Thursday, April 16, 2009

SEIKAN TUNNEL





The longest and the deepest railway tunnel in the world

The Seikan Tunnel is a 1,74,240 feet (53.5 km) long railway tunnel in Japan, with a 76.443 feet (23.3 km) portion under the sea.

It is the longest and deepest tunnel in the world.

It connects Aomori Prefecture on the Japanese island and the island of Hokkaido.

The tunnel was opened in March 1988.

There are two train stations inside the tunnel.

More than 2800 tons of explosives and more than 1, 68,000 tons of steel was used in the construction of the tunnel.

That’s enough steel to build Four petronas Towers.

Though this tunnel is world’s longest tunnel but its submarine portion (i.e.23.3 km) is not the longest submarine portion in the world, because the submarine part of Euro tunnel is 37.5 km, with the total length of 50.45 km.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

HANGZHOU BAY BRIDGE



World’s longest sea –crossing bridge

Hangzhou Bay Bridge is world’s longest sea-crossing bridge across Hangzhou Bay of China.

It connects Shanghai and Ningbo’s Cixi city.

The bridge is 35.67 km long with six expressway lanes.

Previously the trip from Ningbo to Shanghai was around 400 km.

The bridge reduced the distance to 80 km, a reduction of 320 km.

It is an S-shaped cable-stayed bridge with world’s longest span of 1088 meter.

The construction started on June 8, 2003 and it was opened to the public on May 2, 2008.

The total investment on the bridge was US$ 1.7 billion.

Around 600 experts spent nine years on designing the Hangzhou Bay Bridge.

Recently they have planned the 10000 sq. meter island service area located mid-bridge which will provide food, lodging and an observation tower.

It is scheduled to open by the end of 2009.

THE CHICAGO SPIRE




WORLD’S TALLEST RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

The Chicago spire is a supertall skyscraper under construction in Chicago, lllinois, U.S.

The construction has started in June 2007 and scheduled to be completed in 2011 with 150 floors.

The building will be 2000 feet high and covering floor area of 30,00,000 square feet.

The skyscraper will stand taller than Chicago’s Sear Tower and New York’s upcoming Freedom Tower, as well as Toronto’s CN Tower, to become North America’s tallest free standing structure and the world’s tallest all residential building.

Each floor of the building is rotated about two degrees from the one below, forming a tapered tower which twists 270 degree from the base to roof.

The Chicago Spire contains a unique collection of 1200 residences in a beautiful iconic building and no two residences are quite the same.

There are galleries, suites and penthouses, each with different floor plans, different views over city and lake.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

MAGDEBURG WATER BRIDGE



A WATER BRIDGE ON WATER

The Magdeburg water bridge is located in the city of Magdeburg near Berlin, Germany.

It connects two important German shipping canals, the Elbe-Havel Canal and the Mittellandkanal.

The project was planned in 1919 but after 80 years, it was started in 1997 and completed in 6 years.

The bridge was opened for public use in October 2003.

The water bridge is 918 meter longs and costs 500 million euros to build.

The huge bridge was constructed with 24000 metric tons of steel and 68000 cubic meters of concrete.

Before the bridge was constructed the ships had to detour 12 kms to reach the other side which now takes less than 1 km.

The bridge site is open to visitors and includes a parking lot, bicycles and pedestrian paths and informational signs detailing the history and construction of the bridge.

Friday, April 10, 2009

CHRIST REDEEMER





ONE OF THE NEW 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD
DECLARED ON 07-07-07
Christ the Redeemer is a statue of jesus Christ in Rio de janeiro, Brazil,South America. The statue stands 130 feet tall,weighs 700 tons and is located at the peak of the 2296 feet Corcovado mountein in the Tijuca Forest National park. It was designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski. It was constructed from 1925 to 1931 and inaugurated on October 12,1931 by the president of Brazil. The monument becomes the largest art deco sculpture in the world and one of the biggest statues of the world. The statue of Christ the Redeemer represents jesus standing with outstretched,welcoming arms and is one of the most famous symbols of this lively city. In September 2002 there is an addition of a panoramic elevator and motorized staircase to ease the difficulty for elderly persons from 220 hard rise steps to get to the top.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Amazing India

  • The world’s highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. It Is 8018 feet above sea level
  • The largest employer in the world is the Indian Railway system. Employing over a million people
  • Consumption of GOLD in Gujarat is highest in India
  • The Bailey bridge is the highest bridge (height 18379 feet) in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Vanice- A city in water



Venice is situated in northern ltaly.

Venice is built on three hundred and seventeen small islands,and holds one hundred and fifty canals, connected by an amazing four hundred and nine bridges,of which only three cross the main canal.

The total area of the city is around 412 sq. kms.

The classical Venetian boat is known as Gondola, painted with black colour.

Thousands of gondolas move in the canals, steered by gondoliers of enviable skills and carrying musicians, lovers, visiting nobles, businessmen and artists.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

CHOCOLATE HILLS



The chocolate hills are unusual geological formations in Bohol,Philippines.

It is composed of around 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills all about the same size.

Mostly the hills are having height between 30 to 50 meters.

Such hills are spread over an area of more than 50 sq km. the hills are covered in green grassthat turns brown during the dry season,giving them the name “Chocolate Hills”.

Up to this day,even geologists have not reached to the conclusion that how they were formed.

The most commonly accepted theory is that they are the weathered formation of a kind of marine limestone on top of a impermeable layer of clay.

Lhasha Express


The Qinghai Tibet train (Lhasa Express) connects Xining in China and Lhasa in Tibet.

The total length of the track is 1956 km. the construction of the 814 km track between Xining and Golmud was completed by 1984.

The 1142 km. track between Golmud and Lhasa was inaugurated on 1st July, 2006.

The line includes the Tanggula pass, at 16640 feet above sea level, the highest railway station in the world.

It has 675 tunnels and bridges in total.

At 13435 feet above sea level it has Fenghuoshan tunnel, the highest rail tunnel in the world which is 4390 feet long.

The 10974 feet Yangbajing tunnel is the longest tunnel on the line at 13990 feet above sea level.

More than 960 km of the Golmud – Lhasa section is at the height of more than 13123 feet.

The train is designed to travel at speed of 100km/h on frozen ground to 120km/h on non-frozen ground.

The cabins are supplied with oxygen because of the thin air at the high altitudes.

About 550 km of the tracks run on frozen earth, the longest in any of the world’s raised ground railways.