that will recreate conditions that existed in the beginning of the universe. In a 27km long circular tunnel, buried underground just outside Geneva, the large hadron collider was developed so protons moving at a fraction less than the speed of light could be smashed into each other. At a cost of more than three billion euros to build, plus another chunk of cash after early experiments broke it, the machine is not a small under taking.

All the above data are collected and compiled only as a informative note and more accurate details can be collected by referring related websites and journals of the corresponding subjects.