The projects below are our carefully researched list of some of the most interesting projects that commenced ended between 2000 and 2010. Notably three of the entries are from China, which led the world with several of their projects pushing engineering boundaries over the last ten years. The rest equally, pushed engineering boundaries and are equally impressive in their own right.

1. Millau viaduct

The Millau Viaduct is presently the tallest vehicular cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. The height of the bridge is an impressive 1,125 feet, 62 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower. The bridge was opened in December 2004 and crosses the Valley of the River Tarn close to Millau in the South of France.

2. Burj Khalifa

The Burj Dubai, which was christened Burj Khalifa at its Jan. 4, 2009 opening, achieved instantengineering marvel status before it even opened. This is not because it was long projected to achieve the world tallest building status upon completion, but because the height proposed has never before been attempted, and especially not in the type of environment it now sits on. The construction of Burj Dubai therefore necessitated the the building be designed to withstand the tough and windy terrain, plus the projected human demands of the building.

3. Three gorges dam

The dam is located near the mouth of the lowest of the Three Gorges, where the current was divided in two by an island. In November l997, the first stage was completed with the blocking of two-thirds of the river’s width. The waterleaves had risen l8 metres (59 feet) by the end of l998, will rise a further 52metres (171 feet) by 2003, 30 metres (98 feet) more up to 2009, and a final ten metres (33 feet) that year, when the dam will come into operation. Smaller ships will use a single stage lift, and larger ones a stair of five locks. The waters in the Three Gorges will rise a total of l l0 metres (36l feet), gradua1ly changing the scenery forever.

4. Langeled pipeline

5. Qingzang Tibet railway

6. Taipei 101

7. Hangzhou bay bridge

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

On our recently featured compilation of the top 10 most impressive engineering projects, the Boston Big Dig project made it at number four, well ahead of The Millau Viaduct and The Channel Tunnel. What impressed us most about this Boston wonder was the audacious approach to solving a congestion issue. Where most people would have been content with wider lanes or maintaining the status quo, the project engineers sought to go under the city, marking the beginning of one of the most complex and technologically challenging highway projects in the history of the United States.

9. Ras Laffan gas trains

10. Large hadron collider

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The structure

Jiaozhou Bay Bridge is 42.5 kilometres (26.4 mi) long, making it according to Guinness World Records the world’s longest bridge over water (aggregate length) as of July 2011.  The structure is supported by 5,000 pillars stretching across 24 miles.

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Such a moment, which I like to call the ‘moment of genius’, is typically the culmination point following a series of ideas, research and study. During this moment of pure glory, everything suddenly makes sense and deeper insights into a sought after solution is achieved. The insights from some of these moments of genius have had long lasting applications, such as the theory of universal gravitation.   Other such moments have served as moments of extreme joy upon the realization of a previously elusive idea. According to some accounts, Archimedes was so eager to share his eureka moment realization that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran through the streets of Syracuse naked.

Archimedes

It is fitting then that we begin our tally of the five famous moments of genius with none other but Archimedes.  Archimedes is widely credited with the term eureka, an interjection regularly used in celebrating a sudden discovery. The word comes from the Greek word meaning “I have found it.” Archimedes found it when he stepped into a bathtub and noticed that the level of the water consequently rose.  At this moment of genius, Archimedes suddenly understood that the volume of water displaced had to be equal to the volume of his submerged leg.  This new discovery now meant that the volume of irregular objects cold be precisely calculated.  More about Archimedes.

Isaac Newton

In 1666, while the University of Cambridge in England was closed due to a plague, Newton escaped to his family’s estate in Lincolnshire. It is here during a stroll around the farm that Isaac Newton observed an apple falling to the ground. It is said that this moment of genius evoked a myriad of questions in Newton’s mind, amongst them, why did the apple fall down instead of remaining suspended in the air?  Following this experience the young Newton embarked on a quest to develop his theory of universal gravitation.

Watch the story of science and how the likes of Isaac Newton shaped history.

Albert Einstein

In 1907, the 28-year-old Einstein was working in the patent office in Bern, Switzerland. According to his own account, one day a “breakthrough came suddenly”. Instead of keeping his mind on his work, his thoughts wandered to one idea that, “If a man falls freely he would not feel his weight.” Einstein’s response to his thought was immediate: “I was taken aback. This simple thought experiment made a deep impression on me.” By linking accelerated motion and gravity, Einstein eventually created his masterwork, the general theory of relativity. However, it took him eight years to work through the mathematical details.

Jules-Henri Poincaré

In a famous essay titled “Mathematical Creation,” the mathematician Poincaré recalled his moment of genius moment involving a particular kind of mathematical construct known as “Fuchsian functions.” For two weeks, Poincare had struggled to prove a particular property of these functions. Based on his account, he “tried a great number of combinations and reached no results.” A few days later he left his home in Caen, France, to join some colleagues on a geological excursion to Coutances, where he recalls boarding an omnibus. “At the moment when I put my foot on the step the idea came to me, without anything in my former thoughts seeming to have paved the way for it,” he wrote. “On my return to Caen, for conscience’s sake I verified the result at my leisure.”

