Megaprojects in USA
From a race track in the streets of Las Vegas to the highest sky deck in the Western hemisphere, in this article, we’ll talk about the most expensive megaprojects that are currently under construction in the USA.
Here are the Top 10 Megaprojects in USA:
Number 10: Las Vegas Grand Prix – $500 million
In November 2023, the Grand Prix is heading to Las Vegas, Nevada for the first time in forty years. The last time the city hosted the event, a track was built in the parking lot of the Caesars Palace hotel. This time, they’re taking a far more ambitious approach: a spectacular circuit that takes the racers down Las Vegas’ famous Strip, blasting past the colourful lights of hotels, casinos, and the iconic Bellagio Fountain. The roads in Las Vegas are old and bumpy, and not suitable for high-speed racing. In the coming months, these roads will need to be completely resurfaced. The city is also paying for pit stops, a paddock, and other important facilities. In total, the project is expected to cost the region $500 million.
But the race is expected to pay for itself. General tickets start at $2000, and there are also a number of packages available, including a ‘Million Dollar All Access Experience’. This ticket includes a tour of the track, VIP access behind the scenes, and a ride in the seat of a real F1 car. That isn’t even the most expensive ticket on offer. The Caesars Palace hotel is selling a $5 million ‘Emperor’s Package’, which comes with five nights in the Nobu Sky Villa, a private chef, and of course, a ticket to the race. One thing is certain: when this track is finished, it will be a sight to behold. The Las Vegas Grand Prix will be a night race, making sure that the buildings on either side will be alive with lights and colours. But this isn’t the most expensive project underway in the States at the moment. It isn’t even close.
Number 9. Brent Spence Bridge – $1.6 billion
In 1963, a bridge was built across the wide Ohio River, connecting the states of Ohio and Kentucky. It cost about $10 million, which is close to 70 million in today’s money. The bridge had two decks: the top one carries traffic to Kentucky, and the bottom one carries traffic to Ohio. But there’s a problem. When it was first built, the Brent Spence Bridge was designed to carry 100,000 vehicles per day. But population rates and general traffic have exploded in the decades since. In recent years, the bridge has carried more than twice the vehicles it’s supposed to, and that could have some dangerous implications. Back in 2011, part of the Brent Spence Bridge collapsed, with a chunk of concrete landing on a vehicle. The local government insists that “the bridge is routinely inspected and structurally sound,” and that the collapse was unrelated to rising traffic. But they do have other worries: congestion, gridlock, and general stoppages on the overcrowded roads. That’s why a federal plan has been approved to build a second bridge for $1.6 billion.
This newer bridge, which doesn’t have a name yet, will take on all the highway traffic from interstates 71 and 75, while the original bridge only deals with local vehicles. This way, traffic will be significantly lower, which will reduce the risk of gridlock.
Number 8. MSG Sphere – $2 billion
This next project takes us back to Las Vegas, where the company behind Madison Square Garden is building a state-of-the-art entertainment venue, unlike anything the world has seen before. The interior space of the MSG Sphere will be fitted out with the largest LED screen on the planet, wrapping around the circular walls to completely surround the audience. 4D effects, including smells, wind, and seat vibrations will accompany the screen. It’s next-level entertainment: a completely immersive experience. The exterior of the sphere will be impressive too, with a shell of programmable lighting. In the autumn, the lights could turn the Sphere into a giant pumpkin, or in the winter, a giant snow globe. As well as all this, the MSG Sphere will be the largest spherical building in the world, beating out the Avicii Arena in Stockholm.
The $2 billion venue was meant to open in 2021, but construction was pushed back after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the project’s supply chains. Now, MSG is hoping to open this spectacular sphere in 2023. If all goes to plan, an identical structure will also be built in London, but that project is still waiting for approval. The next is also one of the most expensive megaprojects in USA.
Number 7. Gordie Howe International Bridge – $4.5 billion
This next structure is the most ambitious project on the list so far: the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America, connecting Canada to the USA. It will be 2.5 kilometres long, with six lanes for traffic, and a total cost of approximately $4.5 billion. To put that figure into context, it’s almost three times as much as the Brent Spence Bridge project, or more than twice as much as the MSG Sphere. This total spend includes one unusual cost: the transportation of several hundred snakes. The Butler’s garter is a local species whose habitat will be destroyed by the new bridge. Canada’s environmental laws required the snakes to be safely relocated to a different habitat before construction could get underway. The bridge is expected to open in 2024. It will be named after a celebrated hockey player, Gordie Howe, who spent most of his career with the Detroit Red Wings. Unfortunately, Howe passed away before the construction of the bridge began, but his son approves of the name.
Gordie Howe started his career in Canada, before moving to America. This bridge will help others to travel between the two countries, which is why his name was chosen for the project. The next is also one of the most expensive megaprojects in USA.
Number 6. Amazon HQ2 – $5 billion
The next project on the list is Amazon HQ2 – a new corporate headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, for the world’s second-largest company. They already have an expensive HQ in Seattle, Washington, but they want to double their office space as profits continue to rise. When HQ2 is finished, it will accommodate 50,000 workers, making it larger than Amazon’s HQ1, which currently hosts 40,000. It’s been a meteoric rise for a company whose first headquarters were the garage in Jeff Bezos’ house.
