Rungrado May First Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea; 150,000 capacity (seating and standing room combined). Related Articles:Economic Engines? Santa Clara Stadium Barclays Center Olympic Stadium BBVA Compass Stadium Sports facilities range from Olympic and World Cup venues, professional team stadiums, to high school and college facilities. Professional sports team owners often push the envelope in their quest to build excitement for and attendance at their events. Some major residential and resort developers also build record-breaking recreational facilities as drawing cards. The sports construction market sector has suffered along with the overall market downturn in recent years. According to McGraw-Hill Construction Research

Exposed towns, cities and even nations, such as The Netherlands, have slowly
 and quietly been building up storm surge defenses to protect themselves for
 decades, averting millions of dollars in damages as a result.

 This story originally appeared on ENR.com. The Thames Barrier protects London. Designed by Rendel, Palmer and Tritton, the barrier consists of nine concrete piers and gates stretching 1,700 feet across the river. The piers house hydraulic machinery that can raise 60-foot-tall gates in 30 minutes to block the surge tide coming up the Thames Estuary. When not in use, the gates rest in concrete sills flush

Photo courtesy Tourism Development & Investment Co. Saadiyat Island Entertainment and Leisure Destination Click on the slide show icon to see additional photos. Engineering News-Record, a sister publication to Architectural Record, has released its list of the 10 largest construction projects around the globe. The projects range in scope and purpose, from creating a vacation hot spot in the Persian Gulf to diverting water to quench North China’s thirst. The projects here have been ranked by cost, based on U.S. dollars. Costs are not adjusted to reflect the significant differences in purchasing power among countries. Click on the slide show