Nikola Tesla

From the first time Nikola Tesla saw the demonstration of how a direct current (DC) circuit, he knew there had to be a better way.  But he could never quite figure out what the suitable alternative would be.  So one day he was out for a walk when it just came to him. He used his walking stick to draw a picture explaining how alternating current would work to his walking partner.  Nikola developed the AC-current generation system which comprised of a motor and a transformer, making him arguably the greatest electrical engineer of all time.

So, when was your moment of genius?

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One thing is certain, you have to admire these designs for coming up with ‘usable’ navigation paths where others might have seen obstacles. While dangerous at least we can give them credit for their boldness.

5. Van Zyl’s Pass, Namibia

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Van Zyl’s Pass is located in Namibia. While this should not be considered a road by any means, it is a travelled pathway and therefore eligible for our list. The road is about 10 miles of outrageously steep pass, further complicated by the presence rocks, boulders, badlands and ravines. The only solace to this otherwise treacherous route is the descent to the Marienfluss valley,  an ancient glacial valley known as one of the world’s most beautiful sights.

4. Trollstigen, Norway

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The Trollstigen is a narrow road in Norway. Interestingly enough the road is a double lane despite the fact that there are few possibilities for vehicles to pass each other. This road requires the driver to have sharp concentration and driving skills to match. The vertigo-inducing steep inclines, intense set of hairpins and narrow roads leave no margin for error. Luckily, breathtaking views await you at the top, if you happen to make it there.

3. Guoliang Tunnel Road, China

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The Gualiang Tunnel Road in the Taihang mountains was built by local villagers headed by their chief and begun operating on May 1, 1977.  It is said that many villagers lost their lives in accidents during construction of the tunnel, which took about five years to finish.

The tunnel is about 16 feet high and 13 feet wide. It is located in the Henan Province of China. The Guoliang Tunnel qualifies as a dangerous road given its clearly risky design and altitude, and that disheartening fact that it was dubbed as “the road that does not tolerate any mistakes.”

2. Halsema Highway, Philippines

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The Halsema Highway goes through the Central Cordillera Valley in The Philippines. The road is mostly unpaved and runs approximately 150 miles long. Guardrails are virtually non-existent despite the fact most of the road is perched atop steep cliffs. To make matters worse, the road is narrow with the cliff face making the road almost impassable during the rainy season. This passage is famous for the many rock slides and mud slides. It goes without saying that there are enough (catastrophic) accidents and many overturned buses on a yearly basis.

1. The Road of death, Bolivia

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The appropriately titled road is a 43-mile road connecting La Paz and Coroico, 35 miles northeast of La Paz in Bolivia. Famous for its extreme danger, it was christened as the “world’s most dangerous road” in 1995 by the Inter-American Development Bank. The single-lane width, extreme drop offs, and lack of guardrails, only add to the perpetual danger. As if that wasn’t enough for the driver to consider, fog and rain can make visibility poor and the road surface muddy.

It is estimated that 200 to 300 travelers are killed per year on this treacherous road. Although this road is used less by traffic nowadays, an increasing number of adventure bikers travel it for the thrills.

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The following engineering projects qualify as some of the most remarkable, because many of them achieved what was at one point deemed to be impossible and fulfilled the needs of modern day life by implementing audacious approaches to solving complex challenges. This article is a celebration of all those engineers who played the crucial roles in creating these amazing engineering feats.

9. Panama Canal » 8. Burj Dubai » 7. Millau Viaduct » 6. The Channel Tunnel

10. Moon Landing

1969 Apollo Moon Landing

Neil Amstrong’s famous 1969 moon landing was surely “a giant leap for mankind,” forever changing how we approach what other consider hard and the impossible. The Apollo 11 mission placed two astronauts (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin) onto the surface of the moon, successfully defeating Russia in the rush to the skies. This event marked a definitive point in the 20th Century and at the time helped cement the United States above Russia as the ‘greatest superpower’ whilst firing the imagination of generations of children.

9. Panama Canal

Panama Canal

Before the Panama Canal was opened on Aug. 15, 1914, a ship traveling from New York and San Francisco would have had to sail around Cape Horn, a 67-day, 12,000-mile journey. The Panama Canal provided shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, reducing the same New York to San Francisco by 4,000 miles. Clearly, much the same way the Transcontinental Railroad reinvented shipping, the Panama Canal was a colossal engineering project which greatly impacted shipping between the two oceans by reducing the journey times immensely.

8. Burj Dubai

Burj Khalifa

The Burj Dubai, which was christened Burj Khalifa at its Jan. 4, 2010 opening, achieved instant engineering marvel status before it even opened. This is not because it was long projected to achieve the world tallest building status upon completion, but because the height proposed has never before been attempted, and especially not in the type of environment it now sits on. The construction of Burj Dubai therefore necessitated the the building be designed to withstand the tough and windy terrain, plus the projected human demands on the building.

