Top 8 Most Useless Megaprojects In The World

Many problems can arise and cause mega projects to be far behind in construction or even cost a huge amount of money. These can be seen pretty much everywhere around the world including the developed countries.

Here we would like to share with you the top 8 most useless mega projects in the world that will blow your mind.

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1. Big Dig (US)

Big Dig is a nickname used for a highway project in Boston. The project which took 15 years to be completed also happens to be one of the most troublesome and expensive highways in the United States of America.

This mega project changes the route of the Interstate 93 highway to the city of Boston through a tunnel that runs 3.5 miles, several additional tunnels, and also a bridge. The construction of the Big Dig which took 15 years always caused many problems for the people of Boston.

These problems include extra costs, postponement, design problems, a state of work of carelessness, and many more. In the end, the Big Dig project cost them a whopping $24.3 billion.

2. Hallandsås Rail Tunnel (Sweden)

The construction of the Hallandsås Rail Tunnel or also known as Scanlink runs across 5.4 miles due southwest of Sweden. This mega project started in 1992 and was estimated to be completed in 1995.

Ever since the beginning, the underground water starts to weep into the tunnel and caused big problems for the engineers. To make matters worst, the gigantic drill broke down only after digging 18 meters deep due to the rocks being too soft and the machine cannot be pulled to the front.

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When the main contractor became bankrupt, this mega project was taken over by the Skanska company. The project came to a halt when Skansa was caught using the Rhoca-Gil toxin to cover the cracks in rocks. The chemicals have caused the nearby animals to die and many workers became ill.

After the project was stopped for 8 years, it was continued again in 2005 and managed to be completed in 2015 which is more than 23 years of the expected date. This mega project had an additional cost of $1.3 billion.

3. James Webb Space Telescope (US)

The building of this space telescope is expected to be far more advanced than the Hubble Space Telescope which became the pride of NASA. The project which was planned in 1996 was estimated to cost around $1 billion and was fully completed by 2007.

However, many issues start to arise from every aspect while building this James Webb Space Telescope. But they managed to build it in the end and it was launched on 25 December 2021 with a cost of 10 times its estimated budget which is $10 billion.

4. National Program for IT in the NHS (UK)

The biggest and most expensive IT project to have failed so far will be the National Programme for IT in the NHS(NPfIT) by the UK Health Department. NPfIT is a trial to combine all the patients' public records into one user-friendly system that connects 30,000 doctors in 300 hospitals.

The start of this project begins in 2002 with the development of one central database that supposedly cost £6.2 billion and is estimated to be completed by 2005.

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The reality was quite the opposite as the mega project was poorly managed and was hit by many technical issues, changes in specifications, privacy controversy, and many more. In 2011, this IT project which was not even done yet already cost the government £10.1 billion to the extent that the government was forced to put the program to an end.

5. The World (Dubai)

The World project was announced in May 2003 and it involves the creation of 300 man-made islands in Dubai that resembles the world map. It was expected to become the greatest tourist spot for wealthy people to enjoy.

But the project was put to a stop in 2008 due to the world's financial crisis which cause the estate market in Dubai to plummet. To this day, it was estimated that around $14 billion have been spent and only one island has been fully developed.

There have been reports that the land which undergone reclamation previously has started to sink into the ocean. Many of these islands have not been fully developed and it was unsure of when this mega project will be completed.

6. Berlin Brandenburg Airport (Germany)

The plan to build the new airport in Berlin started in 1989 but it was only approved in 2006. This mega project was expected to complete in October 2011 with an estimated cost of $2.4 billion.

However, the day of the airport's opening was slightly delayed to June 2012. With various mistakes being made, the project was postponed even longer and had additional costs incurred exceeding $7.4 billion.

The airport was then finally opened on 31 October 2020 which was 14 years after its construction and 29 years from its original plan. The slow demands in aviation traveling following the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in the late opening of Terminal 2 in March 2022.

7. Unit 3 - Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant (France)

The construction of this mega project nuclear power plant was initiated in northern France in 2007. The France energy company, Electricite de France(EDF) estimated that the whole project will cost roughly $3.5 billion and proudly presented that it will be completed in just 4 and a half years.

But things did not go as planned as many problems came up during the construction to the extent that it was put on hold many times. As of now the project has cost them $13.10 billion and was expected to complete by 2024 which was a decade later than its original date.

8. Ryugyong Hotel (North Korea)

The hotel which was given the nickname "Hotel of Doom" was built as a symbol of prosperity for the North Koreans. The pyramid-shaped hotel is located in the city of Pyongyang and is still yet to be completed and inhabited.

The cost to build the hotel was around $2.05 billion which is equivalent to 5% of the country's GDP. This mega project that features 105 levels started back in 1987 but was forced to put on a halt in 1992 due to the financial crisis following the fall of the Soviet Union.

The construction was then continued in 2008 but it only involves the installation of glass on the outside. This project was again put to a stop due to problems with raw materials and the expertise to complete it.

However, the pathway toward Ryugyong Hotel was made in 2017, and LED lights were installed on the building to make it look as if it was ready and alive.

Source:

• Iluminasi

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