- [Narrator] All over the world, huge, awe-inspiring construction
projects from skyscrapers to suspension bridges
dominate our skylines. As you can imagine, these
construction projects are built on plenty of blood,
sweat, and cold, hard cash. But they don't always turn out the way their developers anticipate. In fact, basic mistakes in
multimillion dollar projects can see new buildings abandoned, bridges destroyed, or
entire complexes collapse. So, grab your hard hat
and hang onto your wallet as we take a look at some of the most expensive construction
mistakes in the world. (bright music) Galloping Gertie, currently, there are over 600,000 bridges
across the United States, most of them are pretty old too with 42% of all American
bridges built before 1970. Some of those have now been classed as structurally inefficient, but others never lasted long
enough for people to realize. When it opened in 1940,
the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington cost 6.4 million to build. That means, if it was built today, it would cost a whopping 126 million. At the time, it was the third
largest suspension bridge in the world by main span. To put that in perspective, only the famous Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco and the George Washington
Bridge in New York city outspanned this mega project. With so much money sunk into it, construction workers were alarmed when during the building process the bridge began to move
vertically in windy conditions. The workers continued to
follow the design regardless, given the bridge the
nickname Galloping Gertie. Poor Gertie wouldn't be
galloping for long however as just four months after the
bridge opened to the public, it spectacularly collapsed
into the water below. But how could such a collapse
be allowed to happen? Well, Galloping Gertie
was the first bridge to be built with large
beams of carbon steel anchored in concrete blocks. Proceeding bridges had
typically used open trusses, a framework designed
for structure support. The new design had the
effect of diverting wind both above and below the bridge resulting in a swaying effect. One day, the swaying developed
into a dramatic twisting called aeroelastic fluttering,
but on that morning, the bridge wasn't fluttering
as much as it was flying. And so, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge went down to its watery grave. There were no fatalities, but the last person to cross the bridge, Leonard Coatsworth lost both
his car and his dog, Tubby. In addition to the $6.4 million blunder, Coatsworth was able to claim a total of $50,000 in today's
money for all he lost. For four months of
precarious bridge-crossing, that's one seriously expensive bill. Demolition Derby, until September, 2021, Kunming the capital of
China's Yunnan Province was the home to 15 high-rise buildings owned by Yunnan Honghe Real Estate. However, the volatility of
the property market in China meant that the buildings which
cost 1 billion Chinese yuan, or roughly $157 million, were left unoccupied for eight years. After the construction company in charge ran out of money in 2013, the basements of these buildings were submerged in rainwater
causing irreparable damage. With maintenance costs rising and money on the project hemorrhaging, there was only one option
left, a demolition Derby. (buildings exploding) In the eye-catching collapse, the buildings were torn to
the ground in just 45 seconds using more than six tons of explosives placed at 85,000 blasting points. Man, $157 million is a lot of money to spend on one very big pile of rubble. Death-Ray Debacle, the Vdara Hotel & Spa, which opened in December, 2009, is one of many hotels, spas, and casinos lining the Las Vegas strip. Before it opened, it had racked up a total of $8.5 billion in construction costs. And with all that money going in, you'd assume the experts
would've eliminated every possible construction
mistake, right? Unfortunately, the Vdara
had a fatal design flaw. For 90 minutes at midday, an intense concentration of light from the main glass building reflected the sun's rays onto a single
point in the pool area, making it hot enough to singe
hair and to melt plastic. This was the result of
the curved glass surface of the hotel acting as a
parabolic reflector dish. The concave shape was accidentally ideal for reflecting sunlight
intensely, and ultimately, the hotel's glass surface
concentrated the light onto a 10-by-15 foot hot
zone on the pool deck. If a building's worth 8.5 billion, you'd assume the inadvertent death rays were an architectural impossibility. But if you like your hotels of the evil arch-nemesis variety, the Vdara would be right up your street. To the rest of us, that's $8.5 billion that could have been spent
on a less deadly design. Hey, while you're here, why not hit those Like and Subscribe
buttons down below. If you don't, I might just send a death ray of my own in your direction. Oh, already done? Hey, great! Roll on to the next
building, College Chaos. If I asked you to think of the most famous architects alive today, who comes to mind?
