The longest ocean-crossing bridge in the world, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge is an S-shaped stayed-cable bridge with six lanes in both directions that shortens the distance between Shanghai and Ningbo by 120 kilometers. The 36 kilometer long bridge required a great number of new techniques, new materials, new equipment and new theories due to the large scale and design of the project. It took close to 600 experts and a total of nine years to design the bridge. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge is expected to boost the economic development of the Yangtze River Delta, also called the Golden Industrial Triangle. Work on the bridge began in June 2003 and was completed in June 2007. The bridge was opened to the public in May 2008 and carried about 50,000 vehicles per day in its first year of operation. The total project cost was approximately $1.5 billion.
In these same Marshes so well romanticized by Maxwell, Saddam would unleash an engineering project aimed at eradicating the Marsh Arabs. After the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam devoted huge resources to draining water from these marshes to make them uninhabitable as punishment for the residents who supported the uprising against his regime after that war.
Burning fossil fuels is the number one cause of global warming and has been a major concern for engineers worldwide. Energy demand around the world is expected to double by…
The Gotthard Base Tunnel is an active project beneath the Swiss Alps, expected to open in 2016. The completed Gotthard project will consist of two single-track with a route length…
Pushing engineering boundaries, the Millau Viaduct was built across one of the deepest valleys in France and is taller than the Eiffel Tower. The graceful bridge supported on needlelike piers is a result of rigor, precision and professionalism and received the 2006 International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Outstanding Structure Award.
There are some roads that are deliberately made dangerous either due to lack of alternate routes and then there is this road project in Yunnan province in China. Not only does it appear…