Great Projects from the Past

Introduction - Why List these Great Projects?

This page is dedicated to great and memorable projects of the past. The projects were compiled as research for the publication The History of Project Management, that began in 2005. The projects are grouped into categories. The lists are all subjective and based on the preference of the authors of the site. If you have a project that you think should be listed please let us know.

So How do you Define a Great Project?

A project that is successful beyond all expectations, a ground breaker, a catalyst for change, and for other projects to follow in its footsteps. It is recognized as a great achievement, or a clear first in achieving a specific objective.

Criteria used for Determining a Great Project

A project has to be discernable as a project, rather than a program, with a clear objective upfront, predefined by a degree of planning, and led by a recognized leader (project manager). It has to be brought in an specific time frame, and has likely faced many challenges along the way (like the lack of key resources or physical obstacles) for it to be an achievement.

Project Categories

The projects have been divided into the following categories to avoid comparing dissimilar projects:

• Great Structural Projects (historical)
• Great Projects Related to Transportation
• Great Structural Projects (modern, post 18th century)
• Great Engineering Projects
• Great Expedition or Journey Projects

Great Structural Projects (historical)

This category covers ancient wonders and structures like the pyramids, buildings, and towers including the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The list is very subjective as few of these wonders (the project output) remain today, and the details about the projects are scant and only now coming to light through archaeology (see Giza Pyramid). The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World include:

• Giza Pyramid, 2580-2560 BCE
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 604-562 BCE
• Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, 353 BCE
• Colossus of Rhodes, 304 BCE
• Lighthouse of Alexandria, 270 BCE
• Statue of Zeus at Olympia, circa 2nd century
• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, 262

The most astonishing fact about these projects is the scale of the deliverable (the construct itself) considering the main resource available was human capital. Other significant projects include:

• Stonehenge, built in several stages from 2800 - 1800 BCE
• Petra, the rock-carved city in Jordan, 6th century BCE
• Parthenon in Athens, Greece, 477 to 438 BCE
• Great Wall of China, several building periods, circa 221-206 BCE
• Colosseum in Rome, circa 70s.
• Mayan Temples at Tikal, 700-900
• Angkor Wat in Cambodia, 1113-1150
• Cathedral of Chartres, France 1194 to 1260
• Machu Picchu, Inca city in Peru, circa 1400s
• Taj Mahal, India 1631-1654

Great Projects Related to Transportation

This category covers structures related to transportation like routes (canals, roads, rails) and the dependent structures like bridges and tunnels. There is a clear evolution in scale and scope of these structures over time, sometimes in very short periods like that of the First Industrial Revolution.
 

Canals

Although canals have been around for thousands of years they became a primary form of transport at the outset of the industrial revolution in the UK (circa 1750). Through a relatively short period of time canals transformed commerce in the UK. Initially, built using laborers, the advent of mechanized equipment like steam shovels changed the approach. Within a century canal building had evolved to the point were significant canals were attempted in strategic locations around the world. Notably, this included the Suez Canal, then the Panama Canal at a huge cost, and the Kiel Canal.

• Bridgewater Canal in UK, 7 km (4 mi), first modern canal of the first industrial revolution in the UK, 1759-1761
• Leeds and Liverpool Canal in UK, 204 km (127 mi), longest canal in UK, 1777-1812
• Suez Canal in Egypt, 160 km (100 mi) long, extremely strategic 1859-1869
• Kiel Canal in Germany, 98 km (61 mi) long, a passage for battleships from the Baltic to the North Sea, 1887–95
• Manchester Ship Canal in UK, 58 km (36 mi) long, the economy of the city was driven by this canal 1887-1894
• Panama Canal, 64 km (40 mi) long, extremely strategic 1904 to 1914

Railways

Although fixed tracks vehicles had been around for hundreds of years railways became feasible when new production techniques allowed the creation of robust cast iron tracks. Railways became a primary form of transport well into industrial revolution in the UK (circa 1820). With the Liverpool and Manchester Railway the main objective was to reduce the costs of transporting raw materials and finished goods between Manchester, the centre of the textile industry and Liverpool, the most important port in the north of England.

