Interesting Engineering Projects and Failures

[DJ Dangerous]

While analyzing failures fascinates me, I also enjoy apparent successes, like this one:

 

Copying and pasting the video blurb:

 

China’s $7.7 Billion Ship Lift – The Engineering Marvel That Defies Gravity What if ships could sail over mountains? China didn’t ask “what if” — they built it. In one of the most extreme landscapes on Earth, China has pulled off the unthinkable: a $7.7 billion-dollar vertical ship elevator that lifts 10,000-ton vessels nearly 200 meters straight into the sky. Welcome to the Goupitan Ship Lift — a project so massive, it compresses four days of river travel into just 2.5 hours. But this isn’t just about moving ships. It’s about rewriting the rules of engineering, economics, and even geopolitics. Built in Guizhou Province, one of China’s poorest and most isolated regions, this lift transformed a logistical dead zone into a thriving inland shipping hub. Shipping costs dropped by 67%. Foreign investment surged by 83%. Entire villages were reborn around this new inland “highway in the sky.” What You’ll Learn in This Video: The wild terrain that made traditional locks impossible How a floating steel chamber lifts ships the size of skyscrapers The precision systems that prevent 10,000 tons of mass from going off balance Why this project is part of China’s bigger plan to future-proof its economy The secret strategy behind China’s “internal circulation” model And how this could be a preview of the next generation of global infrastructure Why Does This Matter? While the world watches China build skyscrapers and bullet trains, it’s the hidden infrastructure — buried in mountains and rivers — that could shape the next century. Goupitan is more than a marvel. It’s a move in a larger economic chess game. Is this the future of freight transport? Or just a massive flex?