Top 10 Modern Engineering Marvels in the World

1. Millau Viaduct (Millau, France)

Record it breaks: Tallest cable-stayed road bridge

• The bridge’s highest tower soars to 1,125 feet, making it the tallest cable-stayed road bridge in the world. Interestingly, the Millau Viaduct’s tallest towers surpass the Eiffel Tower (986 feet) and are almost as tall as the Empire State Building (1,250 feet). It is the 12th highest bridge in the world at 890 feet high below road deck (The Gateway Arch is 630 feet tall) and spans 8,071 feet (1 ½ miles). Route from Paris to Barcelona. 

2. The Venice Tide Barrier Project (Venice, Italy)

Record it breaks: World’s largest flood prevention project

• This innovative engineering feat, which consists of 78 rotating gates, is designed to keep the sea waters from entering the Venetian Lagoon if high tides and storms are in the forecast. The gates, each 6,500 square feet, are large metal boxes filled with water that rest at the bottom of the sea. When a tide of more than 3 ½ feet is forecast the water is emptied from the gates using compressed air. The gates will rise to the top of the water, blocking the sea from the lagoon, therefore stopping the tide flow.

3. National Stadium a.k.a. “Bird’s Nest” (Beijing, China)

Record it breaks: World’s largest steel structure

• The stadium is made up of two independent frames that are set 50 feet apart—an inner concrete red bowl for seating and an outer steel frame weighing 42,000 tons. The original design called for a retractable roof. 

4. The Bailong Elevator (Zhangjiajie, China)

Record it breaks: The highest and heaviest outdoor elevator

• The Bailong Elevator is the highest and heaviest outdoor elevator in the world. It is 1,070 feet high and consists of three double-story glass elevators. Also known as “Hundred Dragons Elevator,” can carry 50 people in one trip with a total of 18,000 people daily.

5. Palm Islands (Dubai)

Record it breaks: The world’s largest artificial island

• This is the largest man-made set of islands

6. The Large Hadron Collider (underground in Geneva, Switzerland)

Record it breaks: The largest and highest-energy particle accelerator

• This modern engineering marvel lies underground in a 574-foot long circular tunnel with a 17-mile circumference.Large Hadron Collider as a science experiment.Using superconducting magnets.It was built to answer many basic questions of science and the universe and to further develop technologies, such as medical imaging, electronics, radiation processing, new manufacturing processes and more.

7. Three Gorges Dam (Sandouping, Hubei, China)

Record it breaks: The world’s largest hydroelectric power station and world’s largest concrete structure

• This innovative engineering feat creates electricity equal to 18 nuclear power plants.

8. Channel Tunnel

Record it breaks: World’s longest stretch of underwater tunnel

• Operating speed‎: ‎160 kilometres per hour.

• The Channel Tunnel, also known as the Chunnel, is a 32- mile underwater rail tunnel that links Folkstone, England and Coquelles, France beneath the English Channel. A joint venture between England and France.
• Line length‎: ‎50.45 km (31.35 mi)

9. Chandra X-ray Observatory

Record it breaks: World’s most power x-ray telescope

• x-ray images from high-energy regions of the universe.

10. The New Valley Project (Western Desert of Egypt)

Record it breaks: Largest development project in Egypt

•  transforming over 500,000 acres of desert into agricultural land.