the human cost of construction

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Suez Canal: 120,000deaths

TranscontinentalRailroad: 1,200deaths

Brookyln Bridge: deaths

Erie Canal:1,000deaths

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Lithograph of the Erie Canal at Lockport, NY 1855

1825

Erie Canal:1,000 deathsCalled the 8th wonder of the world when it was completed in 1825, the Erie Canal connected Lake Erie to the Hudson Riverand was instrumental in opening the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers and trade. It took a total of 8years and some 50,000 laborers working for 80 cents a day to complete the iconic 363 mile long passage. Of the 50,000workers, 1,000 lost their lives, due to disease from the swampy terrain and careless use of gunpowder while blasting.Others drowned or were buried under tons of rubble from frequent canal collapses.

The Human Costof Construction

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Brookyln Bridge: 30deaths

The Eiffel Tower: 1death

The Titanic: 8 deaths

Los AngelesAqueduct: 43 deaths

Panama Canal:30,609 deaths

Sydney HarbourBridge : 16 deaths

Empire StateBuilding:

Chrysler Building: deaths

Hawks Nest Tunnel:764 deaths



One of the first traverses in the 19th century.

1869

Suez Canal: 120,000 deathsCompleted in 1869, the Suez Canal connected the Mediterranean and Red Seas allowing for water transport betweenEurope and Asia without having to circumvent Africa. The 101 mile long passage employed an impressive 1.5 million bothforced and hired laborers from various countries, mainly Egypt, with as many as 120,000 dying during the 11 yearexcavation process. Today more than half of the inter‐continental shipping of the entire world passes through this canal.

1825Erie Canal:1,000deaths

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Empire StateBuilding:

Chrysler Building: deaths




At the ceremony for the driving of the Last Spike

1869

Transcontinental Railroad: 1,200 deaths15,000 worked on this project which was started in 1863. White men were paid $35.00 a month plus room and board.Chinese were paid $25.00 a month, but paid for their own supplies. However the number of 1,200 was never verified. Onenewspaper article entitled “Bones in Transit” of June 30, 1870 in the Sacramento Reporter reported that “about 20,000pounds of bones” dug up from shallow graves were taken by train for return to China, calculating that this amounted to1,200 Chinese. Another article published on the same day in the Sacramento Union stated that only the bones of about 50Chinese were on the train. Others believe that some Chinese must have also died in a smallpox outbreak among railroadworkers, although there are no records if any of the dead were Chinese. In addition, there were reports of Chinese workersbeing killed in Nevada as the result of Indian raids.

1869Suez Canal:120,000 deaths

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Empire StateBuilding: 5 deaths

Chrysler Building: 0deaths


White SeaBaltic SeaCanal: 12,000 deaths

San Francisco BayBridge: 28 deaths

Hoover Dam: 96deaths

Golden Gate Bridge:11 deaths

Fort Peck Dam: deaths

Grand Coulee Dam:77 deaths

BurmaSiamRailway: deaths



Painters working on the bridge, October 1914

1883

Brookyln Bridge: 30 deathsLinking Manhattan and Brooklyn since its completion in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most iconic structuresfound in the United States. Surprisingly, the over a mile long bridge only employed 600 workers who worked for $2 a dayfor about 13 years until its completion. Of these 600 laborers there were 30 fatalities, including the designer of the bridge,John A. Roebling, who had his foot crushed while taking compass readings and died a few weeks later of tetanus. Theremaining casualties came from falls, falling debris, and cases of caisson disease, known as “the bends.” Even though thebridge is over 130 years old, today it still carries around 150,000 cars and pedestrians each day.

1869TranscontinentalRailroad: 1,200deaths

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Fort Peck Dam: 60deaths


BurmaSiamRailway: 106,000deaths



15 May 1888: Start of construction of second stage.

1889

The Eiffel Tower: 1 deathConstructed as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair, the Eiffel Tower is easily one of the most recognizable structuresin the world. Employing a small force of 300 workers, the tower was completed in record time, requiring just over 26months of total construction time. Of these 300 on‐site laborers, there was only one fatality thanks to the extensive use ofguard rails and safety screens. Today the Eiffel tower welcomes an impressive 7 million visitors each year.

