Cost comparisons

How much does the LHC cost? And how much does this represent in other currencies? Below we present a table showing some comparisons with the cost of other projects. Looking at the figures, you will see that the cost of the LHC can be likened to that of three skyscrapers, or two seasons of Formula 1 racing! One year's budget of a single large F1 team is comparable to the entire materials cost of the ATLAS or CMS experiments.
 

Please note that all the figures are rounded for ease of reading.

   CHF $  
LHC 4.6 billions 3 billions  4 billions  
Space Shuttle Endeavour (NASA) 1.9 billion 1.3 billion 1.7 billion  
Hubble Space Telescope
(cost at launch – NASA/ESA)
1.6 billion 1.1 billion 1.5 billion  
Aircraft carrier 2.9 billions 2 billions 2.7 billions  
Oresund bridge
(8 km, Sweden/Denmark)
 5.7 billions  4 billions  5.3 billions
photo by H.C. Steensen
Burj Khalifa skyscraper
(828 m, Dubai)
 1.6 billion  1.1 billion 1.5 billion 
photo by Heitor C. Jorge
F1 budget (per season,
F1 Magazine 2003)
 2.3 billions  1.6 billion  2.1 billions  
F1 big team (per season, F1 Magazine 2003)  535 millions  375 millions  500 millions
photo by Ferrari
Olympic games of
Athens 2004
 16 billions  11.2 billions  15 billions  



by CERN Bulletin