No one? Me too. Well, if you know more about architecture, you might have thought of Frank Gehry. Described by Vanity Fair magazine as the most important
architect of our day, Gehry's buildings have become
world-renowned attractions. So, MIT, one of the best
universities in the world were ecstatic to appoint
Gehry as chief designer for a new center to house
innovative artificial intelligence and computer science research labs. Known as the Stata Center, the building cost $300 million to build with MIT paying Gehry a further
15 million for its work. For all that money, $315 million in total, MIT were served up a building
that looked like this. How is this hurting my brain? Now, Gehry is known for his original and boundary-pushing designs, and the Stata Center certainly
pushes the boundaries of good taste, in my opinion, on top of its peculiar appearance. The Stata Center was also prone to leaks, cracks, mold, and drainage problems. Snow and ice cascaded dangerously from window boxes and
other projected areas, a consequence of the
building's unconventional walls and radical angles. This meant MIT had to spend an additional 1.5 million on repair, which they rightfully
sued Gehry's office for. But the lawsuit was dropped after they both came to
an amicable conclusion. As eye-catching as it is, it was written off by many as
too impractical for purpose, making the Stata Center something of a $300 million disaster. Billion Dollar Disaster. Often referred to as "The Hancock," 200 Clarendon Street, Boston, was supposed to be open in 1971 but was delayed until 1976. During that period, initial cost estimates of the 100-story building ballooned from 75 million to $175 million. In today's money, that's $512 million to a staggering $850 million. And once the tower opened, the money hemorrhage only continued. During the site's excavation process, temporary steel retaining walls had been erected to create space. What the designers didn't
see coming, however, was that the steel retaining
walls would end up warping under the clay and mud they
were supposed to hold back. This caused the soil to shift
which damaged utility lines, the pavement, and nearby buildings such as the historic Trinity Church which won an $11 million lawsuit. That's another 53 million added to the bill in today's money. This could have been the
end of the building's woes but the Hancock wasn't that lucky. What had first seemed like an
innovative new design idea, the use of blue reflective glass on the tower's external skeleton, turned out to be another flaw
in the building's design. Soon after opening, the blue
glass panels began to detach and crash down onto the
sidewalk below without warning, this risked turning passing pedestrians into pavement pancakes, with police eventually deciding to close off the street below when wind speeds exceeded 45mph. It turned out the glass
panels were detaching because of repeated thermal stresses caused by expansion and contraction of air between the building's
inner and outer panels. In the end, all 10,344
panels had to be replaced costing another 5 to $7 million, in today's money, that
would be up to $44 million. And no, we're not finished yet. Now, all skyscrapers sway a little bit, but it's supposed to be so minimal that the occupants of the
building don't even feel it. You might have guessed, that wasn't the case for the Hancock. In fact, the building's
upper floor occupants began to suffer from motion sickness because the building
swayed so much in the wind. A tuned mass damper designed to absorb mechanical vibrations had to be installed on the 58th floor costing
yet another $3 million, a further $18.6 million in today's money. And that all adds up to a total of more than $966 million in costs today, that may be $34 million off of 1 billion. But you know what? It's close enough. I think it's safe to say that 200 Clarendon Street
is a $1-billion disaster. Szkieletor, Poland had big plans for Krakow in the mid 1970s,
including the construction of the city's tallest
building standing at 301 feet. However, due to setbacks
and problems along the way, it would take over 45 years for the now named Unity
Tower to reach completion. Construction began in 1975
but was halted in 1979 because of the political situation which saw Poland under
martial law in 1981. The ensuing upheaval meant the
building was left unfinished. All that existed at that
point was the outer skeleton of the tower abandoned amid the skyline. This led to the quick-witted Polish public nicknaming the tower
Szkieletor, or Skeletor, like the He-Man villain,
I can see the resemblance. Szkieletor sat there creeping
everyone out for decades until interest in the
project was renewed in 2007. A plan was submitted to increase the building's height from
300 feet to a full 426 feet, but the project was rejected by the Provincial Conservation Council. By 2005, this crumbling exoskeleton was valued at just 30 million zloty, or in today's money, $9.9 million. It wasn't until 2020 that
