He is at his most instructive and entertaining in the period that roughly coincides with the construction of Saint Peter's basilica, which "took 120 years and lasted for the lifetime of 20 popes".

他的书最有启发性和娱乐性的地方是在和建造圣彼得大教堂大致重叠的时期。圣彼得大教堂的建造“花了120年的时间，历经20位教皇”。

youdao

Mirax signed a construction contract in Beijing on Monday with the Chinese Engineering construction Corporation. The work is expected to take two years.

本周一(7月25日)，米拉克斯集团在北京与中国工程建筑总公司签订了建筑合同，预计整个工期将长达2年。

youdao

Five years after the earthquake, more than 90% of the 400,000 houses rebuilt comply with safe construction guidelines - not a code mandated by law.

地震五年之后，在重建的400,000所住房中，超过90%的住房都符合安全建筑指南，而后者并不是一个法定的法规。

youdao

An agreement might be signed early next year with construction taking two years.

ECONOMIST: The Aral Sea

Planning got underway in 1979, with construction starting two years later.

BBC: Stade Louis II

Groundbreaking is scheduled for October (a design turnaround time that is Olympic-sprint quick) with construction to be completed two years later and a big-time test tournament mandated on the course in 2015.

WSJ: Fairway to Rio: Golf Comes to the Olympic Games