• Middleton Railway in UK first commercial steam locomotive, 1812
• Darlington Railwayin UK, first railway in service, 1825
• Liverpool and Manchester in UK, first railway between two cities 1830
• Trans-Siberian railway, longest transcontinental railway in the world 1891-1925. The Trans-Siberian Railway, despite the enormity of the project, length of 9,289km (5,772 miles) was completed in 12 years to provide a continuous route from Moscow to Vladivostok across 8 time zones. It was driven by fear of military invasion coming from the East (Japan).

Bridges

The following structures were required as part of transportation revolution during the First Industrial Revolution.

• Firth of Forth Bridge, cantilever railway, Scotland, 8,276 ft, 1890
• Brooklyn Bridge, suspension roadway, NY, USA, 3,460 ft, 1893
• Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA, 4,200 ft, 1937
• The Millau Road Bridge in France, 300 m (984ft) high, 2.5 km (1.5 m) long, 2005

Tunnels

The following structures were required as part of transportation revolution during the First Industrial Revolution.

• Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, 800 m (2,625 ft) long railroad tunnel, 1844
• London underground, 7 km (4 mi), Paddington Station to Farringdon St, 1863
• The Channel Tunnel, rail/road, 50 km (30 mi), 1994
• The World's longest Rail Tunnels
• The World's longest Road Tunnels

The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, was built in seven months in 1844. Many railways had long tunnels and were also underwater. British engineer Brunel built a footway tunnel under the Thames in 1843, after an 18 year struggle with flooding. Also a submarine telegraph cable was laid across the Straits of Dover in 1851. A 5-mile tunnel was started in 1857 through the peaks of the Alps. By the end of 19th century engineers had much more experience of major tunneling works and major tunnel constructions continued with the expansion of the London underground (under construction below circa 1898). Today the system length is 408 km (253 mi) with 12 lines, 275 stations, and a daily ridership of 2.67 million. After many false starts engineers began boring trial tunnels on the Channel, from both sides in 1881. Both the French and English sides had improved tunnel boring machines. Tunnel construction was abandoned by the English with a fear of a French invasion amongst the British military.

Serious work was not started by both sides till 1987, and the fixed link was opened in 1994, nearly 2 years late, and way over budget. It measures 50 km (31 mi).

Buildings

The following structures were highly innovative during the Industrial Revolutions.

• Crystal Palace, Sydenham, England 1853
• Empire State Building in New York City, USA, 1,252 ft, 1931
• Twin Towers, 1,368 ft, 1973 Sydney Opera House in Australia
• Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1,483 ft, 1998

Dams

• Hoover Dam in Arizona/Nevada, USA, 1931-1936
• High Dam in Aswan, Egypt 1960s
• Itaipú Dam in Brazil/Paraguay 1984

Towers

• Eiffel Tower in Paris, France 1888
• Gateway Arch in St. Louis, USA, 630 ft, 1967
• CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, 550 metres, 1976 Statues
• Statue of Liberty in New York City, USA, 1884 Statue of Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Great Engineering Projects

This category covers various machines that pushed emerging technologies to the limit to achieve a first. Typically, there were several competing inventors/scientists who leveraged other inventions and scientific breakthrough before them. Often it was difficult to determine a clear first in achieving a specific objective as there may be several competing projects which created a similar end deliverable simultaneously, for example, the telephone or first powered airplane (flight).

• First mechanical computer, 1840-1890
• First ocean going iron hull steamship, 1858
• First modern iron clad battleship, 1862
• First telephone, 1876
• First mechanical computer 1890
• First manned powered flight, 1903
• First modern luxury transatlantic liner, 1912
• First electronic computer, 1943
• First jet engine, 1943
• First intercontinental weapon, 1943
• First atomic weapon, Manhattan project, 1945
• First satellite, Sputnik, 1957
• First manned lunar landing, 1969

Great Expedition or Journey Projects

This category covers extraordinary journeys.

• Alexander the great, 11 years he traveled from Egypt to India, 334-323 BC
• Leif Ericsson, first to reach North America, circa 1001
• Marco Polo, 3.5 years he traveled 5600 mi on the Asian continent in 1272
• Ferdinand Magellan first navigator to sail around the world, 1519-1522
• Roald Amundsen first to the South Pole, 1911
• Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first men on Everest 1953
• Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, 1961