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From London Crossrail to Dubailand, world’s grandest projects under construction right now

Here are a few of the largest, biggest and grand projects across the world that are under construction right now

The skyscrapers are scaling new heights, airports are coming up with plush comforts and trains with high speed are being developed. Gigantic projects are being taken up across the globe.

Here are a few of the largest, biggest and grand projects across the world that are under construction right now.

Jubail II

Said to be one of the largest industrial projects in the world, Jubail Industrial City located in Saudi Arabia is expanding rapidly. Originally built in the 1970s, the project today is so huge that it has been broken into four phases.

Over 50,000 residential units will be added by 2026 as part of the expansion process. Apart from this, a six-lane highway is also being built between Jubail and Dammam to create a strong and effective transport system. The project will double the size of the Jubail Industrial City by 6,200 hectares.

Beijing Daxing International Airport

Touted to be the world’s largest international airport, as well as the busiest considering the passenger flow, Beijing’s Daxing International Airport is set to open in late 2019. Covering an area of 2,680 hectares the project is expected to serve Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

Media reports suggest that there could be upto nine runways and the airport can handle a footfall of 45 to 100 million passengers a year. It is made up of 1.6 million cubic metres of concrete, 52,000 tonnes of steel and spans a total 47 sq km (18 sq miles). The airport will be connected to Beijing by a high speed train with a top speed of 350 km an hour, as well as an inter-city train and a major expressway.

Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge

The bridge-tunnel system will link the three major cities on the Pearl River Delta in China. The 55 kilometer link is among the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. The link will also include a series of three cable-stayed bridges and an undersea tunnel apart from the three artificial islands spanning the Lingdingyang channel.

The Y-shaped bridge will slash the travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours to just 30 minutes. The structure was completed in November last year and will be open for vehicular movement this year.

The sea-bridge crossing will be open for vehicular movement this year

International Space Station

The ISS is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. Two more components are scheduled to be added to this project in the next two years.

London Crossrail

Crossrail is a new high-speed railway running underneath central London, and connecting Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, to Heathrow and Reading in the west. Slated to open in 2018, the crossrail is officially named the Elizabeth line, in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.

The track will make transportation system in London more quicker and accessible. It will also be integrated with London’s existing transport network and will be operated by Transport for London.

Elizabeth line train makes successful maiden voyage across Southeast London (Source: Crossrail)

Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai

Currently the world’s second largest airport, it is expected to cater to at least 160 million passengers once the expansion is completed. The first phase of the project includes building runways and terminal space to house 100 mammoth Airbus A380 double-decker jets at any given time. Emirates is expected to move its hub to the new airport shortly after the first expansion phase is complete.

Dubailand

Spread across an area of 278sqkm, the Dubailand theme park will include 45 mega projects and 200 sub projects. It will also be home to a few of the biggest hotels of the world. Said to be twice the size of Walt Disney World Resort, the project will include 30km of pedestrian pathways, 20km of jogging track, more than 14km of cycle tracks and 7km of nature trails. Once complete, the theme park will almost be equal to the size of London’s Hyde Park. It will also include 55 playgrounds for children, 45 sports grounds, five major events areas and retail space for shops, restaurants and coffee shops.

Once complete, the theme park will almost be equal to the size of London’s Hyde Park.

California high speed rail

Build at a cost of US $ 77million, the California high speed rail will link Los Angeles and San Francisco, cutting the travel time between the two to just two hours and 40 minutes. Future extensions are planned to connect to stations to San Diego County via the Inland Empire, and to Sacramento.

South to North Water Transfer Project, China

Also called as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, it aims to channel 44.8 billion cubic meters of fresh water annually from the Yangtze River in southern China to the north through three canal systems.

Said to be the largest of its kind, the project invloves drawing water from southern rivers and supplying it to the dry north. The project is expected to see the light of the day by 2050. When finished it will link China’s four main rivers – the Yangtze, Yellow River, Huaihe and Haihe.

When finished it will link China’s four main rivers – the Yangtze, Yellow River, Huaihe and Haihe. 

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