1883Brookyln Bridge:30 deaths

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Mackinac Bridge: 5deaths

World Trade Center:60 deaths

Aswan Dam: deaths

Sears Tower: deaths



Construction in gantry, 1909–11

1912

The Titanic: 8 deathsKnown as both one of the most impressive feats of engineering in its day and one of the most famous catastrophes of thecentury, the Titanic took three years and around 3,000 workers to complete before its maiden voyage in 1912. Laborersearned a measly two British pounds per every 50 hour work week, driving in some 3 million rivets over the course of itsconstruction. 8 workers lost their lives during construction in the Harland and Wolff shipyard, which was actually less thanthe 15 deaths that were originally expected for a project of this magnitude.

1889The Eiffel Tower: 1death

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Aswan Dam: deaths

Sears Tower: deaths



The Second Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades, Sylmar

1913

Los Angeles Aqueduct: 43 deathsFinished in 1913, the Los Angeles Aqueduct is responsible for Los Angeles County expanding into the major West Coastmetropolis that it is today. The 233 mile long aqueduct took 4,000 laborers, working for $2 a day, to build and at itscompletion it became the longest aqueduct and largest single water project in the world. Conditions in the Owens Valleywere hot, remote, and often dangerous, leading to the death of 43 workers over the course of its five year construction.However, after the aqueduct was finished, the population of Los Angeles was able to balloon from a mere 300,000 to theover 10 million inhabitants living in the region today.

1912The Titanic: 8deaths

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Aswan Dam: deaths

Sears Tower: deaths

TransAlaskaPipeline System: deaths



Spanish laborers working on the Panama Canal in early 1900s

1914

Panama Canal: 30,609 deathsConnecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans for maritime trade, the Panama Canal is one of the most notable engineeringachievements of the modern world and also one of the most deadly. Managed by a number of different countries over its32 year construction period, the 48 mile canal took about 75,000 laborers of various origins to complete. However, theregion was dubbed the “Fever Coast,” with instances of everything from small pox and typhoid to yellow fever, causing anastounding 30,609 workers to die and hospitalizing thousands more. Coupled with poor working conditions, malnutrition,and frequent accidents, workers would watch as their fallen comrades were shipped away in droves by coffin every evening.

1913Los AngelesAqueduct: 43deaths

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Aswan Dam: 500deaths

Sears Tower: 5deaths

TransAlaskaPipeline System: deaths

Karakoram Highway:1,300 deaths



The arch being constructed.

1924

Sydney Harbour Bridge : 16 deathsAs one of Australia’s most recognizable landmarks, the Sydney Harbor Bridge connects the Sydney central business districtwith the North Shore. Completed in 1924 after 8 years of construction by some 2,500 laborers, it is the sixth longestspanning‐arch bridge in the world. 16 workers lost their lives during construction; two by falling off the bridge, and theothers due to unsafe working conditions while heating and inserting the bridge’s six million rivets by hand.

1914Panama Canal:30,609 deaths

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TransAlaskaPipeline System: 32deaths




A worker bolting beams during construction.

1930

Empire State Building: 5 deathsFinished in 1930 after a quick 13 month construction period, the Empire State Building is an American cultural icon thatheld the record as the world’s tallest building for 42 years. 3,400 laborers working for $15 a day moved at lightening pace,building 4.5 floors a week until completion. Although it is rumored that hundreds died during its construction, officialrecords put the death toll at 5 workers who met their fate via slip and fall accidents or being struck by heavy objects.

1924Sydney HarbourBridge : 16 deaths

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Picture of the Chrysler Building

1930

Chrysler Building: 0 deathsCompleted in 1930 after two quick years of construction, the Chrysler building in New York was the world’s tallest buildingfor only 11 months before being surpassed by the Empire State Building. 3,000 workers, building at an average rate of fourfloors per week, manually laid almost 4 million bricks until the structure was complete. Surprisingly, no workers diedconstructing the Chrysler Building despite the speedy pace at which it was finished.

