Talented engineers from year to year develop ambitious projects designed to make the life of the world's population more comfortable and safe. Billions of dollars are spent on the creation of power stations, bridges, tunnels and even artificial islands.
Today we invite you to take a look at Top-10 of the world's most expensive buildings .Naturally, we included only modern objects in the top ten, as we should not try to estimate the cost of such structures as the Great Wall of China, the Kremlin and the Pyramids of Giza.
Contents:
- 10. Qindao Bridge across the Gulf, China( $ 6 billion)
- 9. Large Hadron Collider, Switzerland( $ 6 billion)
- 8. Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline( TAN), USA( $ 8 billion)
- 7. Artificial Island Palm Jumeirah, United Arab Emirates( $ 14 billion)
- 6. Large Boston Tunnel, USA( $ 14.8 billion)
- 5. Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Station, China( $ 25 billion)
- 4. Itapu Hydroelectric Power Plant, Brazil / Paraguay( $ 27 billion)
- 3. InternationalAl Maktoum Airport, United Arab Emirates( $ 33 billion)
- 2. Chcheklakpok Airport, Hong Kong( $ 20 billion)
- 1. International Space Station( $ 157 billion)
10. Qingdao Bridge across the Gulf, China( $ 6 billion)
This bridge has already "marked" in our Top-10 longest bridges in the world. The characteristics of this grandiose structure are: length 42 km and six lanes for traffic. More than 30 thousand cars pass through the bridge every day.
9. The Large Hadron Collider, Switzerland( $ 6 billion)
The accelerator of charged particles was designed and created by specialists from 3 dozens of countries. The construction is impressive - the length of the main ring of the famous accelerator is 26 thousand meters. By the way, the name of the collider comes from the English verb "collide", which means "collide".After all, particle beams are accelerated inside the collider in opposite directions and collide in the allotted points.
8. Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline( TAN), USA( $ 8 billion)
The 1288-kilometer oil pipeline crosses the State of Alaska from north to south. TAN is one of the world's largest oil pipelines and belongs to Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The facility includes the actual pipeline, 12 pumping stations and a terminal in the American city of Valdiz.
7. The artificial island of Palm Jumeirah, UAE( $ 14 billion)
The construction of the island in the form of palm trees was conducted from 2001 to 2006.Dimensions of the artificial "Palm" - 5x5 km, and the area - more than 800 football fields. A grandiose creation of human hands can be seen from the Earth's orbit with the naked eye. Today on an artificial island there are residential areas, private villas, hotels and a water park.
6. Great Boston Tunnel, USA( $ 14.8 billion)
The most expensive structure in the history of the United States is the 8-lane main, in the construction of which 5 thousand workers participated. By the way, mobile communication does not work in the tunnel, as epoxy resin, by means of which the walls are connected, can not withstand the additional weight of the base stations.
5. Three Gorges Power Plant, China( $ 25 billion)
The world's largest operating power plant is located on the Yangtze River near the city of Sindoupin. In order to allocate space for the huge reservoir created at the dam of the hydroelectric power station, the Chinese government moved 1.3 million people to other parts of the country.
4. Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant, Brazil / Paraguay( $ 27 billion)
The huge hydropower plant on the Parana River is the world's leader in electricity generation per year. The power plant provides more than 20% of Brazil's electricity needs and about half of Paraguay's needs. Incidentally, in 2009, due to the accident on Itaipa for a day without light, there were more than 50 million Brazilians and almost the entire population of Paraguay.
3. Al Maktoum International Airport, UAE( $ 33 billion)
Dubai's air gate leads the recently published Top 5 of the world's largest airports. Currently, the airport operates only partially, but after the completion of all works, this huge complex will pass almost 160 million passengers a year.
2. Chkheklapkok Airport, Hong Kong( $ 20 billion)
Most of this airport is located on an artificial island, which explains the rather high cost of construction. Three terminals of the airport allow about 50 million passengers and 4 million tons of cargo a year.
1. International space station( $ 157 billion)
15 countries took part in the creation of the ISS.The outline design of the station was approved in 1995, and in November 1998, Russia launched into orbit its first element - the functional-cargo block of the Dawn. To date, the ISS is the most expensive construction created by mankind in modern history.
