THINKING BIG : Modern Wonders

What are the rest of the world’s wonders? There seems to be little consensus. Among the candidates, with a slant toward engineering rather than aesthetic qualities:

The Channel Tunnel (the Chunnel)

Location: Under the English Channel from Folkstone, Britain to Sangatte, France.

Date: 1986-94

Description: The Chunnel is the first commercial tunnel that runs under the English Channel, creating a means to travel between Paris and London in just under three hours. The $15-billion dollar project transports people as well as vehicles via train. One train line travels each way; a center lane is reserved for emergency vehicles.

Construction: Because 23.6 miles of tunnel runs below the channel, one of the greatest challenges for engineers was boring through saturated chalk. Japanese boring machines were used in the process, and a seal between the cutting head and the cylinder behind it prevented water from gushing through. Sections of the tunnel lining were bolted together and the remaining space was filled with concrete.

* Basilica of Our Lady of Peace; Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast

Significance: Largest church.

Size: 632 feet long, 520 feet high

Year completed: 1989

* Sears Tower, Chicago

Significance: Tallest skyscraper

Height: 110 stories, 1,454 feet

Year completed:1974

* Itaipu Dam, Brazil / Paraguay

Significance: Largest hydroelectric plant

Present capacity: 1,400 megawatts

Ultimate capacity: 12,600 megawatts

Year of initial operation: 1984

* Lousiana Superdome, New Orleans

Significance: Largest indoor stadium

Dimensions: 680 feet wide. 273 feet tall

Year completed: 1975

* Seikan tunnel, Tsugara Strait, Japan

Significance: longest railroad tunnel, excluding subways.

Length: 33.1 miles

Year completed: 1983

* St. Gotthard Tunnel, Alps, Switzerland

Significance: largest vehicular tunnel

Length: 10.2 miles

Year completed: 1980

* St. Lawrence Seaway, St. Lawrence, Canada, to Duluth, Minn.

Significance: longest ship canal

Length: 2,400 miles

Year completed: 1959 Compiled by Times researcher LAURA A. GALLOWAY Sources: Art Through The Ages;The Pantheon; Great Feats of Modern Engineering; Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1995 Information Please Almanac, The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1995; Structures: The Way Things Are Built; Ancient Egyptians