25 Major Construction and Infrastructure Projects That Weren't Here 25 Years Ago - ETS Cable Components

25 Major Construction and Infrastructure Projects That Weren’t Here 25 Years Ago ETS Cable Components – www.etscc.co.uk

25 Major Construction and Infrastructure Projects That Weren’t Here 25 Years Ago

ETS Cable Componentswww.etscc.co.uk

http://www.etscc.co.uk/



To celebrate our 25 years of service to the electrical industry, we've picked 25 of the most interesting,

impressive and astonishing building and infrastructure projects from around the world, that

were not here when we started business.

We've witnessed some amazing megaprojects and feats of engineering in the past quarter of a century. As a company, we've been lucky enough to supply products to some of these, including The Channel Tunnel, Hong Kong Airport, London Olympic Park

and The Shard, helping to create engineering history.



RUNGNADO MAY DAY STADIUM

Completed on 1st May 1989, the Rungnado May Day Stadium is regarded as the largest stadium in the world with a

staggering capacity of 150,000.

Said to resemble a magnolia blossom, the exact details behind the construction and costs of the stadium are not known, due to the secretive nature of the North

Korean Government.

1989 – North Korea



CHANNEL TUNNEL1994 – UK/France

The Channel Tunnel, also known as the 'Chunnel', is a 31.4 mile undersea rail tunnel linking Folkstone, Kent with

Coquelles, near Calais. The tunnel posses the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world with 23.5

miles being underwater.

Breaking through the final pieces of rock on 1st December 1990, it is the

first time the UK and mainland Europe has been linked since the Ice Age.



KANSAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Designed to relieve overcrowding at the Osaka Airport, which could not be expanded due to the densely

populated surrounding suburbs, the decision was made to build the airport on an artificial island.

When built, Kansai airport became the first airport to be built on a man-made island. Not only was it a world first,

but due to the high risk of earthquakes and typhoons, engineers had to come up with innovative preventative

solutions, such as sliding joints.

Not surprisingly the KIX airport was included in the “Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium” award by the

American Society of Civil Engineers.

1994 - Japan



The Petronius is a deepwater compliant tower oil platform located 210km southeast of New Orleans, USA,

operated by Chevron Corporation and Marathon Oil.

It holds the record for the tallest oil-rig structure and was recognised as the

tallest freestanding structure in the world until it was beaten by the Burj Khalifa in

2010 – Although this was debated as only 75 meters of the platform was

above water.

PETRONIUS OIL PLATFORM1997 – Gulf of Mexico



HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Commercially operational since 1998 and costing $20 billion, the airport is currently the world's busiest cargo gateway and is one of the world's

busiest passenger airports.

Similar to Kansai airport, Hong Kong international was built on an artificial

island formed by levelling two neighbouring islands and reclaiming

9.38km2 of seabed. Covering 12.48km2 it increased Hong Kong's total surface

area by 1%.

1998 – Hong Kong



AKASHI KAIKYO BRIDGE1998 - Japan

Costing around 500 million yen (£32 million), the Akashi Kaikyo bridge has

the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world at 1,991

metres.

Due to the high risk of typhoons and earthquakes the bridge is designed to

withstand wind of 178 mph and earthquakes measuring 8.5 on the

Richter Scale.



SHOABIA POWER & DESALINATION PLANT

Costing $850 million to build and with a installed capacity of 5,600 MW, the Shoabia plant is one of the world's largest oil-fired CCGT power plant

and the world's third largest integrated water and power plants.

2001 – Saudi Arabia



HIGH SPEED 1 (HS1)2003 – UK

Often called High Speed 1, HS1 or Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), this high speed rail line stretches 67 miles between London and

the UK side of the channel tunnel in Kent. Trains are able to reach speeds of up to

186mph on section 1 and 140mph on section two.

HS1 was the first introduction of high-speed rail to the UK and with the much debated

HS2 in the pipeline it might not be the last.



LANGELED PIPELINE

The Langeled Pipeline, originally known as Britpipe, is an underwater pipeline which runs 725 miles from

Nyhamna to Easington, transporting Norwegian natural gas to the UK.