1930Empire StateBuilding: 5 deaths

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Image Credit: hawksnestmovie.org

Image of the tunnel being constructed.

1931

Hawks Nest Tunnel: 764 deathsThe construction of a three mile long tunnel through Gauley Mountain in West Virginia in 1931 is known as one of theworst industrial disasters in United States history because of the certainty of death. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exactnumber of fatalities from the 5000 person workforce because many died from silicosis, an incurable lung disease that cantake a few years to become fatal. For example, it’s estimated that at least 764 of the 1213 men who worked undergroundfor a mere 2 months died within five years of the tunnel’s completion, but other estimates raise this figure to over 2000.Thus, many of these laborers, who were only working for 25 cents a day, would almost certainly pay with their life bystaying underground for even relatively short periods of time.

1930Chrysler Building:0 deaths

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Convicts at work in 1932

1933

White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal: 12,000 deathsBuilt entirely by forced labor of gulag inmates, the White Sea‐Baltic Sea Canal was completed in 1933 with the intention ofproviding both military and economic advantages to the USSR by connecting the two bodies of water. Over a period of 20months, 126,000 workers were forced to excavate 141 miles of canal using nothing but hand tools and living under terribleconditions. Official records indicate that 12,000 inmates died, with other estimates running as high as 25,000, due tostarvation, cold, and physical exhaustion. Adding insult to injury, the canal turned out to be too narrow and shallow formost boats, so there is little to no traffic on the canal today.

1931Hawks NestTunnel: 764deaths

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The Bay Bridge under construction in 1935.

1936

San Francisco Bay Bridge: 28 deathsOpening six months prior to the Golden Gate Bridge in 1936, the Bay Bridge was built as part of interstate 80 to serve as adirect connection from San Francisco to Oakland. After three years and 8300 laborers working for $7.75 a day, the almost4.5 mile long bridge was completed. Five days of opening celebrations took place thereafter, drawing in over a millionpeople and causing the greatest traffic jam in the history of San Francisco. However, over the course of construction, 28workers were killed thereby calling for more advanced safety measures and the creation of safety nets for similar projects inthe future.

1933White Sea‐BalticSea Canal: 12,000deaths

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Looking down at high scalers above the Colorado River.

1936

Hoover Dam: 96 deathsBuilt during the Great Depression as part of New Deal programs, the Hoover Dam served a number of purposes, includingproviding work to the jobless, controlling flooding, providing irrigation, and generating hydroelectric power. Opening in1936, the project provided jobs to 21,000 laborers who made around $5 per every 10 hours. Official “industrial fatality”statistics provide that 96 workers died from blasting, falling, drowning, or being struck by equipment but do not take intoaccount off site deaths from heat, sickness, or exhaustion, meaning the total number is likely much higher.

1936San Francisco BayBridge: 28 deaths

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Looking up at the Golden Gate Bridge

1937

Golden Gate Bridge: 11 deathsKnown as one of the most picturesque and impressive suspension bridges in the world, the Golden Gate spans a three milewide channel between the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. Completed in 1937, just months after the Bay Bridge, theGolden Gate was built by a series of 10 contractors that are no longer in business, so there are no official numbers on thesize of the workforce employed during construction. It is recorded, however, that there were only 11 fatalities over thecourse of construction, 10 of which happened in a single incident when a 5 ton work platform broke. This number is lowbecause Joseph Strauss, chief engineer, made safety a top concern, spending $130,000 on safety nets and making it thefirst construction site in America that required wearing hard hats. These safety nets saved a total of 19 lives, who thencalled themselves the “Halfway‐to‐Hell Club.”

1936Hoover Dam: 96deaths

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Aerial view of the main Fort Peck Dam structure.

1940

Fort Peck Dam: 60 deathsFort Peck Dam was another major project commissioned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the New Deal in an effortto stimulate job growth and harness hydroelectric power. The highest of six major dams along the Missouri River, it took sixlong years and a workforce of 50,000 to complete. Laborers worked in three shifts, 24 hours a day for 50 cents an hour untilit was opened in 1940. 60 men lost their lives over the course of construction due to falls and rugged conditions with 6buried in the dam after a large landslide in 1938. Today Fort Peck Dam still remains one of the largest hydraulically filledearth dams in the world.