it was finally completed at the eye-watering cost of $113 million. Now, you might be thinking that Szkieletor is some kind of underdog? A long-awaited success story that finally blossomed unlike the rest
of us in the year 2020? Well, think again. When you consider that
the initial intention was to turn the center of
Krakow into a mini-Manhattan, the fact that it took 45 years to complete just one skyscraper is nothing
short of a huge failure. Tilting Town, have you ever heard of the leaning tower of Pisa? The iconic Italian
landmark is known worldwide for its distinctive
tilt after it was built on soft ground that
couldn't support its weight. Over 5 million tourists
visit the tower each year, but not nearly as many visit the town of Sao Paolo in Brazil. That's surprising because while
Pisa has one leading tower, Sao Paolo boasts an entire town of them. Just like the leading tower, the problem with Sao Paolo's
askew buildings is the soil. Below a 23-foot layer of sand lies a layer of clay between
98 and 131 feet deep. Clay, as a rule, does not react well to having large structures built upon it. But until 1968, there were no restrictions on what foundations could be
used for multi-story buildings. Buildings typically have
foundations around 164-feet deep, but in Sao Paolo the foundations reach between just 13 and 16 feet. When constructors realized
that this was resulting in the buildings tilting over time, laws were passed regulating
what could be built in Sao Paolo and on what surface. Now, you might think these towers would've been abandoned or demolished. Well, people actually still live there getting on with their lopsided lives. There has been a local effort
to put the buildings upright, but only one of them has
received this treatment, but the upgrade to this one building alone cost Sao Paolo $1.5 million. The fact that the city stopped after correcting only one building shows how wasteful they considered the expense. The really expensive problem, however, is for the homeowners. After the tilt of the
buildings became noticeable, the value of the properties plummeted, and this meant that if the
owners were to sell their homes, it would be at a dramatic loss. What would you do in that situation? Cut your losses and cash out? Or stay living in a lopsided apartment? Let me know down in the comments. Sampoong Department Store. In anticipation of hosting
the 1988 Summer Olympics, Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, underwent an intensive
period of urban development. One part of the project
was the construction of the Sampoong Department Store. Originally intended as
an apartment building, after construction began,
future chairman, Lee Joon, repurposed the design
as a department store. With the emphasis on
commerce, not accommodation, gone were many of the
design's support columns replaced with fancy new escalators. When the original designer protested this would make the building
unsafe, Lee Joon fired them. But it didn't stop there. The entrepreneur added a
fifth floor to the design to make way for either
a roller-skating rink or series of restaurants. Floor space was prioritized
in the rest of the building with even more space meaning
more commerce opportunities. All these changes resulted
in a very unsafe building opening its doors to the
public on July 7th, 1990. Cracks had been appearing in
the ceiling since its opening, but they were ignored by
Lee and the managerial team. On the morning of the 29th of June, 1995, the cracks dramatically worsened. Store management failed to
evacuate the building because, in a sign that was really
all about cold, hard cash, the number of customers
was unusually high. They simply did not want to
lose out on the day's revenue, their decision would prove
a greedy and fatal error. By 5:00 PM, the fifth floor
ceiling was sinking in, and by 5:52 PM, cracking
sounds led workers to raise the alarm and
evacuate the building. But it was too late,
the main roof collapsed, the support columns imploded, and the entire south wing of the building pancaked into the basement. 1,944 people were injured, 502 fatally. The property damage caused by the disaster cost around $216 million at the time, which is a whopping $364
million by today's standards. And that's without
including the compensation the unethical management were forced to pay to the victim's families. At first, the families
asked for an average of $361,000 each but were
offered only 220,000. Payouts were completed by 2003, and had cost the owners
$300 million in total, that included the entirety of
Lee Joon's personal wealth. Meaning, through his unethical
construction process, he had ended up losing everything. And if you still ask me,
that's still not enough. Hotel of Doom, North Korea. The answer to the
question, "What the hell?" Of all the things that can be said about this hermit kingdom, no one can question the government's pride in its own achievements. In the late 1980s, North
