Experts from the British construction and engineering company MTX Contracts and the Finch Group, which specializes in real estate, have released a list of the most expensive construction projects in the world.
Construction projects are expensive and time-consuming, but the most ambitious projects can cost billions of dollars.
Most Expensive Construction Projects of All Time
1. National Interstate and Defense Highway System – $559 Billion
As President Dwight D. Eisenhower took office in 1956, work started on building new routes and improving old ones so that they could connect to the interstate highway system.
The National Interstate and Defense Highway System is one of the most expensive construction projects of all time. The Interstate Highway System was built much later than planned and cost much more than planned, but it did what it was supposed to do.
A sound transportation system was set up so that, in an emergency, both troops and civilians could get to their destinations quickly.
2. International Space Station – $160 Billion
The idea behind this project comes from all over the world, not just the name. The price of the space station, which is about $160 billion today, has been split among 14 different countries.
The International Space Station (ISS) was built on Earth and put together in space. How do I leave the space station? Going off into the ocean. This could be one way to drown billions of “evergreen presidents.”
3. Kashagan Oil and Gas Field – $116 Billion
The most extensive oil field in the Caspian Sea is being developed by the North Caspian Operating Company, which comprises seven companies from different countries.
Along with building manufactured islands to help the field grow, many problems occurred during construction, such as digging in high-pressure oil fields. This field is thought to have 1.5 to 10.5 billion tons of oil stock.
4. King Abdullah’s City – $100 Billion
This city still needs to be finished, but it will be a little bigger than Washington, DC, and 2 million people will live there. It’s only an hour’s drive from Mecca and will become one of the most popular tourist spots in Saudi Arabia. It will have villas, a big airport, universities, and the most modern port in the area.
King Abdullah, who has since died, planned the city to diversify the country’s income. EGoKA had to bet on the growth of industry, transportation, and services instead of oil. It was expected to create 1 million jobs on its 173-square-kilometer land area.
But a big company has yet to come to the beautiful city, even though 90 km of roads have already been built there.
5. Dubai Amusement Park – $76 Billion.
A big pleasure project that still needs to be finished, but it is one of the world’s most expensive building projects. Dubai needs a family-friendly draw, but this one will need help to handle the price.
The Dubiland theme park is now open to the public. A Disney theme park and an IMAX theater will be built inside the world’s most extensive and expensive entertainment complex.
The design will be based on Arabic folklore. It will also have copies of the world’s most famous sites, like the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower.
6. Songdo International Business District – $40 Billion
It’s a “smart city” built from scratch on an island that was taken back from the water and is 65 km from Seoul. At the moment, it’s the biggest and most successful investment project for private real estate owners.
American company Gale International owns 61% of the whole stock. South Korean company Posco owns 30%, and American company Morgan Stanley owns 9%.
Songdo residents can videoconference with their neighbors thanks to the newest technology. Sensors in every building and on the street collect data used to control the lights on the street, warn the police of criminal activity, or let bus riders know when the next bus is coming.
The Songdo Business District was made to bring in businesspeople and tourists from the nearby Incheon International Airport. With deer and rabbits, it is planned to make copies of attractions from other places, like Central Park.
7. California High-Speed Railroad – $33 Billion
Building the high-speed train in California, about 837 kilometers long, began in 2015. The train was meant to link San Francisco and Los Angeles. Later, the cost went up to $77 billion, and the project’s start date was pushed back 13 years to 2033.
But in 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was leaving one of the most expensive building projects and putting all his time into building a 275-kilometer section of the line in the California Valley. This site might be a part of a more significant project in the future.
8. Kansai International Airport – $29 Billion
Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city, is home to one of the strangest airports in the world. Since it is built on an artificial island, it can’t be damaged by Japan’s frequent earthquakes.
Kansai is linked to the city by a three-kilometer bridge. The fund mainly bought metal support columns and other parts that help the building stand.
9. Great Boston Tunnel – $23 Billion
At the close of the 20th century, Boston had too many cars, like most megacities. There were times when traffic jams blocked the whole city. Putting in the “Big Dig,” also known as the “Big Trench” or “Big Boston Tunnel,” was the answer to this problem.
The 8-lane tunnel was built with the help of more than 5,000 people. Strangely, only a few houses were damaged during the construction of such a big project.
It took ten years longer than planned and cost several million dollars more than planned to finish the project on the last day of 2007.
10. The Tunnel under the English Channel (Chunnel) – $22.4 Billion
The tunnel goes from the UK to France and is 50,450 meters long. Also, 39 kilometers of the tunnel are underwater, which is the most extended tube of its kind ever built.
The builders took 8 million cubic meters of rock during the job. The French sent it back to the sea after being mixed with water. But the British used the rock they dug up to make a fake Shakespeare cape, which they then turned into a park.
Safety and environmental rules kept getting stricter, making construction costs 80% higher than expected. The project began in 1988 and was finished in 1994.
The Eurotunnel is one of the seven wonders of the modern world, say engineers from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
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