Five of the Biggest Projects in the World

Project management can be used to complete small or large-scale jobs, ranging from building skyscrapers to transit systems. It has been utilized in some of the biggest projects in the world to guide project design and execution. Project management can also enable the systematic completion of work within budget and scope parameters by minimizing risk and by meeting or exceeding the expectations of stakeholders.

Here’s a look at the five of the largest construction projects in the world, including their progress or completion time and building specifics.

Sky City 1000

This architectural project was first proposed in 1989 as a giant skyscraper in the city of Tokyo. The 1,000-meter-tall structure, which has yet to be built by Takenaka Construction Co. Ltd., is envisioned as an architectural marvel with 14 aerial bases, called Space Plateaus, stacked on top of each other. Each Space Plateau will be designed to house commercial offices, public amenities like movie theaters and community needs such as classrooms. The current plan calls for 35,000 people to live full time in the building with another 100,000 people working there.

New York Subway System

Since its opening in 1904, the New York Subway System has grown to be one of the world’s largest and most diverse transit systems. In the early 20^th century, a five-cent fare could take passengers from City Hall to 145^th Street and Broadway. Today, a 30-day unlimited travel card typically costs $112 and allows passengers to ride across 656 miles of track.

The system runs underground (277 stations) and elevated (155) and incorporates a maze of bridges (68) and underwater tunnels (14). It operates via an extensive network of 11,450 signals, relays (250,000) and switches (2,637) and uses 1.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually – roughly what it would take to light up the City of Buffalo for a whole year.

The Big Dig

Referred to as, “America’s most ambitious public works project,” The Big Dig was a 19-year highway project, largely completed in early 2006. It was designed to relieve traffic congestion and enhance mobility in the Boston area. Apropos to its name, the project required the excavation of approximately 16 million cubic yards of dirt in order to build 161 lanes of highway, half in tunnels, in a 7.5 mile corridor.

Removing that much dirt (which could fill a stadium to the rim 16 times) took more than 541,000 truckloads, much of which went to landfills. While dirt was being removed, concrete was placed – over 3.8 million cubic yards of it, or enough to build a sidewalk three feet wide and four inches thick that would run between Boston to San Francisco three times.

Three Gorges Dam

China embarked on the largest water conservation project in the world with its hydroelectric Three Gorges Dam, which spans the Yangtze River. The project entailed the removal of 102.59 million cubic meters of stone and earth and mixing and pouring 27.15 million cubic meters of cement. Structurally, it involved the erection of 281,000 tons of metal structures.

Some 354,000 tons of reinforcing bars were made and erected, along with 231 square meters of leak-proof concrete walls. In addition to serving as a power source, the dam was also intended to increase the Yangtze River’s shipping capacity and reduce the frequency of flooding, with its flood storage capacity of 22 cubic kilometers.

International Space Station

The International Space Station serves as both an orbiting laboratory and a port for various spacecraft. In addition, more than 200 astronauts from around the world have visited this galactic destination since it was launched in 2000.

Spanning the area of a United States football field, its module length is 167.3 feet, truss length 357.5 feet, solar array length 239.4 feet, and its mass is approximately 925,000 pounds. The station’s habitable volume is 13,696 cubic feet and its pressurized volume is 32,333 cubic feet (equal to a Boeing 747).

Using Project Management in the World’s Largest Construction Project

Due to the complexity of large construction projects, it’s necessary to utilize elements of project management to keep the work organized, on schedule and within budget. Project Management provides many other benefits for large or small scale projects across all industries. With education and training, professionals can learn how to apply project management to their roles and business objectives.