Korean authorities realized that while New York had
the Statue of Liberty, Paris had the Eiffel Rower, and Rio de Janeiro had
Christ the Redeemer, North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, was lacking a crown jewel in its skyline. To put an end to this, ground was broken on the
Ryugyong Hotel in 1987. Designed to exceed 1,000 feet in height, house at least 3,000 hotel rooms, and include five revolving restaurants with panoramic views of this city, the opening was set for 1989. However, as the decade came to a close, the hotel was nowhere near completion. The external skeleton was
finally completed in 1992. With the outer layers finished, perhaps the constructors
realized that North Korea was a closed-border state,
which let's face it, doesn't massively appeal to tourists, and left the inside empty. Windowless and cavernous,
the Ryugyong Hotel has stood abandoned and
incomplete ever since. In a bid to repurpose the blunder, the Ryugyong Hotel was first
clad with metal and glass before being equipped with LED lights that turn it into a light show at night. While, admittedly, it does make the hollow beast look rather fetching, construction work continues
to stop and start, with the Hotel of Doom remaining the world's tallest unoccupied building. And that's before we even get to the cost, the estimated production cost for this desolate
disaster is $750 million, that accounts for a whopping
2% of North Korea's entire GDP. So not only can the Ryogyong Hotel claim the title world's largest
metaphor for a country, but also world's most
pointless waste of money. World's Tallest Tragedy. Expected to reach a height of 3,281 feet and topple the Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest
building by 280 feet, the Jeddah Tower was all set to be the pride of Saudi Arabia. The skyscraper would be made up of more than 700 residential and hotel rooms, over 167 floors with people
moving through the tower on the world's fastest
double-deck elevators reaching speeds of up
to 32 feet per second. If all that sounds too good to be true, it's because it kind of is. With a cost estimate of a
bank breaking $1.23 billion, construction began in 2013 with enough steel for eight Eiffel Towers, and enough concrete for six Hoover Dams. It was all going to plan but with the completion of the 63rd floor, development suddenly stalled. The Jeddah Tower was supposed
to open its stores in 2017, but several contracting
issues led to a slight delay. Then, in 2018, all hell broke loose. A series of anti-corruption purges raged across Saudi Arabia
seizing billions of dollars in assets from hundreds of businessmen, one of whom was in charge
of the Jeddah Tower. Ever since, there has been no
progress on the tower at all. While the consortium
funding the skyscraper has signaled its intention
to complete the project, there is no confirmed end date. So, as it stands, the
Jeddah Tower is unusable, unfinished, and unbelievably expensive. Who knows if we'll ever see
the Jeddah Tower finished, but if it isn't, that's
another billion dollars down the construction porta-potty. Danger Dam, 188,000 people
living in Northern California were in for a surprise February 2, 2017 when they received official
notice to evacuate their homes. What's the danger you ask? Well, to know the answer, you'll have to get acquainted
with the Oroville Dam. The tallest dam in the United States, the Oroville Dam was
a $25 million response to more than 200 million
in property damage because of flooding in
Northern and Central California between 1955 and 1956. The dam did its job for 49
years until the winter of 2017. And that year, when it rained, it poured. Due to the heavy rain, the reservoir's water
levels rose dangerously and was drained gradually
by the dam's spillway. But suddenly, a crack
appeared in the spillway, and not long after, it had
grown into a 250-foot crater. In a state of panic, officials shut off the water to the main spillway but the reservoir's water
level continued to rise. The only safety mechanism was a never-used,
emergency spillway designed to funnel water into the
nearby Feather River. However, as water flowed
down the emergency spillway, it caused erosion threatening
to break the entire dam and spill out into devastating floods. Thankfully, the dam held, and the 188,000 evacuated people were allowed to safely return. After a thorough
investigation, it was revealed the entire ordeal was
totally preventable, why? Because the spillway had been
built on unstable bedrock. As a result, the concrete separating trillions of gallons of rushing water from the bedrock over the
years had worn paper thin, and a series of systematic failings meant no one had bothered to check it thoroughly for almost 50 years. The damage was devastating with repairs costing a monumental $1.1 billion, a 455 million hike from initial estimates. For a dam that cost less than 25 million, those are some costly repairs. Glass Bridge Blunder, for a few years, glass bridges were all the rage in China. Yes, you heard me correctly,