The design of the structure is just as impressive as the height, having many of the building’s sub-systems being record breakers themselves, such as the observatory lifts breaking the record for the longest travel distance between lowest and highest stop. The Burj Dubai towers above the surrounding landscape at a huge 818meters tall and has been built as a centerpiece of an urban development that will include homes, hotels and parkland.

The 160-plus-story Burj Dubai Tower is the centerpiece of a $20 billion multi-tower development located just outside of downtown Dubai. The Burj Dubai project consists of the tower itself, as well as an adjacent podium structure, and separate six-story office annex and two-story pool annex. The 3 million-square-foot reinforced concrete multi-use tower is predominantly residential and office space.

7. Millau Viaduct

Milau Viaduct

The Millau Viaduct is presently the tallest vehicular cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. The height of the bridge is an impressive 1,125 feet, 62 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower. The bridge was opened in December 2004 and crosses the Valley of the River Tarn close to Millau in the South of France.

The bridge was designed by Michel Virlogeux, a structural engineer. The project’s architect was Norman Foster, who was quoted as saying that the bridge looked “impossibly delicate” and was a “dialogue between nature and the man made.” Delicate it is, because driving atop this engineering feat makes one feel as though they are suspended in the sky. Rightfully so because the Millau Viaduct bridge deck is the highest in the world.

See a video on the construction of the Millau Viaduct.

6. The Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel is the longest tunnel with an undersea section in the world. The length of the Channel Tunnel is 32.4 miles  and links Folkestone, England to Coquelles, France. The tunnel itself was bored through a chalk marl stratum which was deemed a good material for tunneling as it is both strong and easy to excavate. The actual tunnel consists of three separate tunnels connected together by cross-passage links. Construction of the tunnel began in 1988 and opened in 1994 and has been rated as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Video: The Construction of the Chanel Tunnel

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Nicholas Otto » Nikola Tesla » Archimedes » James Watt

10. Alan Turing

Alan Turing

Every time you use a computer, it is in part because Alan Turing made significant contributions to make computing possible. Alan Turing developed the binary architecture now used in all computers, as well as much of the theory behind computers.

He is regarded by some as the father of computer science. He is also credited with breaking the German Enigma code during WWII, which made victory possible. In the years following the war he made numerous contributions in software creation. Time magazine named him as one of the most important people of the 20th century.

9. Nicolaus Otto

Nicolaus Otto

Nicolaus Otto was a German inventor credited with developing the four-stroke or Otto-cycle engine which sparked the development of the motor care. His Otto-cycle engine worked in four steps; drawing in fuel and air, compressing the mixture, igniting it and expelling the exhaust. This Otto-cycle is still used in the internal combustion engines that run all of our cars today.

Despite having developed the engine, it was Otto’s peers such as Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz who made practical applications of the technology, forever changing how people move all over the world.

8. Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla

Every electrical engineer should have a picture of Nikola tattooed somewhere on their bodies. Maybe not a tattoo but at least have a picture of him hanging in their office. Tesla’s inventions make him arguably the greatest electrical engineer of all time. His inventions include fluorescent lighting, the Tesla coil, the induction motor, and 3-phase electricity. He developed the AC-current generation system comprised of a motor and a transformer.

Tesla moved to America in 1884 to work with Thomas Edison, another remarkable engineer. Within weeks of working for Edison, he indicated that he could improve the efficiency of the company’s generators by 25%. Edison promised Tesla a $50,000 bonus if he achieved this feat. Within weeks Tesla delivered on his promise – and Edison reneged on his, telling young Tesla, “You don’t understand our American humor.”

7. Archimedes

Archimedes

It was Archimedes who came up with the simple yet clever idea of determining an object’s volume by measuring the amount of water displaced by the object. Other inventions credited to him include the catapult, levers and pulleys, and the Archimedean Screw, a device used to raise water for irrigation or mining.

According to some legends he was instrumental in defending his native Syracuse from Romans by his clever use of machines to keep enemies at siege. He also calculated an approximation for pi and developed many mathematical insights without which modern engineering would be impossible.

Quotes
Eureka! – I have found it!
Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.

6. James Watt

James Watt

James Watt was an enthusiastic inventor whose improvement of the steam engine sparked the Industrial Revolution. During the 1760s he devoted most of his time to improving the efficiency of steam engines. The result was a machine that become very popular that Watt is sometimes mischaracterized as the inventor of the steam engine. Watt’s many mechanical advances earned him several patents, and his engines were used for coal mining, textile manufacturing, transportation and a host of other industrial uses.

The watt unit of power is named after James Watt. He is credited for measuring the power of his steam engine: his test with a strong horse resulted in his determination that a “horsepower” was 550 foot-pounds per second. Subsequent calculation by Watt resulted in one horsepower equaling 746 watts.
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