1937Golden GateBridge: 11 deaths

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Taipei 101: Grand Coulee Dam:77 deaths


Water coming over the top of the spillway.

1942

Grand Coulee Dam: 77 deathsBuilt to harness the power of the Columbia River, control floods, and provide irrigation, the Grand Coulee Dam wascompleted in 1942 and today remains the single largest electric power facility in the United States. After overcoming somelegislative hurdles, it took 9 years and 8,800 workers, getting paid 80 cents an hour, to complete this monumental project.Over the course of construction, 77 workers lost their lives, mainly due to falls and hazardous conditions. A third powerplant was added to the dam between 1968 and 1975, claiming four more lives.

1940Fort Peck Dam: 60deaths

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Taipei 101:



Starving Australian and Dutch POWs on the Burma railway.

1943

Burma-Siam Railway: 106,000 deathsKnown as the “Death Railway,” this 258 mile track was finished in 1943 by prisoners of the Japanese during World War II inan effort to connect Bangkok and Burma. A collection of 275,000 British, Dutch, American, Australian, and Asian prisonersof war completed this project in a little over a year, but at the cost of an estimated 106,000 lives due to horrific treatment,starvation, and sickness. For example, one section of the railway, called the “Hellfire Pass,” was responsible for 20% of allAustralian deaths in the entirety of World War II alone. After the end of the war, Japanese leaders were tried for war crimesbecause of the brutalization of POWs and 32 were sentenced to death.

1942Grand CouleeDam: 77 deaths

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Taipei 101: 5 deaths

City Center LasVegas: 6 deaths

Gotthard BaseTunnel: 8 deaths

Qatar World Cup:4,000 deaths

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View of the bridge from the south shore.

1957

Mackinac Bridge: 5 deathsOpening to traffic in 1957, the Mackinac Bridge was built to connect and improve transportation between Michigan’s upperand lower peninsulas. Spanning approximately five miles in length, the bridge took a workforce of 3,500 people 48 monthsto complete what is now the third longest suspension bridge in the world. Only five workers perished during construction;one in a driving accident, one in a welding accident, one drowning, and two falling from a catwalk.

1943Burma‐SiamRailway: 106,000deaths

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The tower under construction in 1969.

1970

World Trade Center: 60 deathsCompleted in 1973, the World Trade Center stood as the business center of Manhattan and one of the most recognizablesymbols of New York and the United States. Built by a team of 3,500 workers at a time, the 110 floor towers ranked as thefifth and sixth tallest buildings in the world at the time of their destruction in 2001. Official records state that 60 peopledied from construction related accidents, which is a relatively high number considering how modern the towers were.

1957Mackinac Bridge:5 deaths

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Share on SocialAswan Dam: 500deaths

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Aswan Dam

1970

Aswan Dam: 500 deathsIn order to protect crops and control the frequent flooding of the Nile River, construction of the Aswan Dam was started in1960 by the Egyptian government. 10 years, 30,000 Egyptian laborers, and 500 worker fatalities later, the dam wascomplete and operational. However, due to its construction, more than 90,000 people were forced to relocate their homesand the quality of Egypt’s farm lands have decreased yearly due to the lack of nutrient flow from the Nile.

1970World TradeCenter: 60 deaths

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Sears Tower in 1998

1974

Sears Tower: 5 deathsAlso known as the Willis Tower, the Sears Tower was completed in 1973 and is the second tallest building in the UnitedStates and currently the 12th tallest building in the world. It took 2,000 workers three years to complete the 1,450ft giant,and almost $175 million in total costs. During construction, only five workers died in two separate incidents when a fire wasstarted in an elevator shaft and a worker fell off of a platform on the 109th floor.

