construction projects with most deaths

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Finding a Contractor for Your Construction Project

When you have a construction project at your home or business, you want it done right. The most important decision you can make is to choose the right contractor. It’s about more than cost and time. Here are some factors to consider when finding a construction contractor.

Know What You Want

Before you begin your search for a contractor, you need to be clear about what you want. Knowing exactly what you want will help you manage your expectations. Make plans and get blueprints for your project, because good contractors will want to see them first. Know how much you want to spend and be ready to plan around that budget. Be confident in answering the questions that the contractors you interview will ask about the project. Prepare yourself for contractors who can’t work right away, because the best contractors should be busy.

Interview Multiple Companies

It may be tempting to accept the first offer from a contractor that sounds good, but you should speak with three or more contractors to maximize your options. Get written estimates and plans from each company with whom you speak and compare them to each other thoroughly. Be open to learning from every contractor you interview and don’t be afraid to haggle with any contractor you speak to.

Check References

One of the most important things you can do when you’re looking for a contractor for your construction project is to get references. Ask family members and friends to recommend contractors to you and seek honest feedback about their construction experiences. Ask for references when you interview different companies, especially from current customers. If you can visit one of the contractor’s job sites, go and see how well the company works. You should also look for references that you can find through websites and social media.

Look at Licenses and Permits.

Check to make sure that any contractor you’re interested in has the proper licenses. Don’t be afraid to ask for copies of any licenses the contractors should have. Familiarize yourself with state and local regulations, and make sure that the companies you interview are in compliance. Find out if the contractor will handle all permitting or if you have to do so yourself. You should also check any history of litigation against the company.

Get Everything in Writing

You should always make sure that you have information in writing. Ask for detailed bids in writing, and don’t be afraid to ask questions line by line. When it comes time to sign a contract, be sure that everything you’re looking for is spelled out. Never sign a contract to pay the full budget at once. Instead, you should set a payment schedule based on completion of different stages of the project.

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• The 10 Deadliest Construction Projects In The World

Safety is mandatory in the construction industry, and many countries have strict construction rules which contractors must follow. However, we still hear of numerous contractors ignoring these safety procedures. The construction industry is hazardous, and thousands of people have lost their lives in the past while erecting some of the magnificent structures we see today, due to the lack of safety procedures and ignorance. Some of the most deadly construction projects of all time are listed below. 

1. Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is the 51-mile long artificial waterway that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean . The Panama Canal was one of the biggest engineering projects of all time and also one of the deadliest. The Panama Canal cuts through the Darien Isthmus. The French initiated the project in 1881, but they had to stop because of high worker mortality rate and engineering issues. The death rate of the entire project was 408.12 death per a thousand employees. Over 25,000 people had lost their lives due to the harsh working conditions by the time the French were stopping the project. When the United States took over in 1904, 5,600 more people died due to starvation and diseases. About 30,600 people lost their lives during the entire project.

2. Burma-Siam Railway

The Burma-Siam railway, also known as the Burma railway or even the Death Railway, is the 258-mile long railway that connects Thanbyuzayat, Burma to Ban Pong, Thailand. The Empire of Japan built the railway to support their troops in the Burma campaign of the Second World War in 1943. Over 61,000 prisoners and 250,000 laborers were forced to make the railway. The entire project resulted in the death of about 12,000 prisoners and 90,000 laborers. The majority of these people died due to starvation and the officers’ brutality while lions killed others.

3. Hawk Nest Tunnel

The Hawk Nest Tunnel was one of the worst tragedies in the history of the United States. It is a 3-mile tunnel that was built in Mountain Gauley in 1931. About 3,000 workers were sent to build the tunnel, and while constructing the tunnel, they found silica. The workers were asked to mine the silica without wearing protective masks, and this resulted in a majority of them getting a debilitating lung illness known as silicosis. The project resulted in 764 deaths, but the exact number of people who died from silicosis is unknown as the disease takes some few years to be fatal.

