A Few Major Projects.

To demonstrate how explosives have helped shape our world, we can look to some well known projects that would not have been possible without the use of explosives.
Three tunnels were constructed by the use of explosives and even today stand out as benchmarks in the history of explosives:

Mount Cenis, a 13-kilometer railway tunnel driven through the Alps between France and Italy (1857-71)

The 6.4 kilometer Hoosac Railway Project

The Sutromine Development Tunnel in Nevada (1864-74).