Here we our today with the list of Top 10 World’s Most Expensive
Single Objects. We have tried our level best to gather information from
various sources, and inter-tallied them. This list is not limited to
objects of commercial use. It is for the sole purpose of identifying
expensive man-made objects and the respective economic costs involved in
building them.
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined twin-track railroad and
four-lane highway bridge-tunnel across the Öresund strait. The Øresund
Bridge connects Sweden and Denmark, and it is the longest highway and
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and
highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected that it will address
themost fundamental questions of physics, advancing our understanding
of the deepest laws of nature.
The LHC lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres (17 mi) in circumference, as
much as 175 metres (574 ft) beneath the Franco-Swiss border nearGeneva,
Switzerland. This synchrotron is designed to collide opposing particle
beams of either protons at an energy of
7 teraelectronvolts(1.12 microjoules) per particle, or
at an energy of 574 TeV (92.0 µJ) per nucleus. The term hadron refers to particles composed of quarks.
8. ITER – Experimental Fusion Reactor (Cost: $6.5 Billion)
ITER -
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
is an international tokamak (magnetic confinement fusion)
research/engineering project that could help to make the transition from
today’s studies of plasmaphysics to future electricity-producing fusion
power plants. It builds on research done with devices such
as DIII-D,EAST, ADITYA, KSTAR, TFTR, ASDEX Upgrade, Joint European
Torus, JT-60, Tore Supra and T-15.
- Country: China, European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, United States
- Year of completion: 2016 (expected)
- Cost: $6.5 Billion
7. Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant(Cost: $7.2 Billion)
The Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant is on Olkiluoto Island, which is on
the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia in the municipality of Eurajoki in
western Finland. It is one of Finland’s two nuclear power plants, the
other being the two-unitVVER Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant.
The Olkiluoto plant consists of two BWRs with 860 MWe each. These
were supplied by ASEA-Atom, now a part of ABB Group. The plant is
operated by Teollisuuden Voima, a subsidiary of Pohjolan Voima. Unit
three, the first EPR (European Pressurized water Reactor) is under
construction, but various problems with workmanship and supervision have
created costly delays, and been the subject of an inquiry by the
Finnish nuclear regulator STUK.A license for a fourth reactor to be
built at the site was granted by the Finnish parliament in July 2010.
- Country: Finland
- Year of completion : 2012 (expected)
- Cost: $7.2 Billion
4. James Bay Project ( Cost: 13.8 billion)
The
James Bay Project refers to the construction by state-owned utility Hydro-Québec of a series of hydroelectric power stations on the
La Grande
River in northwestern Quebec, Canada, and the diversion of neighbouring
rivers into the La Grande watershed. It is located between James Bay to
the west and Labrador to the east and its waters flow from
the Laurentian Plateau of the Canadian Shield. The project covers an
area of the size of the State of New York and is one of the largest
hydroelectric systems in the world. The project has cost upwards of $13
billion US to build and has an installed generating capacity of 16,000
megawatts, three times more than all of the power stations at Niagara
Falls, eight times the power of Hoover Dam, and over twice the power of
all eight reactors units at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the
largest in North America. If fully expanded to include all of the
original planned dams, as well as the additional “James Bay II”
projects, the system would generate a total of 27,000 MW, making it the
largest hydroelectric system in the world.
- Country : Canada
- Year of completion : 1972
- Cost: 13.8 billion
3. Three Gorges Dam(Cost: $25 Billion)
The
Three Gorges Dam is a
hydroelectric dam
that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the
Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China. It is the world’s
largest electricity-generating plant of any kind.
The dam body was completed in 2006. Except for a ship lift, the
originally planned components of the project were completed on
October 30, 2008 when the 26th generator in the shore plant began
commercial operation. Each generator has a capacity of 700 MW.Six
additional generators in the underground power plant are not expected to
become fully operational until 2011.
- Country : China
- Year of completion : 2011
- Cost: $25 Billion
2. Itaipu Dam (Cost: $27 Billion)
The Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River
located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The name “Itaipu”
was taken from an isle that existed near the construction site. In the
Guarani language, Itaipu
means “the sound of a stone”. The American composer Philip Glass has
also written a symphonic cantata named Itaipu, in honour of the
structure.
The
dam is the largest operating hydroelectric facility in terms of annual
generating capacity, generating 94.7 TWh in 2008 and 91.6 TWh in 2009,
while the annual generating capacity of the Three Gorges Dam was
80.8 TWh in 2008 and 79.4 TWh in 2009. It is a binational undertaking
run by Brazil and Paraguay at the Paraná River on the border section
between the two countries, 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the Friendship
Bridge. The project ranges from Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, and Ciudad del Este
in Paraguay, in the south to Guaíra and Salto del Guaíra in the north.
The installed generation capacity of the plant is 14 GW, with 20
generating units providing 700 MW each with a hydraulic design head of
118 m. In 2008 the plant generated a record 94.68 billion kWh, supplying
90% of the energy consumed by Paraguay and 19% of that consumed by
Brazil.
- Country : Brazil, Paraguay
- Year of completion : 1984
- Cost: $27 Billion
1. International Space Station(Cost: $157 Billion)
The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed
research facility that is being assembled in low Earth orbit. On-orbit
construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled for
completion by late 2011. The station is expected to remain in operation
until at least 2015, and likely 2020. With a greater mass than that of
any previous space station, the ISS can be seen from Earth with the
naked eye, and is by far the largest artificial satellite that has ever
orbited Earth. The ISS serves as a research laboratory that has a
microgravity environment
in which crews conduct experiments in biology, chemistry, human
biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology. The station has a unique
environment for the testing of the spacecraft systems that will be
required for missions to the Moon and Mars.The ISS is operated by
Expedition crews, with the station programme maintaining an
uninterrupted human presence in space since the launch of Expedition 1
on 31 October 2000, a total of 9 years and 262 days.
- Country : Canada, European Space Agency, Japan, Russia, United States
- Year of completion : 2011 (expected)
- Cost: $157 Billion
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and
highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected that it will address
themost fundamental questions of physics, advancing our understanding
of the deepest laws of nature.