4. White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal

The White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal connects Lake Onega, which is linked to the Baltic Sea, to the White Sea. It is a ship canal that was opened on August 2, 1933, in Russia. Gulag inmates built the channel. The project resulted in the death of about 12,000 inmates. The unofficial estimates confirmed that over 25,000 people died because of physical exhaustion, cold and starvation.

5. Transcontinental Railroad

The Transcontinental railway, initially known as the Pacific railway, is the 1,912-mile long railroad that was built from 1863 to 1869. The railroad connected the Pacific coast with the railway network in Nebraska and Iowa. Over 1,200 deaths were reported, but the exact number of casualties was never verified as a majority of the workers were illegal immigrants and prisoners.

6. Suez Canal

The Suez Canal is the manmade channel that connects the Red and the Mediterranean seas through the Suez Isthmus. The Suez Canal was opened on November 17, 1869. The canal offers marine vessels a short journey between the northern India Oceans and the North Atlantic through the Red and Mediterranean Seas by avoiding the southern parts of the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean. The project had over 1.5 million workers, and it recorded the highest number of casualties of all the canals in the world. Over 120,000 workers lost their lives while building the Suez Canal.

7. Karakoram Highway

The Karakoram highway is the 808-mile long highway that extends from Khujerab-Pass to Punjab. It connects Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan with Xinjiang Uyghur in China. It is one of the highest highways on earth and passes the 15,466 foot high Karakoram Mountain. The road was built between 1959 and 1978. The death rate of the Karakoram Highway was 54.17 per 1,000 employees. The majority of workers died due to falls and landslides. Over 200 Chinese and 810 Pakistani employees lost their lives while building the highway.

8. Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is a suspension bridge that stretches across the East River, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan. It is one of the oldest highway bridges in the country whose construction process lasted for fourteen years. The construction process of the bridge began in 1869, and it is the first steel cable bridge in the world. Previously it was named East River Bridge, but its name was changed to Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge recorded about 30 deaths in fourteen years.

9. Erie Canal

Erie Canal is part of the west-east cross-state route of the canal system in New York. It was built to create an accessible route from the Great Lakes to New York and to the Atlantic Ocean. Previously the journey was over 363 miles long, and it stretched from where Lake Erie meets Buffalo to where Hudson River meets Albany. After its completion in 1825, it became the second longest canal on earth. The construction process of the Erie Canal had over 50,000 workers, and it recorded over 1,000 deaths. The majority of these deaths were attributed to frequent canal collapses, drowning, careless use of gunpowder and diseases from the swampy place.

10. World Trade Center

The World Trade Tower (WTC) complex was located in Lower Manhattan. The WTC featured the Twin-Towers, which were destroyed by the terrorist’s attack of September 11, 2001. Back in 1973, the two building were the biggest structures on earth. The complex was in the Financial District and had 13,400,000 sq feet of office space. The core of the WTC was constructed from 1975 to 1985, and on a typical day, over 50,000 individuals worked on the building. About 60 people died during the entire construction period. The death rate was about 17.14 individuals per 1,000 workers.

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12 of the Deadliest Construction Projects in History

Since the last century, thousands of people have sacrificed their lives by involving themselves in astounding construction works. It is now very common that serious accidents and deaths occur during construction. Most of the countries have strict regulation regarding safety rules. We all learn from our previous mistakes, the only good thing about these accidents is, some of them gave rise to new safety standards. The following projects include all reasons of deaths such as disease due to working condition, poor safety systems etc. The following list contains 12  deadliest construction projects  ever in history.

12. Fort Peck Dam

On 22nd September 1938, an engineer noticed a few problems in the wall of the dam. In the afternoon, cracks appeared on the wall and it began to slide back to the pool area. On that day, 134 men were working at the site. After some time, the whole dam start sliding and around twenty people were carried with it. Most of the dead  bodies were never recovered . Other than the flooding, many people were killed at the construction site. Very high water pressure was reported as the reason of the accident.

