Projects that cost more than US$1 billion and attract a large amount of public attention because of substantial impacts on communities, the natural and built environment, and budgets.
Projects with "initiatives that are physical, very expensive, and public".[1]
Some examples include bridges, tunnels, highways, railways, hospitals, airports, seaports, power plants, dams, wastewater projects, Special Economic Zones (SEZ), oil and natural gas extraction projects, public buildings, information technology systems, aerospace projects, and weapons systems. This list identifies a wide variety of examples of major historic and contemporary projects that meet one or both megaproject criteria identified above.
Legend
Terms used in the Status column
Status color
Proposed
In Planning, Approved, Under/In Development, Under Construction, Re-Construction In Progress, Nearly Complete
This was the longest and heaviest aircraft in service until it was destroyed during the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Only one unit was ever completed.
With six decades of service as a strategic nuclear bomber, it is one of the largest military aircraft ever built. Every other bomber produced in the US after the B-52 have been megaprojects; however, it has not been replaced nor will it be in the foreseeable future.
Initiated in 1963 via a US government-funded competition to build the United States' first Supersonic Transport (SST), prototypes never built, ultimately canceled due to political, environmental and economic reasons in 1971.
A product of an Anglo-French government treaty, the supersonic passenger airliner Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for twenty-seven years.
An all-weather, high altitude supersonic bomber with a fixed delta wing and 4 engines. The Hustler was operational from 1960 to 1970 in the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command for the deployment of up to 5 gravity nuclear weapons.
The largest and heaviest aircraft of any kind for over a decade (1970 to 1982). This military cargo plane was the first development program with a billion dollar cost overrun.
A US heavy bomber with "low observable" stealth. Total program cost including development, engineering, and testing averaged $2.1billion per aircraft in 1997.
A supersonic bomber with a variable-sweep wing built in the 1980s as a strategic bomber. It has since acquired conventional and multi-role capabilities.
Electricity infrastructure project planned to include the world's largest solar plant, the world's largest battery, and the world's longest submarine power cable.
The plant never opened due to political change and safety issues, and its planned reactivation has become the focal point of the Anti-nuclear movement in the Philippines.
The world's first construction attempt of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plant with Carbon Capture & Sequestration. However, after significant delays and cost overruns, the gasification process is currently suspended and the power plant runs just on regular natural gas.
The project planned to construct some of the first new nuclear units in the United States in over 30 years at an existing nuclear power plant. The project was cancelled and all work stopped in July 2017.
Inactive series of Soviet robotic lunar rovers designed to land on the Moon. Lunokhod 1 was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world.
Venus series space probes developed to gather data from Venus. Venera 7 became the first spacecraft to land on Venus and first to transmit data from there back to Earth.
The world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It was originally built by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s as the base of operations for the Soviet space program.
Every Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup in the latter part of the twentieth century and entering into the 21st century has cost more than $1 billion in arenas, hotels etc., usually several billions. The Olympic Games are considered to be the world's foremost international sporting event with over 200 nations participating. Sports-related costs for the Summer Games since 1960 is on average $5.2 billion (USD) and for the Winter Games $393.1 million dollars. The highest recorded total cost was the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, costing approximately US$55 billion. The International Olympic Committee requires a minimum of 40,000 hotel rooms available for visiting spectators and an Olympic Village that is able to house 15,000 athletes, referees, and officials.
Renovation and expansion of Seattle's main indoor arena for the Seattle Kraken, which started NHL play in the rebuilt venue in 2021. The originally planned cost of $700 million was increased due to changes to the arena plans and COVID-19 issues. A very small part of the total cost was to pay for another major arena tenant, the Seattle Storm of the WNBA, to move its home games to other area venues during the project. The arena will also be suitable for a potential NBA franchise in the city.
100,000-seat football stadium intended to be the future home of Guangzhou F.C. of the Chinese Super League. Construction began in April 2020 and cancelled in 2022 due Evergrande's financial difficulties. Construction recontinued in 2023.
Ground transportation systems like roads, tunnels, bridges, terminals, railways, and mass transit systems are often megaprojects. Numerous large airports and terminals used for airborne passenger and cargo transportation are built as megaprojects.
The fourth mainland bridge will join three other bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland. The 38km (24mi) bridge and expressway will become the longest bridge and expressway in the world when completed.
This 2,733km (1,698mi)standard gauge railway has three planned routes: Abuja to Kaduna, Lagos and Ibadan, and Lagos to Kano. The first two lines opened in 2016 and 2021, respectively.
Upon completion of the third terminal, passenger handling capacity of the airport will increase to 20 million from the current 8 million per annum. Cargo handling capacity will also increase to 500,000 from 200,000 tonnes annually.
Investments will be spread across the 1,500km (930mi) long Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, which will serve as the industrial corridor's transportation backbone.
This airport aims to decongest the load of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi by serving 120 million passengers per year over eight runways. The airport is expected to expand in three phases over 30 years and will be one of the world's largest airports upon completion. Phase 1 will be completed in 2024.
Revival of the Karachi Circular Railway, which became operational in 1969 and closed in 1999 due to mismanagement. The project includes 23 stations, 3 lines and more than 50km (31mi) of track.
