30 of the most interesting projects... ever!

We live in a world that’s full of projects — from famous buildings to music festivals, from bridges to tunnels, and from global sports tournaments to iconic structures — they come in all shapes and sizes, and in every industry. So, to continue our 30th birthday celebrations, we thought we’d put together a list of the 30 biggest, most influential and most interesting projects throughout history, to show off just what can be achieved with great project management!

Once again, this is by no means a definitive list, but these are just some of the projects we think are worth a mention!

1. Stonehenge – perhaps one of the greatest mysteries in the world – how on earth did people from 5,000 years ago build that giant stone structure?! They must have had a really good project manager!

2. The Millennium Bridge, London – after opening two months late, the so-called ‘wobbly bridge’ had to be closed for almost two years while modifications were made to eliminate the swaying motion. People can now use the bridge to get from the Tate Modern to St Paul’s Cathedral without risk of falling into the Thames.

3. The Centre Court retractable roof, Wimbledon – after much consideration, in 2006, building work began to put a retractable roof over Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon. Previously, play was often interrupted when the weather turned sour, however, with the new roof in place, tennis matches can now continue (albeit, with a 45-minute interval to let the space acclimatise properly) unimpeded!

4. The Great Pyramid of Giza – the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid is believed to have been built over a 20-year period as a tomb for the fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh, Khufu. Experts estimate that, if a modern-day replica were to be built, it would cost around $5 billion.

5. The Millennium Dome, London – built on time and on budget, the Millennium Dome was originally constructed to house the ‘Millennium Experience’, an exhibition all about celebrating the beginning of the third millennium. However, it failed to attract the expected number of visitors, causing various financial problems, and the exhibition has since been demolished and replaced with the O2 Arena instead. Every cloud, right…?

6. The London 2012 Olympics – I think we can all appreciate what a massive undertaking this