No longer existsSS Great Eastern
United Kingdom
Brunel’s giant iron steamship, the largest ever built in its day; scrapped in the 1880s.
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
Seven works of Victorian and early-twentieth-century engineering from the BBC series: a giant ship, a lighthouse on a reef, bridges, sewers, railways, a canal and a dam. One is gone; most can still be visited — some only from the outside.
Where this list comes fromBBC (television series) — Documentary series. Broadcast September–October 2003. This is the BBC drama-documentary series list, not the many other "modern engineering wonders" lists, and not an official designation. SATRAM is not affiliated with the BBC. The SS Great Eastern no longer exists, and some of these works are operational infrastructure with restricted access. Reference ↗
- No longer existsRead the full profile of SS Great Eastern
OperationalRead the full profile of Bell Rock LighthouseBell Rock Lighthouse
United Kingdom (Scotland)
A granite tower on a reef covered at high tide, built by Robert Stevenson between 1807 and 1810.
- SurvivesRead the full profile of Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
United States
A granite-towered suspension bridge opened in 1883, with a pedestrian promenade above the traffic.
OperationalRead the full profile of London sewer systemLondon sewer system
United Kingdom
Joseph Bazalgette’s Victorian sewers and pumping stations that cleaned the Thames and ended cholera outbreaks.
SurvivesRead the full profile of First Transcontinental RailroadFirst Transcontinental Railroad
United States
The 1869 rail link across North America, joined by a ceremonial golden spike at Promontory Summit.
OperationalRead the full profile of Panama CanalPanama Canal
Panama
An 80-kilometre waterway of locks and lakes that opened in 1914 and still carries global trade.
OperationalRead the full profile of Hoover DamHoover Dam
United States
A 221-metre concrete arch-gravity dam finished in 1936, holding back Lake Mead.