11. Willow Island Disaster

The Willow Island disaster was the crumble of an under construction cooling tower of a power plant. On 27th April 1978, 51 workers were killed due to falling concrete tower. At that time, lots of thermal power plant was built and this is 1300 megawatts power plant building at the Willow Island. That day, when the cooling tower reached a height of 51 meters, the crane fell toward the tower. As the result, the whole tower collapsed and  killed all the workers . Many of them were identified by the documents found in their pockets.

10. World Trade Center Twin Tower

The twin towers of New York were the tallest building at the time of opening in 1973. They were 526 and 541 meters high and each have 110 floors. Due to less safety, many workers died at the construction site. The authority of the construction site estimated the total  death toll at 60  but everyone has a doubt in mind regarding the death stats. Some unnamed sources came up with terrified data about the accuracy of deaths. On 11th September 2001, Al-Qaeda hijacked two planes and completely destroyed both the towers.

9. Grand Coulee Dam

Building a big dam involves explosions and hard work at high heights. Grand Coulee Dam was constructed between 1933 and 1942 on the Columbia River in Washington. Now it is the largest electric power producing dam in the United States. To build the dam, a few hundreds of people sacrificed their lives. There is no exact report but some sources state that the  death toll was more than eighty . Most of them were killed due to falling from the dam.

8. Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam, also known as Boulder Dam constructed on the Colorado River. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936. The dam has the largest reservoir in the United States. Official report states that thousands of workers contributed their efforts and more than  one hundred people  lost their lives during the whole project. At that time, many workers were injured during construction and died later in the camp and they never included in the record.

7. Aswan Dam

The Aswan Dam is also known as High Dam, is situated in the Nile River in Egypt. It was built for the purpose to control floods, generate electricity and provide water for plantation. According to some source, more than 300,000 workers contributed to this construction and around  550 lost their lives  during construction. All the deaths were caused because of lack of safety tools. Now this dam has a large impact on the economy and growth of the nation.

6. Karakoram Highway

The Karakoram Highway connects China and Pakistan through Khunjerab Pass. It is the highest paved international road in the world at an altitude of 4693 meters. Due to the extreme conditions in which it was constructed, it is also referred as the eighth wonders of the world. It was constructed between 1959 and 1978. During the construction project, a confirmed report states that more than  900 people were dead  and most of them because of landslides.

5. Hawk Nest Tunnel

The Hawk Nest tunnel disaster is one of the worst industrial disasters in the United States history. In 1927, three thousand workers were sent to the West Virginia for a hydroelectric project. While construction, workers found silica and the officer asked them to mine it too for purification process of steel. But they were not given any type of protection. A confirmed report counts the death toll at over 470 but other sources ranges more than  one thousand workers .

4. United States Transcontinental Railroad

In 1860s, the United States government decided to lay down more than 1900 miles of railway track from Council Bluff to San Francisco. This was the first railroad in the United States which later became a dangerous project. During construction, thousands of labors were dead due to less safety to their life. There is no official death record because all the workers were prisoners or illegal immigrant. There are many unconfirmed reports that count the total deaths between  1000-1500 .

3. White Sea Baltic Sea Canal

The White Sea Baltic Sea Canal connects the White Sea in Russia with Lake Onega. It was constructed between 1931 and 1933. It is 227 km in length and has limited advantage due to its low depth of only 3.5 meters. A rough report claimed that 126,000 workers were forced to work at the construction site, out of which around 12,000 were dead. According to other unofficial report, the total  death toll was 25,000 . Most of the people died of tortures, malnutrition and plague because all the workers were illegal immigrants.

2. Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a 77 km long canal that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the largest engineering project in history and also one of the deadly construction projects. France began the construction in 1880 and around 25,000 workers were dead because of the harsh conditions. In 1904, the US took the construction and that time 5600 more workers died of disease and starvation. During the whole project, around  30,600 workers died . Currently, the canal is under construction for another lane and scheduled to open in 2016.

