12 most expensive things ever built

Burj Khalifa | Estimated cost: Rs 9,700 crore | At number 12, we have Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa that stands at a towering 2,716.5 feet (828 meter) with over 160 stories. It is the tallest building in the world. The skyscraper is home to the first Armani Hotel and over 800 private apartments. It was renamed Burj Khalifa to honour Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of UAE. (Reuters)

Heathrow Terminal 2 | Estimated cost: Rs 22,101 crore | Also known as The Queen’s Terminal, this section of Heathrow Airport, comes in at number 11. It was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II in June 2014, replacing Heathrow’s first passenger building, which opened in 1955. (Reuters)

History Supreme Yacht | Estimated cost: Rs 29,256 crore | The luxurious vessel is reported to be the world’s most expensive private yacht and was commissioned for Stuart Hughes of Liverpool, UK, from an anonymous Malaysian businessman. The 100 feet yacht took 3 years to complete. Around 1,00,000 kilograms of solid gold and platinum were used to make it an exciting project. (Image courtesy: Official website)

Large Hadron Collider | Estmated cost: Rs 37,700 crore | The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s biggest and most powerful particle accelerator. The 17-mile (27-km) long collider was built deep underground, straddling the French and Swiss borders. Its primary aim was to recreate the conditions that existed immediately after the Big Bang. The collider was first started on September 10, 2008. (Reuters)

Oakland Bay Bridge | Estimated cost: Rs 42,259 crore | The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge is the world’s longest self-anchored suspension bridge that carries approximately 2,60,000 vehicles a day on its two decks. It has been designed to withstand strong earthquakes foreseeable by the engineers and seismologists over the next 1,500 years. (Reuters)

Euro Tunnel | Estimates cost: Rs 1,36,594 crore | The Channel Tunnel is a 50.45-kilometre rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent, in the UK with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, near Calais in northern France, beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover.

London Crossrail | Estimated cost: Rs 1,40,451 crore | At number 5 is the London Crossrail, which is the largest construction project in Europe and is aimed at connecting London between Heathrow airport and the county of Essex to speed up connections. The 118-kilometre railway line is believed to relieve pressure on London’s crowded underground rail network. (Reuters)

Hong Kong International Airport | Estimated cost: Rs 1,88,569 crore | More than 100 airlines operate flights to over 190 locations worldwide from Hong Kong International Airport. It is reported as one of the busiest in the world. The airport is located on the island of Chek Lap Kok, which largely comprises land reclaimed for the construction of the airport itself. (Reuters)

Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station | Estimated cost: Rs 2,27,552 crore | The project proposal to construct a 3,200 MWe nuclear power station with two EPR reactors in Somerset, England. Although the cost cited by the main contractor EDF for the project is Rs 2,600 crore, the environmental charity Greenpeace said that the cost may run over Rs 3,500 crore, with construction alone costing around Rs 1,800 crore. It is expected to start producing power from mid-2020. (Reuters)

Gorgon Liquified Natural Gas Plant | Estimated cost: Rs 3,51,243 crore | The liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant is the largest single-resource development in Australia’s history. The gas plant, built by Chevron, is located on Barrow Island off Australia’s northwest coast to process a huge off-shore gas field. It has a production capacity of 15 million tons per annum and a lifespan of up to 60 years. The company began production in March 2016. (Image Courtesy: Official website)

The Great Mosque of Mecca | Estimated cost: Rs 6,50,350 crore | Also called the Great Mosque of Mekkah, it is the largest mosque in the World, and surrounds Islam’s holiest site, the Kaaba, in the city of Mecca, Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. It covers 4,00,800 square metres. (Reuters)

International Space Station | Estimated cost: Rs 9,75,975 crore | The International Space Station (ISS) is a habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit at about 240 miles (386 km) above the planet. The ISS’s first component was launched into orbit in 1998, the last pressurised module was fitted on to the satellite in 2011, and the station is expected to be in use until 2028. (Reuters)