This programme aims to deliver more than 800km (500mi) of new or upgraded roads and more than 200 interchanges in Qatar. It is part of the Qatar National Vision 2030. One of the motivating factors was the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Tuas Port will be able to handle 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually, almost double the 36.9 million TEUs that Singapore handled in 2020.
The project consists of four high-speed rail corridors: one international corridor, which will be a part of the Kunming–Singapore Railway project after completion.
The purpose of the project is to connect nine European Corridors. The Trans-European conventional rail network is part of the EU megaproject to help alleviate and assist in the transport of goods throughout the 27 EU member states.
Proposed after German Reunification, this is a set of major construction projects meant to increase and improve transport links between East and West Germany.
The purpose of the project is to create a 35-station underground rapid transit system in Greece's second-largest city. Construction has been delayed due to the Greek financial crisis.
A total of 106km (66mi) of high-speed railways were built as a bypass to the existing conventional mountainous railway line linking Thessaloniki with Athens, including 35.5km (22.1mi) of tunnels and 6.8km (4.2mi) of bridges.
The highway is 40.871km (25.396mi) long ad tunnels and bridges make up about 60% of the entire route. The first section between Podgorica and Mateševo opened in July 2022.
The purpose of the project is to replace all ferry links along the route with fixed connections to reduce travel time from 21 hours to 11 hours. Construction is uncertain and each project will be evaluated separately.
It is the longest bridge in Europe (including viaducts), with a total length of 12.3km (7.6mi), including 0.8km (0.50mi) for the main bridge and 11.5km (7.1mi) in viaducts.
Part of the Belgrade-Bar motorway. The second section is the most expensive section of the entire motorway due to unfavourable terrain, requiring the construction of many tunnels and bridges.
This would make Great Morava and South Morava accessible to boats from Thessaloniki and make Morava and Vardar navigable rivers, and clean them for passage of boats. China has a vested interest in building the canal.[why?]
CREATE is a railway improvement program consisting of 70 projects, including the construction of grade separations, overpasses, and other rail projects.
This project will widen the current four-lane segments to eight lanes along nearly 10mi (16km) of the I-64 corridor from Hampton to Norfolk, Virginia with new twin tunnels.
Phase 1, which covers Terminals 1, 4, 6, and 8, is expected to be completed by 2026. The redevelopment project aims to rebuild passenger facilities and approaches to the airport.
A public-private partnership between Norfolk Southern (NS), the Federal Government, and the various state governments impacted by the 2,500mi (4,000km) corridor. Project involved construction of 4 new intermodal terminals, expansion of several other NS railyards, and double-tracking and siding improvements at strategic locations along the corridor.
The project involved reconstructing the Kennedy Interchange, the completion of two new Ohio River bridges and the reconstruction of ramps on Interstate 65. The final project omitted some features of the original plan.
Public transit expansion including the construction of two new light rail lines, a new commuter rail line, and a bus rapid transmit line. The project has undergone several cuts since its passing in 2020.
Phase 1 included the creation of a new line through Tysons which opened in 2014. Phase 2 expanded this line to Dulles International Airport and beyond, and opened in 2022.
The East and North sections, the two main ones, are planned to form a single 60km (37mi), fully-automated orbital metro line through the middle suburbs. Construction began on SRL East in 2022.
This planned city is being built on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. Upon completion, the project anticipates at least 250,000 residents and an additional daily flow of 150,000 commuters.
Phase 1 was completed and is currently in use. Other phases of the project include areas for free-trade zones, an airport, and a seaport. The completed city is expected to accommodate more than 3.4 million residents with an influx of 1.9 million commuters.
While the project has been long proposed, it has never materialized due to environmental concerns, especially the threat to mangroves, and objections from the Sindh Government.
Originally intended to be the largest leisure development in the world, Dubailand faced financial trouble during the 2007-2008 crisis. Plans have been scaled down since.
Expansion of the city with the creation of six new neighborhoods: Los cerros, Ensanche de Vallecas, Valdecarros, El Cañaveral, Los Berrocales, and El Ahijones. These additions expect to create 145,637 homes.
Large-scale Fordelectric vehicle complex that will include a vehicle assembly plant, a battery plant, supplier facilities, and battery recycling operations.
This project includes creating six mega-ports, modernising existing ports, developing the 14 Coastal Economic Zones and Units, and enhancing port connectivity.
An under-construction, multi-purpose, concrete-faced, rock-filled dam, which will generate 740 MW of hydroelectricity, irrigate 15,100 acres of land and control floods downstream.
↑ Sutter, Joe; Spenser, Jay (1 May 2007). 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation. Collins. ISBN978-0-06-088242-6.
↑ Norris, G.; Thomas, G.; Wagner, M. & Forbes Smith, C. (2005). Boeing 787 Dreamliner – Flying Redefined. Aerospace Technical Publications International. ISBN0-9752341-2-9.
↑ Irving, Clive. Wide Body: The Triumph of the 747. New York: W. Morrow, 1993. ISBN0-688-09902-5, pp. 189–190.
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