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42 Engineering Marvels Unit 11: Tech-2

of the World

Marvels are usually those things which make you stare in awe and wonder at the process that led
to their existence. Man-made marvels such as bridges, tunnels, skyscrapers or railways are feats of
engineering, created to make life easier. Name these modern examples of engineering genius and
imagination that exist in the world today.

1. The world’s tallest cable-stayed road bridge has towers which
are almost as tall as the Empire State Building and are 1,125 feet
tall. The project was completed in December 2004 and was started
to reduce the congested traffic between Paris and Barcelona during
the summer vacation months. It was completed in an astonishing
time of 3 years. But the most amazing part is the technique used
to create the bridge due to its height of 900 feet. The roads were
built on both side of the towers and then rolled out to the middle
instead of the bridge being installed in sections.

2. The world’s largest flood prevention project was the solution
of 40 years of debating on how to prevent the city of Venice from
sinking and keep it safe from flooding. The project was started in
2003 and consists of 78 rotating gates, each with an area of 6,500
square feet. The gates are large metal boxes that rest at the bottom
of the sea and whenever the tide rises above 3 1/2 feet, the water is
removed from the gates, causing them to float.

3. The world’s largest hydroelectric power station is also the
world’s largest concrete structure. The dam is one and a half miles
wide and creates electricity equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants.
Besides power, the dam also provides increased shipping capacity
and provides flood storage space. Construction began in 1994 and
commercial operations began in 2008. Despite being a marvel, the
dam has created a lot of controversy due to ecological problems
such as landsliding and the displacement of over a million people
and flooding of archaeological sites.

4. The world’s largest steel structure is also called the “Bird’s Nest”.
The Olympic stadium looks more like a work of art than anything
else and was built for the 2008 Olympics and accommodates
80,000 people. The stadium consists of 26 miles of unwrapped
steel and is made of two independent structures that are set 50
feet apart. This wonder is also the world’s most energy-efficient
and environmentally friendly stadiums in the world. The stadium
was designed by the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de
Meuron.

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