Engineering Marvels of the World ...

WORLD'S BUSIEST AIRPORT.......J.F.K International Airport , New York, USA
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is an international airport located in Queens, in southeastern New York City and about 12 miles (19 km) from Lower Manhattan. Originally known as the 'Idlewild' Airport (IDL), it was renamed in 1963 in emory of the late President John F. Kennedy. It is colloquially referred to simply as "Kennedy" or "JFK" airport. It is the top international air passenger gateway to the United States and is also the leading freight gateway to the country by value of shipments. The airport is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages three other airports in the New York City metropolitan area, Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and Teterboro.
The airport saw its first commercial flight on July 1, 1948. the name "Idlewild" remained in common use and the official IATA airport code was IDL. The airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1963, one month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The airport received the new IATA airport code of JFK, and since then the airport has become widely referred to by the By the mid-1980s, JFK had overtaken Newark International Airport (now Newark Liberty International Airport) to become New York City's busiest airport. In 1998, the airport began construction of the AirTrain JFK rapid transit system. Completed in December 2003, the rail network links each airport terminal to New York City subways and regional commuter trains at Howard Beach and Jamaica, Queens.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, JFK was one of the first airports in the United States to be temporarily closed. On March 19, 2007, JFK became the first airport in the United States to receive the Airbus A380 with passengers aboard. The route-proving flight with more than 500 passengers was operated jointly by Lufthansa and Airbus and arrived at Terminal Statistics (2006) : Aircraft operations 411,145 ; Passengers 42,600,000

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WORLD'S BIGGEST PASSENGER-SHIP - MS Freedom of the Seas

M.S. Freedom of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship and the name ship of its class. The world's largest passenger vessel, it can accommodate over 4,300 passengers on its fifteen passenger decks, served by over 1300 crew. The Freedom of the Seas was built at the Aker Yards drydock in Turku, Finland which also is building the other ships of the Freedom Class. Upon its completion it became the largest passenger ship ever built, taking that honor from Cunard's Queen Mary 2.

The ship features three swimming areas: an interactive water park, a dedicated adult pool and the main pool. There are 2 whirlpools cantilevered out from the ship's sides, the Royal Promenade sports, a coffee shop, Sorrento's Pizzeria, a Ben and Jerry's ice-cream shop, Vintage's winery, the Bull and Bear Irish pub, and many Duty-free shops. The 13th deck features a sports area with amenities such as a rock climbing wall, the FlowRider (an onboard wave generator for surfing), a miniature golf course and a full size basketball court. Other items include an ice skating rink, a casino, a Johnny Rockets, Wi-Fi capabilities throughout the ship, flat panel televisions in all staterooms, and cell phone connectivity.

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...The largest passenger aircraft in the world.

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, an EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space company) subsidiary. The largest passenger airliner in the world, the A380 made its maiden flight on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse , France and made its first commercial flight on 25 October 2007 from Singapore to Sydney with Singapore Airlines. The aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX during much of its development phase, but the nickname Superjumbo has since become associated with it.The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage. This allows for a cabin with 50% more floor space than the next largest airliner, the Boeing 747-400,[3] and provides seating for 525 people in standard three-class onfiguration or up to 853 people in full economy class configuration.The A380 is offered in passenger and freighter ersions. The A380-800, the passenger model, is the largest passenger airliner in the world, superseding the Boeing 747, but has a horter fuselage than the Airbus A340-600 which is Airbus' next biggest passenger airplane. The A380-800F, the freighter odel, is offered as one of the largest freight aircraft, with a listed payload capacity exceeded only by the Antonov An-225. The A380-800 has a design range of 15,200 kilometres (8,200 nmi), sufficient to fly from New York to Hong Kong for example, and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900 km/h or 560 mph at cruise altitude). Production Major structural sections of the A380 are built in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Due to their size, they are brought to the assembly hall in Toulouse in France by surface transportation, rather than by the A300-600ST Beluga aircraft used for other Airbus models. Components of the A380 are provided by suppliers from around the world; the five
largest contributors, by value, are Rolls-Royce, SAFRAN, United Technologies, General Electric, and Goodrich.

Future versions
Airbus A380-900 Airbus confirms the plans for an enlarged version, the A380-900. This version would have a seat capacity of 650 passengers in standard configuration, and of around 900 passengers in economy-only configuration. The first A380-900s could be delivered to customers around 2015.

Thanks... Ramya Srinivasan, Memphis, TN, USA.

...Largest Indoor swimming pool.
The first ever indoor waterpark was built in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1985 at the West Edmonton Mall as part of the $1.2 billion dollar Phase III expansion. Called World Waterpark, it is over 225,000 sq feet (20,000m sq) in size. It includes the world's largest indoor wave pool, waterslides of varying degrees, tube rides, zip lines, bungee jumping, and hot tubs. The adjoining clip shows the indoor swimming pool, admeasuring over 5 acres, largest indoor swimming pool as per the guinnes records!.
Edmonton Demographics Located in Central Alberta, Edmonton hosts a variety of attractions for visitors and residents. Edmonton is the capital city of Alberta. The beautiful river valley "band of green" parklands, which follows the North Saskatchewan River through the city, gives Edmonton many miles of hiking and biking trails which double as cross country ski trails in the winter. Edmonton has more parkland per capita then any other Canadian city!
Edmonton is a tourism hot-spot, boasting the world's largest shopping mall, the largest stretch of urban parkland in North America and an array of diverse attractions, from the Great Divide waterfall (24 feet higher than Niagara Falls) to historic Fort Edmonton Park.

.. Basilica of our Lady of Peace, Yamoussoukro

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, also known as Basilique de Notre Dame de la Paix de Yamoussoukro, is a Roman Catholic church in Yamoussoukro, the administrative capital of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). Often ranked as the largest Christian church in the world, the basilica was constructed between 1985 and 1989 at a cost of $300 million, and was intentionally modeled after the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican City. The cornerstone was laid on August 10, 1985, and it was consecrated on September 10, 1990, by Pope John Paul II.

Contrary to popular belief, this particular basilica is not a cathedral. The nearby Cathedral of Saint Augustine is the principal place of worship and seat of the bishop of the Diocese of Yamoussoukro.

Guinness World Records lists it as the largest church in the world, having surpassed the previous recordholder, St. Peter's Basilica, upon completion. Our Lady of Peace has a greater surface, and a higher dome, than St. Peter's[1]. However, it also includes a rectory and a villa, which are not strictly part of the church, and it can accommodate 18,000 worshippers, compared to 60,000 for St. Peter's

Why this blog?

We are all aware of the process of the ancient human, considered just better than an animal, steadily transforming into the modern age, poised to conquer and control the universe. The various inventions and discoveries have helped us to advance usisng new technology. A new dawn comes with something better and there seem explore infinite scope to go further. While these thoughts were engulfing me, I came across a mail from y friend enclosing few photographs of some structures which are really engineering marvels evidencing the techno-progress of mankind. Thought I should share it all with you through this blog.