1970Aswan Dam: 500deaths

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The pipeline terminal in Valdez

1977

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System: 32 deathsAt 800 miles in length, the Trans‐Alaska Pipeline System ﴾TAPS﴿ is one of the world’s largest pipeline systems and, at theprice tag of $8 billion, it is one of the largest privately financed construction projects ever undertaken. The pipeline wasbuilt as a means of transporting crude oil from the very north of Alaska to the ice‐free port of Valdez, where it is loadedand shipped off to U.S. refineries. 27,300 laborers, working for between $11 and $18 an hour, had to fight extremely coldconditions and permafrost for two years until it was completed in 1977. Records state that 32 Alyeska Pipeline ServiceCompany workers were killed over the course of construction due to harsh conditions and miscellaneous accidents.

1974Sears Tower: 5deaths

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Share on SocialKarakoram Highway:1,300 deaths


Karakoram Highway route map.

1978

Karakoram Highway: 1,300 deathsConnecting the western part of China to the capital of Pakistan, the Karakoram highway runs 500 miles through some ofthe most treacherous terrain in Asia. Requiring a workforce of 24,000 laborers and almost 20 years of construction time,this highway is the highest paved international road in the world. With harsh climate year round, regular earthquakes, andfrequent rock slides, 1,300 people lost their lives during its construction. Today, the highway exists as mainly a touristattraction for mountaineers and cyclists.

1977Trans‐AlaskaPipeline System:32 deaths

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Taipei 101 in the skyline.

2004

Taipei 101: 5 deathsNamed in part for its 101 floors, the Taipei 101 or Taipei World Financial Center is currently the sixth tallest building in theworld. Finished in 2004 after six years, $1.8 billion dollars, and a workforce of 2000, it is equipped with some of the mostinnovative safety features available because it sits on top of multiple fault lines and in the path of frequent monsoons. Evenwith all of these safety precautions, five workers died during construction when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck thebuilding causing cranes to collapse.

1978KarakoramHighway: 1,300deaths

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Brookyln Bridge: 30

























Share on SocialCity Center LasVegas: 6 deaths


City Center in Las Vegas

2009

City Center Las Vegas: 6 deathsComprised of 76 acres and six massive towers on the strip, the $9.2 billion CityCenter in Las Vegas is the largest privatelyfinanced development in the United States. Completed in three short years with a workforce totaling around 8,000 workers,the hotels were open to the public by the end of 2009. Six workers died over the course of construction, two from fallingand four from being struck or crushed by objects, causing workers to refer to the project as “CityCemetery” and strikebriefly in 2008 due to poor safety conditions.

2004Taipei 101: 5deaths

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The Eiffel Tower: 1 The Titanic: 8 deaths























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Y junction at multifunction station Faido.

2015

Gotthard Base Tunnel: 8 deaths[Estimated project completion date of 2016]

Billed as the longest and deepest traffic tunnel in the world, the Gotthard Base Tunnel will serve as Switzerland's new raillink through the Alps. If is often refered to as the project of the century and it's 20 year construction timeline reflects it'sscope. Upon it's completion ﴾estimated to be in 2016﴿ the $10.3 billion U.S. ﴾9.8 billion Swiss francs﴿ tunnel will boast 94miles of tunnels, shafts, and passages.

2009City Center LasVegas: 6 deaths

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The Eiffel Tower: 1 The Titanic: 8 deaths























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Image Credit: The Guardian

Migrant workers in Qatar.

2015

Qatar World Cup: 4,000 deaths[Estimated completion date of 2022 and projected death estimates used]

In order to host the World Cup in 2022, Qatar is set to build nine new stadiums, while renovating three, but at the cost ofthousands of migrant worker lives. With construction starting as early as 2012, 1,200 workers have already lost their lives,with estimations reaching as high as 4,000 by the time all of the venues are complete. Due to the combination of heatexhaustion, long hours, poor living conditions, and contracts that can trap workers for up to five years, migrant workersface slavery‐like conditions with no hope of improvement. Coupled with the fact that the Qatari government is turning ablind eye to the situation and actively hiding evidence by throwing journalists into prison for reporting on the severity ofthe conditions, official numbers of the dead and injured could be far higher than what has been initially estimated.

2015Gotthard BaseTunnel: 8 deaths

the human cost of construction

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