1. Burma-Siam Railway Construction

The Burma Railway or Death Railway is a 415 km long railway track that connects Burma, Thailand, Bangkok and Rangoon. It was built-in 1943 during the World War II. More than 180,000 Asian civilian labors and over 60,000 prisoners were forced to do work on the construction site. Out of these, around  90,000 civilians and over 12,000 prisoners died  of several reasons. Most of them died of starvation and brutality of officers. Few workers were eaten by lions during the whole project.

Varun Kumar

Varun Kumar is a professional technology and business research analyst with over 10 years of experience. He primarily focuses on software technologies, business strategies, competitive analysis, and market trends.

Varun received a Master's degree in computer science from GGSIPU University. To find out about his latest projects, feel free to email him at [email protected] . 

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[…] Sources: Gizmodo, RankRed […]

on number 3 the workers were not illegal immigrants, they were mostly political prisoners. thats a blatent re write of history to suit an agenda.

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10 Of History’s Deadliest Construction Projects

Picture: Panama Canal in 1907 by H.C. White Co, from the Library of Congress

It’s not always easy to compare one project to another, since each project measures “deaths” differently — some include disease due to working conditions, for example. And though construction has become far safer today, worker deaths are still common. New reports estimate that 4000 migrant workers might die building eight stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — which would place it far ahead of most major infrastructural projects in history. Is this the price we pay for progress?

Here’s a sampling of projects — not a complete list — finished since 1900 using numbers reported by McGraw Hill’s Engineering News Report , along with the explanations for how record-keepers decided upon those numbers.

Panama Canal, 1880-1914

Picture: Charles Graham

One of the largest and most ambitious engineering projects in modern history, the Panama Canal was also one of the deadliest, at 30,609 deaths. France managed the construction starting in 1880, which likely saw a death count of about 25,000 people, most killed not by construction incidents but by yellow fever and malaria. (The French would only officially record deaths that took place at their hospitals, which was a very small number overall.) After the US took over construction in 1904, figures collected on the canal’s site show that 5609 workers died of diseases and accidents. A majority of the men who died under US management were natives to the area. Only 350 of the US deaths were white Americans.

White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal, 1931-1933

As punishment for their crimes against the government, Russian gulag prisoners were forced to dig this canal under extremely deplorable conditions, using primitive tools and inadequate safety equipment. At the end of the project, 12,000 prisoners were freed for their work, yet an estimated 12,000 prisoners died during construction. The finished 141-mile canal runs through Russia from the Baltic Sea to the inland White Sea, which allows goods to travel all the way to Siberian ports in the Arctic.

Burma-Siam Railway, 1942-1943

Picture: Hellfire Pass

Nicknamed the “Death Railway” for obvious reasons, this 415km railroad was built by Japan to get its troops and supplies to Burma during World War II. In addition to the 100,000 local residents who lost their lives working on the project, it’s estimated that 60,000 Allied POWs were used as forced labour and at least 12,399 of those soldiers died, although the figure may be higher than 16,000. Many soldiers starved to death, while others were subjected to tremendous brutality at their hands of their captors. One of the bridges built during construction was immortalised in the book The Bridge on the River Kwai, which has been criticised for not accurately portraying how bad the conditions were.

Karakoram Highway, 1959-78

This 1456km highway that connects the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan, with Kashgar, China, is the highest-elevation paved international road on the planet: At the Pakistan-Chinese border in Kashmir, the road reaches 4730m above sea level. It also travels over some of the most treacherous and unstable mountains on Earth, so many of the 892 deaths were caused by landslides, which are still an issue for drivers today. A devastating landslide in 2010 created a lake which flooded a Pakistani valley and closed part of the highway.

Aswan Dam, 1960-70

Over 30,000 workers contributed to the building of the Aswan Dam in Egypt, and 500 lost their lives. This diversion of the Nile River was a huge power move for the country’s economic prospects, even though the environmental and cultural impacts on the area were devastating — 100,000 people were relocated and many archeological sites were lost. Safety conditions improved considerably after the Soviet Union kicked in equipment and financial support in exchange for a stake.

