With the global population continuing to expand and with our world facing immense challenges
from housing to transportation and our use of natural resources, super-sized construction
projects have begun to proliferate.
With eye-watering budgets, extreme complexity, staggering scale and far-reaching impacts,
these are some of the world’s most impressive megaprojects.
As the demand for air travel continues to grow, and with the United States preparing
to host both the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games, airports across the country
- from LaGuardia to LAX - are undergoing multi-billion-dollar overhauls.
The USD $8.5BN upgrade to Chicago’s O’Hare International will mark the first comprehensive
redevelopment and expansion of the terminal core in the airport’s history.
The masterplan will see Terminal 5 expanded while Terminal 2 will be completely rebuilt,
becoming a global transfer hub with two satellite concourses, adding 280,000 square metres of
space and 50 additional gates to the airport.
To minimise disruption, the new concourses will be built first, allowing them to take
over operations from Terminal 2 when the existing building is demolished.
Work on Terminal 5 is scheduled to complete by 2022 and subsequent phases will open in
stages up to 2028.
A joint project between 35 nations, the ITER (formerly known as the International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor), is currently under construction in France.
Once completed the USD £20BN centre will allow scientists to recreate the fusion reactions
that take place inside the Sun, potentially revolutionising energy production.
Consisting of three main buildings, the project is centred around the tokamak, a magnetic
chamber that will contain the plasma created when particles are heated to over 150 million
degrees Celsius and collide to produce fusion energy.
Construction of the vast building that houses the reactor began in 2013, requiring the development
of 10 different types of concrete to shield workers from radiation.
With more than 60% of the reactor complex already complete, work is now underway on
the tokamak within its 337,000-tonne housing chamber.
The entire complex is due to come online in 2025.
Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam sits alongside Nigeria’s Eko Atlantic and Egypt’s USD
$58BN new capital as one of Africa’s most impressive megaprojects.
With work first starting back in 2011, the dam will become the continent’s largest
hydroelectric plant, generating some 6.45 gigawatts of power, when it completes in 2022.
Standing 155 metres tall and extending almost 1,800 metres across the Blue Nile, the main
structure is being formed with over 10 million tonnes of concrete, holding back 74 cubic
kilometres of water when the reservoir is full.
While the dam will transform Ethiopia’s energy production, the project has been marred
in controversy since its inception.
20,000 people were relocated to enable the construction works and many have raised concerns
over the project’s USD $4.8 BN price tag - which represents roughly 6% of Ethiopia’s
entire GDP and saw funding diverted away for other much-needed energy projects.
The dam has also re-ignited an ongoing dispute between Ethiopia and the downstream nations
of Sudan and Egypt who see the project as an attempt by the Ethiopian government to
gain regional influence.
Since its first bullet-train shot onto the world stage in 1964, Japan has pioneered the
development of high-speed rail.
While competition from Europe and China has seen the title of ‘“world’s fastest
trains” move west in recent years, the new Chuo Shinkansen - with its maglev carriages
able to reach speeds of over 500 kilometres per hour - will see Japan reclaim the title.
Despite Tokyo and Nagoya sitting 284 kilometres apart, the new line will bring the two cities
within 40 minutes of each other.
Set to become one of the shortest routes on the Shinkansen network, 90% of the trackway
will run underground and beneath the Japanese Alps, reducing the travel distance by over
50 kilometres and saving USD $4.9 billion over alternative options.
With the new line set to open in 2027, plans are already underway for an extension to link
Nagoya with Osaka - a USD $30.5BN megaproject in itself.
Rising 271 meters above Sydney’s emerging Barangaroo district, the 75-storey One Barangaroo
- also known as Crown Sydney - will become the city's tallest building.
Designed by WilkinsonEyre, the tower’s sculptural form is based around three twisting petals
and will contain a casino, Australia’s first six-star hotel and 82 luxury apartments overlooking
the famous harbour.
With its form ensuring that no two rooms are the same, the tower is clad in over 7,000
unique triangle-shaped panels giving it a crystalline appearance as it rises.
Internally the complex will offer extreme luxury with a spa, gym, open-air tennis court,
two rooftop infinity pools and Michelin Star restaurant.
Topping out in November 2019 and due to open in 2021, One Barangaroo is already making
its mark on the city’s skyline.
If you enjoyed this video and would like to get more from the definitive video channel
for construction, subscribe to The B1M.