Venice, Italy: The Venice Tide Barrier Project will be the largest flood prevention project in the world.

The project has been debated in one form or another for over 40 years as a way to protect this historical city-on-the-water for future generations. With Venice slowly sinking, and the water around it slowly rising, and floods always a fear, Italians have known for a long time that something needs to be done. Finally, the Prime Minister of Italy approved the second phase of the plan, including 80 hinged barriers, each approximately 6,500 square feet.

Zhangjiajie, China: The Bailong Elevator is the worlds largest exterior elevator. At over 1,000 feet tall, this elevator looms high midway up a cliff overlooking a valley far below. Moreover, the elevator is mostly glass, affording passengers a dizzying view to the depths below. There is some concern, however, about the elevators long-term impact on the surrounding natural environment. Millau, France: The Millau Viaduct is the highest bridge in the world. At almost 1,000 feet high (taller than the even the Eiffel Tower) and over 8,000 feet long it sometimes sits above the cloud line, as shown in the beautiful photographs above. The engineered wonder of the bridge itself is nearly as amazing as the view of the valley below.

More, Norway to Easington, Britain: The Langeled Pipeline is slated to be the longest underwater gas pipeline in the world. It will ultimately supply 20% of Britains gas needs, connecting England to the largest gas field in Europe via 750 miles of complex underwater terrain. Engineers have had to account for subzero temperatures an stormy waters in addition to developing techniques for installing the pipeline in the first place. They are able to lay an amazing 8 miles of pipe per day

Yangtze, China: The Three Gorges Dam has drawn fire from people around the world for its role in raising water levels and displacing millions of Chinese residents in the area. As a work of engineering, however, it is unparalleled. It will be the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, 600 feet high and holding 1.4 trillion cubic feet of water behind 100 million cubic feet of concrete. This engineering wonder will also eventually provide as much as 10% of Chinas vast power needs. Boston, Massachusetts: The so-called Big Dig is a massive tunneling project in the heart of Boston, and is the most massive and expensive construction project in the history of the United States (at 15 billion dollars). Disaster and scandal have haunted this endeavor from the beginning, including accidents, deaths and even arrests for criminal negligence. Engineers were forced to navigate a maze of subways, pipes and utility lines in the course of the project, all with minimum disturbance to the bustling streets of Boston above. Mubarak, Egypt: The Toshka Project is an amazing attempt to convert a half million acres of desert landscape into arable land. The Mubarak Pumping Station is at the center of this effort, and will channel millions of cubic feet of water per hour. It will ultimately redirect 10% of the countrys water from the Nile and will increase the inhabitable land in Egypt by as much as 25%.

San Francisco, United States is perhaps an unsurprising place to find the so-called worlds most crooked road on a downhil angle. Lombard Street is best known for the one way section on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, in which the roadway has eight sharp turns. Crazy races (see video above) down the road are not unheard of. Swindon, England is the perhaps unfortunate location of the worlds most confusing intersection. To be fair, once understood this intersection is amazingly functional and actually designed to reduce overall congestion. However, it is certainly an urban wonder and highly perplexing to the uninitiated. Dunedin, New Zealand features the steepest street in the world. As with many other parts of Dunedin, and indeed New Zealand, streets were laid out in a grid pattern with no consideration for the terrain, usually by planners in London. In this case the result was a dizzying incline. More of the worlds steepest roads can be found here. Buenos Aires, Argentina, features the widest avenue in the world. At over 300 feet wide, 9 de Julio Avenue occupies a gap of an entire block in the city grid, hence its incredible width. Crossing the avenue at street level often requires a few minutes, as all intersections have traffic lights. Under normal walking speed, it takes pedestrians normally two to three green lights to cross its twelve lanes of traffic. Exeter, England is home to the narrowest street in the world. Parliament Street is a 50m long street in Exeter, England, which links the High Street to Waterbeer Lane and dates from the 14th century. It was formerly called Small Lane and was renamed when Parliament was derided by the city council for passing the 1832 Reform Bill. The street is approximately 45 at its widest and less than 25 at its narrowest. Giza, Egypt has the oldest paved road in the world. Built over 4,600 years ago, this route connects an ancient basalt quarry to a lake adjoining the Nile. The basalt being transported was used in the construction of the great pyramids of Giza. Ancient Egyptians may have anticipated the pyramids lasting forever, but they might be surprised that this road still exists.

Toronto, Canada can claim just one part of Yonge Street, the longest street in the world. Canadians were concerned with having military access routes in case of conflict with the United States. Construction was begun in the late 1700s and performed, in part, by local farmers and convicted drunks. Today, the street is a hub of activity in Toronto.