Hawks Nest Tunnel, 1927

Picture: Hawks Nest Tunnel Movie

A simple diversion tunnel for the New River in West Virginia turned into one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the US due to poor health and safety regulations. After workers discovered silica in the rock they were told to mine it as a by-product of tunnel construction, however, they were never given any masks or protective gear. Hundreds of workers developed silicosis due to the long-term exposure of silica dust in their lungs. Although the official number of deaths is 109, which is transcribed on historical markers, the number could be as high as 1000 due to the fact that many sick workers simply abandoned the site.

Hoover Dam, 1931-1935

Picture: Bureau of Reclamation

Harnessing the power of the Colorado River and ensuring water security for the west was one of the most dramatic infrastructural events the US has ever undertaken, but for such a large project, the loss of life was relatively low. The dam’s records puts the official count at 96, however, that does not include deaths from heat, cardiac arrest or other factors that may have been exacerbated from building a dam in the desert. The 96 deaths include men who died from “industrial fatalities”: drowning, blasting, falling rocks or slides, falls from the canyon walls or truck accidents. The dam’s site also refutes another urban legend: Due to the dam’s structure made from interlocking concrete blocks, there are no bodies buried in the dam.

Los Angeles Aqueduct, 1908-1913

Picture: Water and Power

One of most audacious water infrastructure projects on American soil was designed to deliver water from the Owens Valley in the Sierras to a thirsty and growing Los Angeles, 674km away. Eleven construction divisions began work simultaneously, carving out reservoirs, tunnels, canals and hydroelectric plants, as well as the rail, telephone and power infrastructure to support it all. Conditions were often difficult for the workers, who were in remote locations with little access to medical services — they often had to use mules due to the treacherous terrain — yet only 43 deaths were documented during the entire five-year project.

New York City Third Water Tunnel, 1970 to present

The largest infrastructure project in New York state history is currently tunnelling below New Yorker’s feet to provide a third connection to the upstate water supply (we paid it a visit last year ). The project also serves as a way to illustrate improvements in safety and technology over the last few decades: The earliest tunnels were created by blasting and drilling, while the new tunnels are being carved out by a tunnel boring machine. The 24 deaths include one boy who died while exploring water pipes which had been left uncovered in the Bronx.

St Gotthard Road Tunnel, 1969-1980

Raimond Spekking

Top 10 Deadliest Construction Projects In The World

Safety is mandatory in the construction industry, and many countries have strict construction rules which contractors must follow. However, we still hear of numerous contractors ignoring these safety procedures. The construction industry is hazardous, and thousands of people have lost their lives in the past while erecting some of the magnificent structures we see today, due to the lack of safety procedures and ignorance. Some of the most deadly construction projects of all time are listed below, according to World Atlas.

The human cost of construction

Construction can be a risky business. Over the past 200 years, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives while working on construction projects, whether from accidents, equipment failure or unsafe working conditions. In recent years, deaths on major construction sites have decreased, as safety protocols, labor rights and equipment have improved.

A new interactive timeline by Southern California law firm DIMARCO | ARAUJO | MONTEVIDEO includes some of the world’s most significant architecture and infrastructure projects, including the Panama Canal (30,609 deaths), Hoover Dam (96 deaths), World Trade Center (60 deaths) and Brookyln Bridge (30 deaths). The timeline puts some of the deadliest projects in context, showing how major construction projects from the past 200 years compare in terms of lives lost. The timeline also breaks down each project’s death rate per thousand workers.

The timeline also includes some surprisingly non-lethal construction projects, from New York’s Chrysler Building, which had zero deaths among the 3,000 workers who completed it in 1930, to the Eiffel Tower, which had just one reported death during its construction in 1889. The Empire State Building and Chicago’s Sears Tower both reported just five deaths during their respective construction periods.

One of the most-deadly projects was the Suez Canal. Its construction led to the deaths of 120,000 of the hired and forced laborers who dug it out over a decade in the mid-1800s. With roughly 1.5 million people involved in the construction, that represents a rate of 80 deaths per 1,000 workers — a rate comparable to that for the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad in the U.S., which claimed 1,200 of its 15,000 workers. The most devastating project was the Panama Canal, which had more than 30,000 deaths, representing about 40 percent of its workforce.

