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Wonders of engineering

Wonders of engineering: a chapter of the Wonders of the World Book, with a photo of each wonder and the story behind it.

10 cards · Geography

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Each Zap teaches up to 5 new cards, so you learn the chapter a few at a time.

Checked by the Brain Zap team · reviewed 27 Oct 2026

Sources: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (Britannica), World Heritage List (UNESCO), Wikimedia Commons (the photos)

Preview

  • Passengers on a ship's bow watching it enter a narrow lock

    Canal with locks that lift ships across a country

    Show answer: Canal with locks that lift ships across a country

    Panama Canal

    Learn more: Ships rise about 26 m to Gatún Lake and down again, saving the long voyage round South America.

  • A red-orange suspension span over the sea, seen from a rocky beach

    Orange suspension bridge across a famous strait

    Show answer: Orange suspension bridge across a famous strait

    Golden Gate Bridge

    Learn more: Opened in 1937, it had the longest suspension span in the world; its colour is called International Orange.

  • A high-speed train coming out of a portal in a hillside

    Undersea rail link from England to France

    Show answer: Undersea rail link from England to France

    Channel Tunnel

    Learn more: Its undersea section, about 38 km long, is the longest of any tunnel in the world.

  • A curved concrete wall in a deep rocky gorge, seen from above

    Concrete dam that holds back Lake Mead

    Show answer: Concrete dam that holds back Lake Mead

    Hoover Dam

    Learn more: Finished in 1936, it was the largest concrete structure of its time.

  • A long, low concrete barrier stretching across a wide river

    The world's largest power station, on the Yangtze

    Show answer: The world's largest power station, on the Yangtze

    Three Gorges Dam

    Learn more: Its turbines can produce about 22,500 megawatts; over a million people were moved to build it.

About this topic

Modern engineers have built wonders the ancients never imagined. This chapter covers canals that lift ships across a country, bridges that span the sea and cross valleys higher than the Eiffel Tower, a tunnel under the Channel and dams that light up whole countries. It ends beyond the ground: a laboratory that circles the Earth every 90 minutes, and a 27 km ring underground near Geneva where scientists smash particles together.

This is a chapter of the Wonders of the World Book. Each card shows a picture and asks one question, with a hint before you answer and a short reason after. Every photo is credited and openly licensed.

All 10 cards

  1. Canal with locks that lift ships across a country
    Passengers on a ship's bow watching it enter a narrow lock

    Panama Canal

    Learn more: Ships rise about 26 m to Gatún Lake and down again, saving the long voyage round South America.

  2. Orange suspension bridge across a famous strait
    A red-orange suspension span over the sea, seen from a rocky beach

    Golden Gate Bridge

    Learn more: Opened in 1937, it had the longest suspension span in the world; its colour is called International Orange.

  3. Undersea rail link from England to France
    A high-speed train coming out of a portal in a hillside

    Channel Tunnel

    Learn more: Its undersea section, about 38 km long, is the longest of any tunnel in the world.

  4. Concrete dam that holds back Lake Mead
    A curved concrete wall in a deep rocky gorge, seen from above

    Hoover Dam

    Learn more: Finished in 1936, it was the largest concrete structure of its time.

  5. The world's largest power station, on the Yangtze
    A long, low concrete barrier stretching across a wide river

    Three Gorges Dam

    Learn more: Its turbines can produce about 22,500 megawatts; over a million people were moved to build it.

  6. Laboratory that circles Earth every 90 minutes
    An orbiting laboratory with large solar panels, above the clouds of Earth

    International Space Station

    Learn more: Built by 15 countries, it is about the size of a football pitch and flies about 400 km up.

  7. Bridge in Japan that held the longest-span record
    Aerial view of a long suspension crossing over a strait to a city

    Akashi Kaikyō Bridge

    Learn more: Its 1,991 m main span was the world's longest from 1998 until Turkey's Çanakkale bridge opened in 2022.

  8. Cable-stayed bridge high over a valley in France
    A long cable-stayed bridge on tall piers above a town and valley

    Millau Viaduct

    Learn more: One of its masts reaches 343 m, taller than the Eiffel Tower.

  9. Huge dam on the Brazil–Paraguay border
    A long concrete barrier with giant pipes running down its face

    Itaipu Dam

    Learn more: It supplies most of Paraguay's electricity and once held the record for yearly output.

  10. 27 km ring where particles collide near Geneva
    A long blue tube of magnets running through a curved underground tunnel

    Large Hadron Collider

    Learn more: It found the Higgs boson in 2012; its ring runs about 100 m underground.

Image credits

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