From California's biggest construction debacle to the demolition of 15 of China's tallest buildings that were never used. Here are six of the most costly construction mistakes ever made.
1. Liyang Star City
In 2011, construction began on the second phase of the so-called Liyang Star City in Kunming, China.
They built 19 high-rise buildings on 4 large sites for residential and office space.
A year after construction began, the project changed hands and the new company managed to complete the first 4 tall buildings. But the construction on the remaining buildings was halted in 2013 due to financial concerns.
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| Images sources - Google | Images by tweaktown.com |
Another 15 buildings were topped but weren't completely finished. Over the years, they started to get flooded in the basement with rainwater, causing foundation damage that was beyond repair.
In December 2020, another real estate company bought the property and rights to the project for approx. $150 million.
They found that the 8-year-old buildings would no longer meet the demands of the changing real estate market.
They decided to demolish the unused buildings. The demolition crew placed over 4 tons of explosives and measures were taken to make the demolition as safe as possible.
Finally, in August 2021, the planned demolition was started. After years of planning and construction, they came down in 45 seconds. It was reportedly the largest one-time demolition in China.
2. The Millennium Tower
The Millennium Tower was completed in 2009. This residential tower is the sixth-largest building in San Francisco. It's taller, almost 200 meters.
The construction of the skyscraper cost Mission Street Development LLC a total of $350 million.
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| Images via Wikipedia |
In 2016 the residents — who paid up to $13 million for a unit — found out that the Millennium Tower was tilting and sinking into the ground.
An investigation during that time showed that the foundation of the tower was built into deep sand instead of bedrock.
That was unable to support the heavy building. As a result, only 7 years after it opened, the Millennium Tower had sunk 40 centimeters to that. And there was a 15-centimeter tilt at the top.
Lawsuits began almost immediately after this information was released.
The City of San Francisco and the Homeowner’s Association in the building sued the development team, who in turn blamed another company responsible for building the neighboring Transbay Transit Center.
However, it turned out that the problem occurred before they even started.
In September 2018, many residents reported hearing creaking and cracking sounds. In the middle of the night, residents on the 36th floor woke to a loud popping sound. A broken window found in a corner unit implies that there are deeper structural problems at Millennium Tower.
Eventually, the lawsuits were consolidated, and a settlement was issued to fix the problem.
Engineers set down a $100 million plan to drill into the bedrock on the north and west sides of the tower.
The plan was to install over 50 new piles that would reach up to 70 meters down to the bedrock, bracing the towers and reducing tilt for several years.
The construction of the new foundation started in 2020 but recently had to be halted again in August 2021.
Those in charge of monitoring the project noted that the tower had sunk an additional inch and the tilt increased again.
As of now, it leans more than 22 inches at the top and the problem is under investigation again before returning to work on the fix.
3. Hallandsås Rail Tunnel
In 1975, problems arose with Sweden's rail system, as some sections of the West Coast Line could no longer handle the increased train traffic.
To improve this situation, a massive project was announced to upgrade the whole line to double track.
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| Images via Railway Technology |
One important part of this project was the upgrade of the single-track railway on Hallandsås ridge, which was a significant bottleneck to passenger trains moving between Gothenburg in Sweden, and Copenhagen in Denmark.
Therefore, construction on the Hallandsås Tunnel began in 1992 with plans to open 3 years later.
However, problems began almost immediately. Groundwater began seeping from the rock as soon as construction began, and in much larger volumes than expected.
The rock was too soft to allow for large drilling procedures, and even broke the first drill they tried to use. However, traditional drilling led to more water leaks.
These issues bankrupted the original contractor and caused them to hand the project off. However, the new contractors didn't do much better.
During construction, they used a poisonous sealing compound without taking proper precautions. As a result, livestock, and fish in the surrounding area began dying, and workers on the project were getting sick.
The company faced criminal charges for these issues, and construction was halted again in 1997. Only about 3 km of the 8 km tunnel had been drilled.
Eight years later, construction began once more. New drilling machines and practices made the project easier, but drilling was delayed in areas with lower quality bedrock, as it took extra time to safely bore through these areas.
The construction of Hallandsås Tunnel was completed in 2015, 23 years after it was started.
The Swedish government originally projected that the project would cost about 1 billion Swedish kronor. By the time it was finished in 2015, the total cost was about 10.5 billion kronor, ten times the original cost.
4. Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Power Plant
More than 30 countries around the world use nuclear power to meet the electricity demand. About 30% of Finland’s electricity is provided by nuclear power.