The List of Top 10 Deadliest Construction Projects In The World

10. World Trade Center

9. Erie Canal

8. Brooklyn Bridge

7. Karakoram Highway

6. Suez Canal

5. Transcontinental Railroad

4. White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal

3. Hawk Nest Tunnel

2. Burma-Siam Railway

1. Panama Canal

What Are The Deadliest Construction Projects In The World?

10. world trade center - 60 deaths.

The original World Trade Center was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space.

During its existence, the World Trade Center experienced several major incidents, including a fire on February 13, 1975; a bombing on February 26, 1993; and a bank robbery on January 14, 1998. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the Twin Towers within minutes of each other; less than two hours later, both towers collapsed. The attacks killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires that the debris initiated in several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the WTC complex’s buildings and caused catastrophic damage to 10 other large structures in the surrounding area.

Built by a team of 3,500 workers at a time, the 110 floor towers ranked as the fifth and sixth tallest buildings in the world at the time of their destruction in 2001. Official records state that 60 people died from construction related accidents, which is a relatively high number considering how modern the towers were.

9. Erie Canal - 1,000 deaths

The Erie Canal in New York is part of the east–west, cross-state route of the New York State Canal System (formerly known as the New York State Barge Canal). It was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, originally stretching for 363 miles (584 km) from the Hudson River in Albany to Lake Erie in Buffalo. Completed in 1825, it was the second-longest canal in the world (after the Grand Canal in China) and greatly enhanced the development and economy of the cities of New York, including Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and New York City, as well as the United States. This was in part due to the new ease of transport of salt and other goods, and industries that developed around those.

Called the 8th wonder of the world when it was completed in 1825, the Erie Canal connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River and was instrumental in opening the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers and trade. It took a total of 8 years and some 50,000 laborers working for 80 cents a day to complete the iconic 363 mile long passage. Of the 50,000 workers, 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.

8. Brooklyn Bridge – 30 deaths

The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) and a deck 127 ft (38.7 m) above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.

Linking Manhattan and Brooklyn since its completion in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most iconic structures found in the United States. Surprisingly, the over a mile long bridge only employed 600 workers who worked for $2 a day for 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. The remaining casualties came from falls, falling debris, and cases of caisson disease, known as “the bends.” Even though the bridge is over 130 years old, today it still carries around 150,000 cars and pedestrians each day.

7. Karakoram Highway – 1,300 deaths

The Karakoram Highway or the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway) is a 1,300 km (810 mi) national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province of Pakistan to the Khunjerab Pass in Gilgit-Baltistan, where it crosses into China and becomes China National Highway 314. The highway connects the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plus Gilgit-Baltistan with China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The highway is a popular tourist attraction and is one of the highest paved roads in the world, passing through the Karakoram mountain range, at 36°51′00″N 75°25′40″E at maximum elevation of 4,714 m (15,466 ft) near Khunjerab Pass. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. The highway is also a part of the Asian Highway AH4.

The Karakoram highway is the 808-mile long highway that extends from Khujerab-Pass to Punjab. It connects Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan with Xinjiang Uyghur in China. It is one of the highest highways on earth and passes the 15,466 foot high Karakoram Mountain. The road was built between 1959 and 1978. The death rate of the Karakoram Highway was 54.17 per 1,000 employees. The majority of workers died due to falls and landslides. Over 200 Chinese and 810 Pakistani employees lost their lives while building the highway.

6. Suez Canal – 120,000 deaths

The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The canal is part of the Silk Road that connects Europe with Asia.

In 1858, Ferdinand de Lesseps formed the Suez Canal Company for the express purpose of building the canal. Construction of the canal lasted from 1859 to 1869. The canal officially opened on 17 November 1869. It offers vessels a direct route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans and reducing the journey distance from the Arabian Sea to London by approximately 8,900 kilometres (5,500 mi), or 10 days at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) to 8 days at 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). The canal extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez. Its length is 193.30 km (120.11 mi) including its northern and southern access-channels. In 2020, more than 18,500 vessels traversed the canal (an average of 51.5 per day).

