Lists

10 of the World’s Largest Construction Projects

List of the biggest construction projects in the world.

Updated on

August 5, 2021

Workers at a construction site. PHOTO | FILE

Details of the largest construction projects in the world in 2021, including Al Maktoum International Airport, Jubail II, Dubailand, and International Space Station among others.

1. Al Maktoum International Airport | Dubai

Major expansion work is underway at the Al Maktoum International Airport (Dubai World Central) in Jebel Ali, Dubai, in a bid to raise its passenger capacity to 220 million a year.

The project, which is being undertaken by the Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects, is set to make DWC the world’s largest airport in terms of size and passenger capacity by 2050.

The DWC expansion project is being executed in two phases over the next six to eight years.

Phase one alone is estimated to cost $32.67 billion.

A passenger terminal expansion project, which was initiated in March 2016, was completed in 2018 – raising the airport’s capacity from 5 million to 26.5 million passengers a year.

Work is ongoing for the latest phase of expansion.

2. Jubail II | Saudi Arabia

Jubail Industrial City, which sits on the Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, is undergoing an expansion that will further cement its position as the largest industrial city in the world.

Dubbed Jubail II, the project is expected to cost $80 billion, making it the world’s largest civil engineering project. The expansion work will double the size of the 30-year-old city.

Construction of Jubail II is so huge a project that it has been broken into four phases with the entire industrial city scheduled for completion in 2026.

On completion, Jubail II will have outstanding facilities such as an 800,000-cubic-meter desalination plant, two large ports built on an artificial harbor protected by 11 miles of breakwater, and a refinery with a production capacity of at least 350,000 barrels per day.

3. Dubailand | Dubai

When it was announced in 2003, Dubailand – an entertainment complex that is underway in Dubai – earned a slot among the most ambitious projects ever proposed in the world.

The $64.3 billion project, which is owned by Tatweer – a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, was stopped during the 2008 Dubai financial crisis.

Work resumed in 2013 after $55 billion was raised towards the project.

At 278 sq. km, Dubailand will be twice the size of Walt Disney World Resort and will be the biggest collection of theme parks in the world – although none of its theme parks will unseat Disney’s Animal Kingdom from its position as the world’s largest theme park.

4. International Space Station | Space

The International Space Station (ISS) is a habitable artificial satellite in low orbit earth – created by a consortium of 15 nations and five space agencies, including NASA, to serve as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory.

The ISS, which has been underway since 1998, is the size of a football field and has a scheduled construction cost of $150 billion.

The final cost of the ISS and its planned expansions could exceed $1 trillion, by which point the facility could become a habitat for up to 1 million off-planet inhabitants.

5. South-North Water Diversion Project | China

The South-North Water Diversion Project is one of the biggest construction projects in the world, involving the transfer of water from southern Chinese rivers to the dry north of China.

The project, which is expected to cost $62 billion, has been underway since August 2002 with completion expected to happen in 2050.

The South-North Water Transfer Project involves the construction of three gigantic canals, each more than 600 miles long, to move water from China’s four main rivers: Huaihe, Haihe, Yangtze, and Yellow River.

On completion, the facility will divert 44.8 billion cubic meters of water a year.

6. London Crossrail Project | United Kingdom

London Crossrail, the world’s first underground train system, is undergoing a major expansion that will add 26 miles of new rail tunnel that will ultimately connect 40 stations.

The project is estimated to cost $23 billion. It is scheduled for completion in phases, with the initial segment – the Elizabeth Line – set to begin operations in the second half of 2022.

7. High-Speed Railway | California

The State of California is building a high-speed railway that will initially connect eight of its largest cities to boost transportation in the state.

The project, which commenced in January 2015, is being undertaken along a 191km stretch in Central Valley with more than 35 active construction sites.

The High-Speed Railway will be completed in 2019 at a cost of more than $100 billion.

It will initially operate from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin – covering the journey in three hours. Later, the railway system will be extended to San Diego and Sacramento with a total span of 1,287km.

8. Chuo Shinkansen | Japan

The Chuo Shinkansen is a maglev that is under construction between Tokyo to Nagoya – a 286km stretch. The facility, whose work began in 2014, is expected to cost $82 billion.

About 86% of the Chuo Shinkansen will be underground, requiring tunnel construction.

Editor’s Note: A maglev is a rail system that uses two sets of magnets: one to repel and push a train off the truck, and the other to move the train ahead with speeds of over 500 km/h.

On completion in 2027, Chuo Shinkansen is expected to move travellers from Tokyo to Nagoya in about 40 minutes at speeds of up to 505 km/h.

The maglev will later extend to Osaka.