In 2005, the Finnish government decided that this wasn’t enough. If they wanted to reduce coal use, they needed to build more nuclear reactors.
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| Image via Construction Review Online |
Plans included adding a modern and very efficient third unit to the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in Eurajoki that would boost Finland’s nuclear power production by nearly 60%.
The first two units at this reactor are functional and have been producing power since the 1980s.
Construction on this third reactor began in 2005, and it was the first nuclear reactor built by a western country in 15 years.
From the start, the project was plagued with construction delays.
Although TVO, the company that owns the Olkiluoto power plant, first promised that the new reactor would open in 2010, it is still under construction today.
The main buildings were completed early, but the nuclear components took years to install.
Business disputes, supply chain issues, and scheduling delays have kept the project in limbo for 12 years and around $8 billion over budget.
According to experts, part of the problem is that no one has built a nuclear reactor in some time.
Experienced builders left the business in the 15-year lapse between previous reactors and the construction of Olkiluoto 3.
Further, contractors weren’t prepared for the exacting standards required to build a safe nuclear reactor.
The concrete foundation was found to be irregular shortly after it was placed, so it had to be redone.
Contractors weren’t forging some metal parts of the reactors correctly, and welders on the project weren’t informed of proper practices before construction began.
Planning was also an issue for the project, and documentation and licensing took years to sort out due to the administrative concerns associated with nuclear plants.
TVO has finally promised that Olkiluoto 3 will open for regular power generation in February 2022.
The original cost of the project was around $3 billion and increased with each passing year. Due to the delays and issues, the total project is now estimated to cost $11 billion, nearly 4 times the original price.
Read also: The Great Green Wall MegaProjects
5. San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
Eastern Span Replacement of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge More than 27 million vehicles each year travel between Yerba BuenaIsland and Oakland.
All of them take the 10-lane San Francisco Bay Bridge to make their daily commute over 3.5 km of water.
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| Image Source by Thornton Tomasetti |
Such a long bridge should be safe, but the 1989 earthquake drew attention to its flaws.
A 6.9 earthquake named Loma Prieta destroyed part of the original Bay Bridge on October 17, 1989.
City officials had no choice but to address structural concerns and make the bridge safe again.
However, it was decided that retrofitting the bridge and repairing the damage would be too expensive.
Instead, San Francisco officials decided to hold a contest for a new bridge design. It took a decade for a new design to be agreed upon.
They planned to replace the eastern span with a self-anchored bridge, which a panel agreed looked better.
Unfortunately, the complexity of this type of bridge proved to be a money sink. Stability rods often broke, requiring repair or refabrication.
They decided to use guard rails rather than barriers, but these would corrode over time.
Parts of the deck were misaligned, creating a higher risk of earthquake failure.
Finally, the welding quality was lacking, which prompted a lengthy investigation and several expensive fixes.
The Bay Bridge’s eastern span took 11 years to build, and it is the most expensive infrastructure project in California, although the new high-speed train might take its place.
The total cost of the bridge and its multiple failures is still unknown, but in 2019 it was estimated to be over $7 billion. That’s about 7 times the original bid of just over $1 billion.
6. The Harmon Hotel
Las Vegas’ City Center is an urban complex in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip.
It was announced in November 2004 as a high-end living experience, which would include residential condominiums, a retail mall, and all the conveniences required for daily life.
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| Images via Building Failure |
This self-contained ‘city’ included The Harmon Hotel, a 137 m tall mixed hotel and residence high rise, which would include a roof pool to look over the Strip.
Construction on The Harmon began with these plans in 2007 and the costs were estimated to be around $275 million, but it was only half-finished when progress was halted for good.
In 2008, inspectors found significant structural defects in the building.
Steel reinforcements that were meant to stabilize the 49 floors were installed incorrectly, so construction was halted after the 28th floor.
Condominiums were removed from the plans, which meant that refunds had to be given to those who had already made purchases.
This alteration of the design caused more delay, and eventually, construction stopped altogether.
MGM, the owners of The Harmon, wrapped the building in reflective glass and sold it as advertisement space.
In 2011, reports surfaced that the Harmon would not survive an earthquake, and would collapse due to structural problems if there ever was one.
In response, MGM announced the demolition of the building. Due to the proximity of other buildings close to the skyscraper, the building was dismantled floor by floor rather than being imploded.
This process began in June 2014 and was completed in 2015. Dismantling cost around $170 million and in total, The Harmon cost MGM over $450 million.
It was never used or opened to the public due to the extreme structural issues, and the dismantling process took nearly a year to complete on its own.
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