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13 Major Construction Projects That Were Just Left To Rot

All that’s left of a supercollider in Texas is over 12 miles of unused tunnel.

13 Major Construction Projects That Were Just Left To Rot

May 21, 2023

Ah, the joys of construction. The thrill of a project coming together, the satisfaction of a job well done. But what happens when a project is left unfinished, abandoned and forgotten? It’s a sad sight, to be sure. But it’s also a fascinating one, and a reminder that nothing is ever certain.

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In this list, we’ll explore 13 of the world’s most enormous, unfinished construction projects. From a Viking settlement to a superconducting super collider in Texas, these projects were all left to rot for various reasons. Some were due to financial issues, others due to political interference. But all of them are a reminder of the fragility of our dreams and ambitions, we guess.

So join us on a journey through these 13 enormous, unfinished construction projects. It’s a journey of dreams deferred and money down the drain, but also a journey of hope and possibility. Who knows, maybe one day these projects will be completed and we’ll be able to marvel at their grandeur. Well ... hopefully.

13

A towering waste of time.

Abandoned constructions North Korea's ghost hotel The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea is the world's tallest building that has never been used. It's a whopping 1,000 feet tall and has at least 3,000 rooms. It started being built in 1987, but it never had any guests. CRACKED — Torsten Pursche/Shutterstock
CNN

12

Dreams of luxury castles, dashed.

Abandoned constructions Turkey's luxury castle neighborhood In 2018, the developers of Burj al Babas, a luxury housing development in Turkey, went bankrupt, leaving behind 300 Disney-style castles and an estimated $180 million in debt. CRACKED — Esin Deniz/Shutterstock
The Guardian

11

Cincinnati’s grand subway dream: unfulfilled.

Abandoned constructions Abandoned subway system in Cincinnati Cincinnati has the biggest abandoned subway system in the world, with more than two miles of tunnels built in the old Miami-Erie Canal bed in the 1920s. Despite a few attempts to get it going again, the subway has never been used. CRACKED — Jonathan Warren/Wiki Commons
Atlas Obscura

10

Vikings leave due to drought, not cold.

Abandoned constructions A Viking settlement The Vikings had to leave their settlement in southern Greenland in the early 1400s because of a long drought. This made it hard for them to keep up their farming and other activities, so they abandoned a settlement that thrived for centuries. CRACKED — RUBEN M RAMOS/Shutterstock
CNN

9

Nazi grand plans, thwarted.

Abandoned constructions A failed Nazi stadium The Nazis tried to construct the world's biggest stadium in Nuremberg in 1937. They built a prototype on a hill near a small Bavarian town, but the project was stopped in 1940 when World War II began. Now, the remains are hidden in the overgrown hillside. CRACKED — Bundesarchiv, Bild/Wiki Commons
Atlas Obscura

8

Crimea’s nuclear power plant: now a tourist attraction.

Abandoned constructions Abandoned Chernobyl-era relic This unfinished nuclear plant was supposed to provide electricity to the whole Crimean peninsula, but it was closed in 1987 after the Chernobyl disaster and the USSR's economic crisis. Now it's a popular spot for people who like exploring abandoned buildings. CRACKED — Merkushev Vladimir/Wiki Commons
Atlas Obscura

7

Secret Lab

Abandoned constructions The secret German nuclear fusion lab In 1951, some German scientists built a super-secret nuclear laboratory on Huemul island, in Patagonia. This project was supposed to develop nuclear fusion, but it didn't work and the lab was just abandoned. CRACKED — Milton Ekman/Shutterstock
Wired

6

Money down the drain.

Abandoned constructions Superconducting Super Collider In 1993, the U.S. Congress put an end to the Superconducting Super Collider project, which had already cost over $2 billion and left behind a 12-mile tunnel in the Texas ground. Today, that tunnel is kinda ... just there, and that's it. CRACKED — LMPark Photos/Shutterstock
Scientific American

5

Dreams deferred.

Abandoned constructions A man, a plan, a canal... Nixon. In 1971, Nixon put an end to the Cross Florida Barge Canal project, which had been discussed for centuries and was under construction for decades. The completed parts of the canal became the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. CRACKED — Fsendek/Shutterstock
Florida State Parks

4

Dreams of grandeur, reality of dust.

Abandoned constructions California City California City (in California) is technically the third largest city in the state, but it's a ghost town. There are hundreds of miles of roads and cul-de-sacs-and no homes. The dust storms caused by the construction meant it never really took off. CRACKED — Craig Dietrich/Flickr
Atlas Obscura

3

Gerald Bull’s giant gun: 156 meters of pure power.

Abandoned constructions leicems An enormous gun Canadian scientist Gerald Bull designed Big Babylon, the biggest long-range gun ever, for Saddam Hussein-it weighed a whooping 1,510 tons. But he was assassinated before the gun could be finished, and only parts are left. CRACKED — Geni/Wiki Commons
BBC

2

A frozen moment in history.

Abandoned constructions The abandoned lab on Antarctica East Base, one of the first American settlements on Antarctica, has been left untouched since 1941, creating a snapshot of the research from that time period. Researchers were supposed to come back, but that didn't work out. CRACKED — Geoffrey/Wiki Commons
Atlas Obscura

1

Abandoned dreams of grandeur.

Abandoned constructions A Bulgarian dictator's mansion Near the Black Sea coast, there is an unfinished mansion that was meant to be the home of Bulgaria's last communist dictator, Todor Zhivkov. It's a huge building made of concrete and steel, with tons of wings and rooms. CRACKED — bstoyanovv+/Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura

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