Which BIG project also broke a BIG record?

by | Oct 18, 2013 | Big Projects, Commentary

163.4 miles per hour is the speed of a world record set by Samuel Groth of Australia. This is not the speed of a stock car in a NASCAR race or a high speed train, but that of the fastest serve of a tennis ball by a male. The 25-year old Groth shattered the world record not once, but over and over again eventually staying at 163.4 miles per hour at the 2012 ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Busan, South Korea.

Samuel Groth (Credit: Stuart Mcevoy / News Limited)

Samuel Groth
(Credit: Stuart Mcevoy / News Limited)

Which NFL team has the loudest fans? That record is currently is held by the Kansas City Chiefs at 137.5 decibels. The Chiefs narrowly beat out Seattle Seahawk fans by less than a decibel under one month after they had broken the record for loudest crowd roar at a sports stadium.

Kansas City Chiefs fans "decibel up" to break the record for loudest fans. (Credit: Yahoo Sports)

Kansas City Chiefs fans “decibel up” to break the record for loudest fans.
(Credit: Yahoo Sports)

Miracle Milly is the name of the smallest living dog (in terms of height) measuring in at 3.8 inches tall. She lives in Puerto Rico, is known for sticking her tongue out when someone takes a picture of her and will only eat food cooked by humans.

Miracle Milly (Credit: Guinness World Records)

Miracle Milly
(Credit: Guinness World Records)

What do these world records have to do with our theme of BIG projects? While many of the projects we have featured are pretty impressive in their own right, one was just awarded a Guinness World Record. The East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge now holds the record for the widest bridge with a total deck width of 258.33 feet. The bridge’s deck includes 10 roadway lanes, a 15.5-ft-wide bike path and a gap where the central tower supports the two bridge deck sections. The bridge was already a record breaker being the world’s longest self-anchored suspension span bridge with a length of 2,047 feet.

Photo Courtesy of Caltrans

Photo Courtesy of Caltrans

Congratulations to the California Department of Transportation, the Bay Area Toll Authority and the California Transportation Commission on the record breaking bridge!

Stay turned next week as we take a look at more BIG projects.

Liz Faris, Account Manager
Collaborative Services, Inc.