From California’s biggest construction debacle
to China's largest demolition of 15 high rises that were never even used. Here are six of
the most expensive construction mistakes ever made. If you enjoy this series, make sure
to leave a like and subscribe to Top Luxury. Do you know of any other major construction
failures? Let us know in the comments down below. Number 6: Liyang Star City In 2011, construction began on the second phase
of the so-called Liyang Star City in Kunming in China. They built 19 high-rise buildings on four
large sites to house residential and office space. Just a year after construction began, the
project changed hands and the new company managed to complete the first 4 high-rises,
but construction on the remaining buildings was halted in 2013 due to financial
concerns. The other 15 buildings topped out but weren’t completely finished.
Over the years, they started to get flooded with rainwater in the basements, leading to
foundation damage that was beyond repair. In December of 2020, another real estate company
bought the property and project rights for around $150 million dollars. They quickly found that
the 8-year-old buildings would no longer meet the demands of a changing real estate market, and
they decided to demolish the unused buildings. Demolition crews placed
over four tons of explosives and measures were put in place to
make demolition as safe as possible. Finally, in August 2021, the planned
demolition was initiated. After years of planning and construction
they came down in 45 seconds and it was reportedly the largest
at-once demolition in China. Number 5: The Millennium Tower
Completed in 2009, this residential tower is the sixth largest building in San
Francisco standing at almost 200 meters. The construction of the skyscraper cost the
Mission Street Development LLC a total of $350 million dollars, and went smoothly - or so
they thought. In 2016 the residents - who paid up to $13 million dollars for a unit - found out
that the Millenium 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,
which was unable to support the heavy building. As a result only 7 years after it
opened the Millennium Tower had sunk 40 centimeters or 16 inches and in addition to
that 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 the neighboring Transbay Transit Center. However it turned out
that the problem occured before they even started. In September of 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. The solution? Engineers set down a $100 million
dollar 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 over a period of several years. The construction of the new foundation started
in 2020, but recently had to be halted again in August of 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. Number 4: Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Power Plant
More than 30 countries around the world use nuclear power to meet the demand for electricity.
About 30% of Finland’s electricity is provided by nuclear power and 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. 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 dollars 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 of 2022. The original
cost of the project was around $3 billion dollars and increased with each passing
year. Due to the delays and issues, the total project is now estimated to cost $11 billion
dollars, nearly 4 times the original price. Number 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
increasing train traffic. To improve this situation a massive project was announced
to upgrade the whole line to double track. 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. At this point, only about 3km of
the 8km 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. Number 2: Eastern Span Replacement of
the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge More than 27 million vehicles each year travel
between Yerba Buena Island and Oakland. All of them take the 10-lane San Francisco Bay Bridge
to make their daily commute over 3.5km of water. A bridge this long has to be safe, but an
earthquake in 1989 drew attention to its faults. 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
dollars. That’s about 7 times the original bid of just over $1 billion.
Number 1: The Harmon Hotel Las Vegas’s CityCenter is an urban complex
in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip. It was announced in November of 2004 as a high-end
living experience, which would include residential condominiums, a retail mall, and all of
the conveniences required for daily life. This self-contained ‘city’ included
The Harmon Hotel, a 137m 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 dollars, 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 of 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. Do you know of similar expensive megaprojects
that didn’t turn out as planned? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed, make sure
to leave a like and subscribe to Top Luxury. Thank you for watching, and
we’ll see you in the next video.