Apart from the obvious issues of laying a subsea pipeline, engineers had to take into account the subzero temperatures of the ocean floor as well as the proposed route of the pipe being home to some of the stormiest

waters and strongest currents on the planet.

From it's opening, up until October 2011, the pipeline was the longest subsea pipeline in the world until it was surpassed by the Nord Stream pipe. Costing £1.7 billion

the pipeline is responsible to transporting 20% of Britain's peak gas demand.

2003 – UK/Norway



MILLAU VIADUCT2004 – France

Arguably one of the most striking projects from the list, the unmistakable Millau Viaduct is often considered one of the greatest engineering

achievements of all time.

Spanning the valley of the River Tarn, Southern France, one of the bridges masts stands at 343

meters above the base of the structure, 19 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower, making it the tallest

bridge in the world. The Millau viaduct also holds the record for the highest road bridge deck in

Europe.



TAIPAI 101

The iconic design of the Taipai 101 skyscapper makes it easily recognisable and commonly used within travel literature and international media.

However aside from the striking shape, Taipei 101 was the first building to break the half kilometre in

height mark and was officially ranked as the worlds tallest building until it was surpassed by the Burj

Khalifa.

Taipai 101 also features great green credentials by being awarded the LEED platinum certification, the

highest award in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Making it the largest and tallest 'green' building in the world.

2004 - Taiwan



PALM JUMERIAH2006 – Dubai, UAE

Dubai is known throughout the world as having some of the most impressive construction

projects in recent history, the Palm Jumeriah one of these. More than just an artificial island, The Palm is an artificial archipelago and is the smallest of three planned islands called 'Palm Islands' consisting of the Palm Jumeriah, Palm

Jebel Ali and Palm Deira.

Shapped, unsurprisingly like a palm tree, the Jumeriah Palm is currently the largest artificial

island in the world.



CENTRAL ARTERY/TUNNEL PROJECT (CA/T)

Also known as the 'Big Dig', Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project is a

megaproject that rerouted Interstate 93 into a 3.5 mile tunnel.

The CA/T project is the most expensive highway project in the US

and took over 25 years, from planning to opening, costing $14.6

billion, almost 200% more than originally planned.

2007 – United States



HEATHROW TERMINAL 52008 – UK

Opened in 2008, T5 is the largest free-standing structure within the UK and is designed to handle 35 million passengers per year. However the most impressive features of the Terminal are not in the building itself but in its integration of technology

and self-service.

With almost 100 self-service check-in kiosks, 90 check-in fast bag drops and a fleet of battery

powered driverless 'pods' that ferry passengers along dedicated guide ways. Terminal 5 is a vision

for the future of airport terminals.



BURJ KHALIFA

No list of feats of engineering would be complete without mentioning the ground-breaking Burj

Khalifa. Opening at the start of 2010, the skyscraper was conceived due to the desire for the Dubai economy to move away from an oil

based economy to one focusing on tourism, and iconic projects like this were needed to build

international recognition of the region.

Currently standing as the worlds-tallest man-made structure at 829.8m beating it's nearest

competitor the KVLY TV mast by 201m, the tower has a whole host of other world records and

awards, it truly is an iconic project and a testament to construction and engineering.

2010 – Dubai, UAE



ALTA WIND ENERGY CENTRE2010 – United States

The Alta Wind Farm is located in the Tehachapi Mountains is California, with an

installed capacity of 1,320 MW it is the largest wind farm in the world. This is set to

double to 3,000 MW due to a power purchase agreement with Southern

California Edison.

The project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5.2 million metric tons, which is the equivalent of taking over

400,000 cars of the road.



BEIJING-SHANGHAI HIGH SPEED RAILWAY

Connecting two major economic zones within China, the Beijing-Shanghai railway is

the longest high-speed railway ever constructed in a single phase. With a

maximum speed of 186mph, the 811 mile journey takes 4 hours, 48 minutes to

complete, compared to 9 hours, 49 minutes on the parallel conventional railway.

The $32 billion high speed line also features the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge and the Tianjin Grand Bridge which hold the record

for the longest and second longest bridges in the world respectively.

