THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE MODERN WORLD

By. Krista Gilles-Rouse

Introduction• The American Society of Civil Engineers

(ASCE) choose the greatest civil engineering achievements of the 20th century (1994) to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

• ASCE honored the following civil engineering marvels: Channel Tunnel (England & France) CN Tower (Toronto) Empire State Building (New York) Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco) Itaipu Dam (Brazil/Paraguay) Netherlands North Sea Protection

Works (Netherlands) Panama Canal (Panama)

Empire State Building• Finished being built in 1931• At 1,250 ft. the Empire State

Building is the best-known skyscraper in the world, and was by far the tallest building in the world for more than 40 years.

• The building's most astonishing feat however, was the speed in which it rose into the New York City skyline.

• Construction was completed in only one year and 45 days, without requiring overtime.

Itaipu Dam• Spans the Parana River at

the Brazil/Paraguay border.• The Itaipu Dam is the

world's largest hydroelectric power plant.

• Completed in 1991, it took 16 years to build this series of dams whose length totals 7,744 m.

• It used 15 times more concrete than the Channel Tunnel.

Channel Tunnel• Known as the Chunnel, the

Channel Tunnel links France and England.

• It is 31 mi (9 m) long, and 23 of those miles are 150 ft (45.7 m) beneath the seabed of the English Channel.

• Through two of the tubes rush the broadest trains ever built -- double decker behemoths 14 ft. across -- traveling close to 100 mph.

Panama Canal• The Panama Canal is one of civil

engineering's greatest triumphs.• It took 34 years to create this 50-

mile-long canal across the Isthmus of Panama.

• The amount of digging required and the size of its locks helped make it the most expensive project in American history at that time.

• It was also the most deadly project in American history: About 80,000 people died (most from disease) during construction of the Panama Canal.

CN Tower• From 1976 to 2007, the CN

Tower was the world's tallest freestanding structure.

• It looms about one-third of a mile high (1,815 ft) above Toronto, Canada.

• It was built at an amazing rate of 18 ft. per day.

• Designed with the aid of a wind tunnel, the CN Tower can withstand 260-mph gusts.

• The SkyPod, a seven-story structure 1,100 ft. high, was built around the base of the tower.

Netherlands North Sea Protection Works

• This vast and complex system of dams, floodgates, storm surge barriers and other engineered works literally allows the Netherlands to exist.

• The biggest part of the Netherlands North Sea Protection Works was a two-mile-long moveable surge barrier across an estuary finished in 1986.

• It is made of 65 concrete piers each weighing 18,000 tons.

Golden Gate Bridge• More than 60 years after its

completion, the Golden Gate Bridge remains the world's tallest suspension bridge.

• It connects San Francisco and Marin County.

• It took about four years to complete the beautiful 1.2-mile-long (1.9 km) bridge.

• It is held by 80,000 mi (128,747 km) worth of steel wire.

• Hanging from two 746-ft-high towers, its cables -- each a yard thick --are the biggest ever to support a bridge.

Interview

• My brother, Stephen Florival– Job: Production for CBS Sports, travels in U.S. for

work.

1. Have you been to any of the Seven Wonders? If you have, which one(s) did you go to?

2. Which one did you like the most?3. If you had to propose to your wife at one of

the Seven Wonders, which one would you pick and why?

Article• Why are there only Seven Wonders of the World?• There are so many other remarkable places other

than the Seven Wonders. Why don’t they get the same recognition as them.

• There are only Seven Wonders because the Seven Wonders are the above average and above extraordinary. They are the Seven Wonders because no other creation is as unique.

• “Why are there only Seven Wonders of the World?." ReSource Media RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2013. <http://portal.resourcemedia.com/?p=392>.

Follow-Up• Go to www.asce.org/ to find out more about this

organization, the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, and more.

• Or you can visit http://www.christiealwis.com/knowledge%20sharing/modernwonders.pdf

• Seven Wonders of Engineering by Ron Miller

Questions

1. If you were chosen to make the Eighth Wonder of the world, what would it be and where would it be located?

2. If you could visit only one of the Seven Wonders, which one would you visit?

3. Have you been to any of the Seven Wonders? If yes, then which one(s)?

References

• "7 Wonders of the Modern World." Seven Wonders of the Modern World Slideshow. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2013.

• "CIVL 1101." CIVL 1101. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2013.

• "Seven Wonders of the Modern World." Seven Wonders of the Modern World. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2013.

• "Seven Wonders." Seven Wonders. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2013.