The construction industry record holders
The largest building
The largest building in the world stands in Chengdu, China. The New Century Global Centre may "only" be 100 metres high, but it boasts an incredible 1.76 million square metres of usable space over several floors and low levels on a surface area of 200,000 square metres. As a comparison: The Sydney Opera would fit into this building 20 times, and even the American Pentagon three times. This makes the New Century Global Centre five times bigger than the biggest building in Europe, the Palace of Parliament in the Romanian capital Bucharest, with a surface area of 365,000 square metres.
In addition to its own beach, the world's biggest building has a 14-screen cinema, two five-star hotels, as well as various shopping centres and a Christian church. Impressive, that the building was erected in just three years.
The values of the New Century Global Centre are impressive, but they seem tiny compared to 'The Line': the building is being constructed in the Desert of Saudi Arabia. Once it is finished, it is supposed to be fully mirrored, 170 kilometers long, 500 meters high and a comparatively narrow 200 meters wide. The plans envisage housing for up to nine million people. That is more than the number of people living in Switzerland (around 8.7 million).
Construction was begun in 2021. It is as yet unclear how long construction will take. The first million people are expected to be able to move in by 2030. They will obtain energy from renewable sources. They are also expected to propel the underground high-speed train expected to cross the complex from one end to another in 20 minutes.
The tallest building
Opened in 2010, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai boasts an overall height of 830 meters, with 163 usable levels. This means that it is approximately 2.5 times as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Thorough post tests were made during the work done in preparation for the foundation in 2004, including one with a mass of 6,000 tons. The building stands on a 7,000 square metre wide, almost four-metre-thick reinforced concrete slab. A total of 330,000 cubic meters of concrete was used. The work was carried out round the clock in shifts of 2,400 workers each.
But, it even goes higher: in 2011, the construction of the Dubai Creek Towers began. After delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now scheduled to be completed in 2025. The project manager has not yet revealed exactly how high it will be. It is thought it could pass the 1,000-metre mark.
This was also planned for the Jeddah Tower (1,007 meters), which was to be located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. But construction was paused in 2018 at 70 floors, or 256 meters. It was supposed to continue in 2020, but that didn't materialize.
However, it might not keep its title as the world's tallest building for long: tenders are now being invited for a building about two kilometres long in Saudi Arabia. More precisely, on an 18 square meter terrain in the capital, Riad.
The largest hotel
This title has been held by Malaysia's First World Hotel since 2006. At that time, it offered 6,118 rooms. Since then, a few more have been added. Today it has a total of 7,351 rooms. Before the Corona pandemic, up to four million guests per year are said to have spent the night there.
The colourful building is located 50 kilometers from the capital, Kuala Lumpur, in a jungle area. The guests had to travel the last meters by gondola lift. When they arrive, there is a wide variety of attractions. They include the largest indoor snow park in the country, a golf course, and a casino.
However, it's not clear how long the First World Hotel will remain the world's largest. That is due to the Abraj Kudai, the construction of which, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has been halted. It would have about 10,000 rooms on a floor area of 64,000 square meters with a floor space of 1.4 million square meters. According to plans, they would be divided over ten towers of varying heights.
No less spectacular is another ambitious proposal in Dubai. There are plans there for a hotel in the shape of the world. With a height of 224 meters, its architectural mirror image is supposed to extend to 622 meters. Up to 4,000 rooms could fit into the artificial mirror image of the moon.
The longest pipeline
8,704 kilometres – that is the length of the West/East Pipeline II (WEP II) for gas in China. This consists of a truck line and eight branches and extends from Horgos in the Northwest of the country from Xinjiang to Shanghai and Hongkong as well as to Guangzhou in Guangdong After four years of construction, it was completed and put into service in 2012. As per the operator PetroChina West-East Gas Pipeline Company, the pipeline has a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters per year.
WEP II is part of the three-part Chinese West-East Gas Pipeline Project, whose first section has been going on since 2004 and now stretches from the East across the Middle Kingdom to the West. It has a total length of more than 20,000 kilometres and can transport 77 billion cubic metres of gas per year. There are currently no plans that are known of for even bigger pipelines.
The largest hydro-electric power station
The world's largest hydroelectric power plant (in terms of power output) is the Three Gorges Dam in China, in the Hubei Province. The installed capacity is a massive 22.5 gigawatts. The structure stretches over more than 2.3 kilometres, incl. boat lift and locks. The dam owes its name to the reservoir, which extends over more than 600 kilometres, through three gorges.
Hardly any other construction projects have been quite so controversial in recent years. Supporters point to the improved flood protection. Opponents of the project, on the other hand, base their arguments on the downsides for flora and fauna, and the geological risk potential due to the construction project. Construction started in 1993. In 2008, the last of 26 turbines was commissioned. Originally the project was expected to cost 26 billion dollars; the final cost was nearly 75 billion.
A planned hydropower plant in Tibet is also the subject of much criticism. This is to be built on the upper reaches of Brahmaputra in the Himalayas and will span the world's longest and deepest Canyon with a height of 1,500 meters. The expected output is estimated at 300 billion kilowatts of electricity. There is opposition to the project due to the location being in an area prone to earthquakes. It is also controversial for environmental reasons. It is still unclear if and when construction will begin.
The longest bridge
The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in Eastern China measures exactly 164.8 kilometres. The railway viaduct was constructed from 2008 to 2010, by at times over 10,000 employees. Predominantly prefabricated parts were used for this. In June 2011 the first high-speed train raced over Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge. The cost stood at an estimated 8.5 billion dollars.
The largest stadium
The largest stadium in the world has been standing in Ahmedabad, India since February 2020. It is called Narendra Modi Stadium and can hold up to 132,000 cricket fans. It cost around 101.4 million euros. Not only 100,000 visitors attended the opening, but also the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US President Donald Trump. The latter travelled there specially for the event.
The Narendra Modi Stadium is based on an older stadium with 54,000 seats. With an area of 63 hectares, it is more than twice as big as its forerunners. Under the roof of the modernized complex, there is a cricket academy, with apartments for 40 athletes and six training sites. In addition, there is a swimming pool with Olympic dimensions there.
The tallest buildings in Germany
The highest structure in Germany is currently the Berlin TV tower, with a total height of 368 meters.
The tallest skyscraper is the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt am Main at 259 meters. There is competition for it in Berlin. A building towering 300 meters high is supposed to be erected in the grounds of the Europa Center. At the moment it's not known if the plans will be realized.
The highest viaduct is the Kocher Viaduct above Geislingen am Kocher, (Schwäbisch-Hall) at 185 meters above ground at its highest point.