7 Wonders of the Modern World

#7 Netherlands North Sea Protection Works

#6 Panama CanalThis Canal connects the Atlantic with the Pacific. It was explored by the King of Spain in 1532 however his engineers and ambassadors where of the opinion it was impossible, and back then, it probably was. After this, the French attempted to construct it however gave up due to the loss of life it created by accidents and jungle illness. Then the Americans took over. They used a different design which essentially had the ships being lowered and raised during different stages of the canal. These mechanisms where called locks and used nearby dams. It is 77km long and opened in 1914. It made the wonders list in 1994.

#5 Itaipu Dam

This is a ridiculous man made dam in Brazil, which essentially powers 25% of the country in Brazil and 90% of its neighbour, Paraguay! Essentially it creates as much energy as 434,000 barrels of oil per day would. It was started in 1971 and was finished in 1984. Its 225 meters tall and 7.2km long and cost a whopping $18 billion dollars. It required 40,000 workers to build and while the construction was happening, a new little community for them was built, much like the mine sites these days, however they did not fly in and fly out, but lived there until the end of the project.

#4 Golden Gate BridgeIt is 2,737 meters long. A ridiculous length! It cost approx. $35 million to construct in 1937, which back then, was again a ridiculous amount of money. Its constantly being painted. As soon as they get to one end, they start painting again, and this process uses 10,000 gallons of paint a year. It made the wonders list ion 1994. It took 4.5 years to construct and the use of it is around 40,000,000 vehicles per year, which is approx. 110,000 vehicles per day. It weighs 887,000 tons….Oh, and it’s a suicide hotspot, with people jumping from it since 1937 totalling over 1300.

#3 Empire State Building

It is only 4 feet taller than the Chrysler Building. It stands at 1,454 feet. You can actually moor a blimp to its mast! It occurred once in 1931. It has had a plane smash into it…and it survived (the building I mean, not the plane). It has 102 floors. It held its titled of world’s tallest skyscraper until 1972.

#2 The CN Tower

This was actually built to help spread communication throughout the city as the skyscrapers started blocking radio and microwave signals. They started building it in 1972 and took 4 years to complete. During the architecture decided to add on a sky deck where people could go have a look at the skyline from above. It hit 553 meters high (or 1,815 ft) and was the tallest structure until 2007. It get shit by lighting approximately 75 times per year and has a weight equivalent to 35 Eiffel Towers. It was crowned into the wonders list in 1995.

#1 Channel Tunnel

This is a tunnel under the sea! May not sound that impressive, but this tunnel actually links France and England! Completed in 1994, its length is approximately 50 km or 31 miles. It sits approximately 150 meters under the sea. It was conceived in the year 1802 and in 1857 an engineer actually started diving under the channel to see if it was indeed possible. Yes, he was diving back in 1857. The tunnel only handles trains, however, that’s not saying you can’t drive to a special stop and drive onto a special a carriage and be taken by train in your car under the tunnel! It was one of the largest construction projects commenced and makes the list of wonders!