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

5. Transcontinental Railroad – 1,200 deaths

North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route") was a 1,911-mile (3,075 km) continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay. The rail line was built by three private companies over public lands provided by extensive US land grants. Construction was financed by both state and US government subsidy bonds as well as by company issued mortgage bonds. The Western Pacific Railroad Company built 132 mi (212 km) of track from the road's western terminus at Alameda/Oakland to Sacramento, California. The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California (CPRR) constructed 690 mi (1,110 km) east wm Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) built 1,085 mi (1,746 km) from the road's eastern terminus at the Missouri River settlements of Council Bluffs and Omaha, Nebraska westward to Promontory Summit.

15,000 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. One newspaper article entitled “Bones in Transit” of June 30, 1870 in the Sacramento Reporter reported that “about 20,000 pounds of bones” dug up from shallow graves were taken by train for return to China, calculating that this amounted to 1,200 Chinese. Another article published on the same day in the Sacramento Union stated that only the bones of about 50 Chinese were on the train. Others believe that some Chinese must have also died in a smallpox outbreak among railroad workers, although there are no records if any of the dead were Chinese. In addition, there were reports of Chinese workers being killed in Nevada as the result of Indian raids.

4. White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal – 12,000 deaths

The White Sea–Baltic Canal (Russian: Беломо́рско-Балти́йский кана́л, Byelomorsko-Baltiyskiy kanal, BBK), often abbreviated to White Sea Canal (Belomorkanal) is a ship canal in Russia opened on Wednesday 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea, in the Arctic Ocean, with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea. Until 1961, its original name was the Stalin White Sea–Baltic Canal (Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy Kanal imeni Stalina).

The canal was constructed by forced labor of gulag inmates. Beginning and ending with a labor force of 126,000, between 12,000 and 25,000 laborers died according to official records, while Anne Applebaum's estimate is 25,000 deaths, and accounts of up to 250,000 deaths in the works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

3. Hawk Nest Tunnel – 764 deaths

The Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster was a large-scale incident of occupational silicosis as the result of the construction of the Hawks Nest Tunnel near Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, as part of a hydroelectric project. This project is considered to be one of the worst industrial disasters in American history.

The construction of a three mile long tunnel through Gauley Mountain in West Virginia in 1931 is known as one of the worst industrial disasters in United States history because of the certainty of death. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact number of fatalities from the 5000 person workforce because many died from silicosis, an incurable lung disease that can take a few years to become fatal. For example, it’s estimated that at least 764 of the 1213 men who worked underground for 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 by staying underground for even relatively short periods of time.

2. Burma-Siam Railway – 106,000 deaths

The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Siam–Burma Railway, the Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma, built by prisoners of war of the Japanese from 1940–1944 to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign of World War II. This railway completed the rail link between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma. The name used by the Japanese Government is Tai–Men Rensetsu Tetsudō (泰緬連接鉄道), which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway.

The Burma-Siam railway, also known as the Burma railway or even the Death Railway, is the 258-mile long railway that connects Thanbyuzayat, Burma to Ban Pong, Thailand. The Empire of Japan built the railway to support their troops in the Burma campaign of the Second World War in 1943. Over 61,000 prisoners and 250,000 laborers were forced to make the railway. The entire project resulted in the death of about 12,000 prisoners and 90,000 laborers. The majority of these people died due to starvation and the officers’ brutality while lions killed others.

1. Panama Canal – 30,609 deaths

The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 mi) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan and the even less popular route through the Arctic Archipelago and the Bering Strait.

Connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans for maritime trade, the Panama Canal is one of the most notable engineering achievements of the modern world and also one of the most deadly. Managed by a number of different countries over its 32 year construction period, the 48 mile canal took about 75,000 laborers of various origins to complete. However, the region was dubbed the “Fever Coast,” with instances of everything from small pox and typhoid to yellow fever, causing an astounding 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.

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