glass suspension bridges. There are over 2,300
sea-through tourist traps dotted throughout China. The largest and most famous in the mountains of Hunan
Province is 1,230 feet long, and opened in December, 2016
to the tune of $48 million. And that's just one bridge. Now, if you've watched
Squid Game recently, you're probably wondering if
these glass bridges are safe. Most of them are made with panes of 50-millimeter-thick
glass, steel girders, and reinforced cement so
they sound quite safe. Officials across China even staged numerous high-profile events
to prove the bridges safety like smashing sledge
hammers into the glass and driving cars full
of people across them. However, there were absolutely
no national standards for glass attractions
like this at the time, which led to many fatalities across multiple Chinese provinces. In 2019, all glass attractions
in China's Hebei Province were closed after serious safety concerns and haven't been reopened since sending millions of dollars of construction work down the drain. And it gets worse, on one glass bridge in the Jilin Province back in 2021, a tourist found themselves
stranded on the bridge after it was damaged during a gale. Several panes of glass disconnected from the main structure in 93mph winds trapping the tourist in
the middle of the bridge. The man was taken to the hospital for treatment and
psychological counseling, and the entire resort the bridge
belonged to was shut down. It's a matter of time
before strict regulations are imposed on all these
unregulated bridges. And when they do, you can bet the cost of upgrading and repairing
them will be extravagant, let's just hope no more
tourists have to pay for these construction mistakes with their lives in the meantime. Champlain Towers, part of
a three-building complex in the town of Surfside, Florida, Champlain Towers South contained
more than 130 apartments, 80 of which were occupied. Built in 1981, the building
was one of many condominiums lining the beach front except
for one key difference. Developers had constructed a ground-level parking garage
under the housing units. Not only was this convenient
for the homeowners, but the parking garage doubled as a structural support to
the rest of the building. However, in 2018, residents noticed water penetration was
corroding the reinforced steel. The problems were reported,
but nothing was done, so the problem got much
worse by April, 2021. A $15 million program of
remedial works had been approved, but no work ever took place. Somewhere between the eroding, ground-level
support structures, land subsistence, and a suspiciously corrupt construction process, Champlain Towers became an
accident waiting to happen. That was until June 21st, 2021. You guessed it, Champlain
Towers partially collapsed without warning with only 35
people rescued from the rubble. It's one of the deadliest
structural engineering failures in American history, and incurred roughly $1
billion in compensation alone. For problems that could have been fixed with $15 million of works, that's one unforgettable mistake. Glencairn Tower, back in the 1960s, high-rise buildings were
the houses of the future. Every major city in Scotland was inundated with these villages in the sky that were once considered the height of architectural fashion. By 2011, however, times have changed, and the villages in the
sky like Glencairn Tower in Motherwell were considered
blots on the urban landscape. So much so that the council
determined something had to be done to tackle the
unsafe and ugly building. With the refurbishments
priced at 10 million pounds, roughly $13 million, North Lanarkshire Council determined the best course of action
was outright demolition. But that plan then ran into
numerous costing issues. The original demolition price
was just under $1 million, but when deadly asbestos was identified throughout the tower, another $500,000 was added to the bill. Now, that might not look
like much when compared to the billions we've seen
wasted on some buildings, but keep in mind, this is all relative. A million dollars is a lot to
knock down low-cost housing with the average home costing
about $10,000 to demolish. Complimenting the incredible costs, Glencairn Tower went down in
a truly incredible demolition. (building exploding) Even if it did cost 166%
of the initial costing, Glencairn Tower was never
replaced by more low-cost housing. Meaning, not only were its
developers out of pocket, but its residents were out of a home. The entire operation then can be considered
one colossal blunder. Which of these construction calamities do you think was the biggest mistake? Or maybe you feel like some
of that money was well spent? Whatever your take, let me
know down in the comments, and thanks for watching. (bright music)