2011 - China



AUGA CALIENTE SOLAR PROJECT 2010 – United States

First commissioned in 2011, the Auga Caliente Solar Project is due to

completed in 2014, when it will reach an installed capacity of 397 MW. Currently with 250 MW connected to the grid, it is

the largest operational photovoltaic power plant in the world.

The PV power plant is largest enough to power 100,000 average American

homes.



CAPITAL GATE

Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi is a skyscraper designed with a striking 18 degree lean.

Standing at 160 metres tall, the unmistakable building holds the world record for the furthest leaning man-made tower, more than 4 times

that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The immense gravitational pull caused by the 18 degree incline is countered by the steel

reinforced concrete core being built slightly off centre, a technology called a 'Pre-cambered core'. The structure is also anchored to the ground by 490 piles which are each drilled between 20 and 30 metres into the ground.

2011 – Abu Dhabi, UAE



THREE GORGES DAM2012 - China

The Three Gorges is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River in China. It is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity with 22,500 MW. The dam itself stands 600 foot high and holds a massive 1.4 trillion cubic feet of water behind 100 million cubic feet of concrete.

Although the dam caused a significant ecological changes, the Chinese Government regard the

megaproject as a historic engineering, social and economic success, due to the reduction of

greenhouse gas emissions and development of state of the art turbines.



TOKYO SKYTREE

The Skytree is a broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower in Tokyo, Japan. Building work was completed on the tower in 2012,

topping out at 634m making it the world tallest tower and the second tallest structure after the

Burj Khalifa.

Due to Japan's susceptibility to earthquakes, the tower had to include seismic proofing. For

the Tokyo Skytree this comes in the form of the internal pillar is attached to the tower frame

with oil dampers, which act as cushions during an earthquake, absorbing up to 50% of the

energy from an earthquake.

2012 - Japan



THE SHARD2012 - UK

Also known as Shard of Glass or Shard London Bridge, The Shard is a 87 storey, 306 metre

skyscraper in London. It is the tallest building in the European Union and is the second tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom.

Featuring 11,000 panes of glass with a surface area of 56,000 square metres, The Shard

features a sophisticated use of glazing with expressive facades of angled glass panes,

intended to reflect the sky so the appearance of the building changes according to the weather

and seasons.



LONDON OLYMPIC PARK

Built for the 2012 Olympic Games, the Stratford area of London was regenerated

into the largest urban park built within Europe for 150 years.

Engineering highlights include the aquatics centre, which was designed with removable

‘wings’ to accommodate the spectators during the event, but reduce the capacity to

2,500 once the games had finished.

Over 130 km of power cables were laid in 6km of tunnels to power the park.

2012 - UK



LONDON ARRAY

Located in the Thames Estuary, the London Array is the world largest

offshore wind farm with a nameplate capacity of 1000 MW.

Costing £1.8 billion, the site consists of 341 3.6 MW turbines, two offshore substations, connected together with 130 miles of 33kV array cables, with

the substations connected to mainland Britain by four 150kV subsea export

cables.

2013 - UK



The most recent project on the list, bringing us into 2013, the New Century Global Centre

in Chengdu, China is recognised as the world's largest freestanding building, capable

of fitting 20 Sydney Opera Houses inside.

With an astonishing 19 million sq.ft of usable space, the global centre contains shopping

centres, water park, ice skating rink, a Mediterranean village and multiple hotels

with a floor plan almost the size of Monaco.

NEW CENTURY GLOBAL CENTRE 2013 - China



ETS Cable Components are worldwide distributors of LV-MV-HV power cable

accessories and equipment.

In our 25 year history, we’ve been involved with some of the worlds most iconic projects,

including some from this list.

Supplying the follow electrical equipment:

LV Cable Glands, Cleats, Joints & TerminalsMV Jointing & Termination Systems

Cable Tray, Ladder and Channel SystemsCompression Tool Hire, Sales & Repair

+44(0)208 405 6789

[email protected]

www.etscc.co.uk




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25 Major Construction and Infrastructure Projects That Weren't Here 25 Years Ago - ETS Cable Components