Think your project is taking foreeever? On this Friday after tax day, we breathe deeply and dig into the vaults of history for some perspective. And guess what—we found some projects that really did take for-freakin’-ever. Historical, unfathomable, magnificent. These monuments were built with no project management software. No Gantt charts, scheduling methodologies or scrum meetings. Probably a throng of project managers, however, going by another title. Can you imagine the baseline reports for these?

STONEHENGE

Location: Wiltshire, England
Construction started: Circa 3500 B.C.
Completed: Circa 1500 B.C.
Total time: Approximately 2,000 years.
Fun fact: This Neolithic, prehistoric stone circle remains a mystery. No one knows exactly why it was built but theories run the gamut from a burial ground to an ancient healing center to an alien landing site.
Learn more about Stonehenge.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

Location: From Shanhaiguan to Lop Lake, China
Started: Circa 400 B.C.
Completed: Circa A.D. 1600
Total time: 2,000 years
Fun fact: The Great Wall of China is the longest structure ever built by humans. And contrary to popular belief, you can’t see it from outer space.
Learn more about The Great Wall.

PETRA

Location: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Petra
Construction started:   Circa 600 B.C.
Completed: Circa A.D. 250
Duration: 850 years
Fun fact: Petra was a bustling trading center between 400 B.C. and 106 A.D., then sat in obscurity until it was discovered by a European traveler disguised in a Bedouin costume in the early 1800s.
Learn more about Petra.

This is barely the tip of the multi-century and –decade historical construction projects. Add the ones you know about!