HQ2 wasn’t always going to be built in Arlington. Amazon actually invited cities to bid for the chance to host their new headquarters. All around the country, local governments scrambled to offer tax breaks to Amazon, in the hope the company would bring jobs to the city. It was a controversial process, with some people questioning if HQ2 would really benefit these cities, or if their desperate attempts to attract the project would actually lose them money. The most impressive part of HQ2 will be the Helix – an intricate structure, more than 100 meters tall, which spirals upwards like a strand of DNA. In a recent statement, Bezos compared the Helix to “the elemental form of galaxies, weather patterns, pine cones, and seashells,” but not everyone is quite so complimentary. In 2021, the Verge described it as a “glass poop emoji covered in trees.” The next is also one of the most expensive megaprojects in USA.
Number 5. Project Connect Texas – $10.3 billion
At more than double the cost of Amazon HQ2, Project Connect will be a groundbreaking upgrade to public transport in Austin, Texas. The plan is to build two light rail lines, three new bus lines, a transit tunnel under downtown Austin, new park-and-ride services, and majorly overhaul any other existing transport lines in the city.
As well as making life easier for the people of Austin, Project Connect is aiming to achieve some environmental milestones. They are aiming for a zero-emission fleet of vehicles, with all the buses and trains running purely on electricity. This is actually a downsized version of the project, compared to the original proposal put forward in 2020. That early version was more ambitious, but corners were cut in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next is also one of the most expensive megaprojects in USA.
Number 4. Chicago O’Hare Airport Upgrade – $12.1 billion
Chicago O’Hare started its life as a military airfield and was mainly used to provide new aircraft during the Korean War. But in 1955, it opened up for civilian flights and grew into one of the largest airports on earth. No other airport has more runways than Chicago’s eight. No other airport has as many international connections: 214 non-stop flights to destinations around the world.
But this airport is overcrowded and inefficient. The terminals aren’t quite big enough, and there aren’t enough facilities to support the 50 million passengers who use the airport every year. That’s why they’ve decided to roll out a state-of-the-art upgrade, expanding two of the airport terminals, and increasing the gate count. Construction starts in 2026, while the airport will continue to operate as normal, with passengers and construction workers sharing the space. Overall, this upgrade is a massive project, but it’s still not the most expensive one on this list. The next project will cost more than twice as much. The next is also one of the most expensive megaprojects in USA.
Number 3. Hudson Yards – $25 billion
Hudson Yards is a massive urban development site in Manhattan, New York. It started off with a colossal platform, carefully built to sit on top of a storage yard for trains. Next, the platform was fitted out with stunning facilities which completely transformed the area: parks and groves, shops and restaurants, offices, apartments, galleries, hotels, and the highest ice rink in New York. A chunk of the site is already open to the public, but there is still a lot of work to be done, which is due to start in 2023. From hotels and high rises to offices and schools, more and more buildings will be shooting up as part of the project’s second phase. Of the parts of the project which are already finished, the most iconic is probably the Edge: the highest sky deck in the Western Hemisphere. The glass floor is a dizzying 100 floors above the ground below and is already drawing plenty of daredevil tourists. Nowhere else in the entire world is a glass floor so far from the ground. Another icon of Hudson Yards is a honeycomb-like structure called Vessel. It’s an impressively elaborate design, but it courted controversy when it first opened. Hudson Yards claimed ownership of any photos or videos which tourists took of the structure; they announced that they could use these photos for commercial purposes without needing to ask for permission. This policy led to public outcry, and Hudson Yards were forced to backtrack. Now, anyone who takes a photo will own the photo too. The next is also one of the most expensive megaprojects in USA.
Number 2. Texas Sea Wall – $31 billion
At number 2, we have the Texas Sea Wall also known as the Ike Dike. Galveston Bay, in southeast Texas, has always been vulnerable to storms rolling in from the Gulf of Mexico. Back in 1900, the Great Galveston Hurricane killed 8000 people, making it the worst natural disaster in US history. Two years later, the Galveston Seawall was constructed, to stop a similar disaster from ever happening again.
For a hundred years, this seawall did its job, keeping out any major storm waves. But in 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the region, with waves so large that they surged over the top of the Galveston Seawall. The waves killed more than a hundred people and caused $38 billion dollars of damage. In 2018, the Army Corps of Engineers came up with a plan for a new-and-improved seawall, which is expected to do a better job than the current version. The project’s key component will be a pair of surge gates, each of them 200 meters across. For most of the year, these gates will be open, allowing a natural flow of water in and out of the bay, but when a hurricane comes close, the gates will slam shut, and hold back the waves.
In total, the new sea wall could cost the region $31 billion. It’s an eye-watering figure but less than the cost of the damages caused by Hurricane Ike. In other words, if another hurricane hits on a similar scale this sea wall would pay for itself & save many lives. The next one is one of the most expensive megaprojects in USA.
Number 1. Sound Transit 3 – $53 billion
At the top of the list and almost double the cost of the Texas Sea Wall is Sound Transit 3. This new transport system for Seattle, Washington, is meant to solve the congestion crisis which has blighted the city for years. Congestion in the region skyrocketed by a massive 95% between 2010 and 2015. It all comes down to overpopulation. Last year, the region grew by 50,000 people, and experts predict that it will increase by a further 800,000 in the next two decades. More people means more cars and more cars means more congestion. In 2022, most Seattle commuters spent more than 50 hours stuck in traffic every year, the equivalent of two whole days. This isn’t the worst congestion in the country, commuters in Chicago have it three times worse, but Seattle is the one that has decided to do something about it. Sound Transit 3 will create 100 kilometres of rail, with the potential to carry 600,000 daily passengers. Rapid buses are also planned, as well as plenty of stops and stations. The project is expected to open in stages between 2024 and 2041, slowly improving the situation before the overcrowding spirals out of control.
