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The Millennium Dome in London contains an estimated 2,866 tons of trapped air, making it twice the size of the largest tensile structure when built. It now houses the 02 entertainment venue. Other impressive engineering feats include the Ferris wheel, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and the Panama Canal.
The most impressive thing about the London structure formerly known as the Millennium Dome isn’t what you can see inside, it’s what you can’t. According to engineers, the air trapped inside the monstrous dome-shaped building weighs an estimated 2,866 tons (2,600 tons). The combined weight of the rest of the structure – cables, fabric covering and masts – comes to about 2,425 tonnes (2,200 tons).
The Millennium Dome, located on the Greenwich peninsula in southeast London, was built to house the Millennium Experience, an exhibition celebrating the turn of the third millennium. It now houses the 02, an entertainment venue with everything from bars and restaurants to an arena and exhibition space.
At the time of its construction, the dome was twice the size of the largest tensile structure in existence. Although the dome faced significant financial and management challenges, it opened to a great deal of outcry, with then Prime Minister Tony Blair stating: “In the Dome we have a creation which, I believe, will truly be a beacon to the world.
Building a new world:
When it was built in 1893 by George Ferris, the first Ferris wheel was the largest piece of steel in the world.
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.
Despite disease, landslides and other woes that killed an estimated 25,000 workers, the Panama Canal, one of the largest engineering projects in history, opened in 1914.
