Megastructures - Season 2
Season 2
Network
Episodes28
DatesMar 2, 2005 - Dec 31, 2005
Episodes
Season 2Episode 160 min
Golden Gate Bridge
Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Mar 2, 2005
Season 2Episode 260 min
Alcatraz
In 1906, an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 rocked San Francisco. An earthquake of similar or greater proportions is expected to occur in San Francisco again, and soon. The episode takes a look at the efforts that are being made to retrofit and strengthen America’s most recognized bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, before the next big earthquake happens. It also gives a brief history about the construction of the suspension bridge, and the people who were involved in its construction.
Mar 16, 2005
Season 2Episode 360 min
Inside The Pentagon
The worst of the worst were sent here—men like Al "Scarface" Capone, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, "The Birdman" Robert Stroud. For 29 years, Alcatraz was a ferocious battle between America's toughest prison and the brilliant criminal minds locked inside. We'll explore the design, construction and legendary escapes from The Rock.
Apr 1, 2005
Season 2Episode 460 min
World's Busiest Port
port of singapore
May 13, 2005
Season 2Episode 560 min
Tau Tona - City of Gold
Megastructure takes viewers on an inside look at how the Port of Singapore is able to move a third of the world's trade through the use of shipping and high-tech mega-systems.
May 27, 2005
Season 2Episode 660 min
Las Vegas
Located near Johannesburg, South Africa, the Tau Tona is a gold mine. The Tau Tona is the main economic life blood of Johannesburg, supplying half the world’s gold needs. It is the deepest and largest working mine in the world. Its main shaft is 3.6 km deep and consists of 800 km of tunneling. This episode gives viewers a tour of the dynamic systems involved in maintaining a working environment deep in the earth. It also provides a glimpse of what life as a mine worker is like in Tau Tona. Risking heat exhaustion, and with 10 earthquakes a day, the miners work through narrow tunnels to extract gold from a 25 cm thick gold vein.
Jun 22, 2005
Season 2Episode 760 min
Ultimate Oil Sands Mine
.
Jul 20, 2005
Season 2Episode 860 min
Ekati Diamond Mine (Diamond Diggers)
Located in Alberta, Canada is the world’s largest known single deposit of oil worth trillions of dollars. However, the oil is trapped in a complex mixture of sand, water and clay, and the cost of extracting the fuel from the soil will cost billions. The episode profiles the competition between the Syncrude and the Shell Oil companies to extract the black gold. It looks at the various mega machines and systems that are used to extract, transport and the process used to separate the oil from the sand.
Jul 27, 2005
Season 2Episode 960 min
Sea Launch
Located near Lac De Gras, Canada’s Northwest Territories, lies Canada’s first diamond mine, the Ekati Diamond Mine. The episode examines 3 mega machines utilized in the extraction and transportation of diamonds deep in the frozen rock in the remote tundra: the D90 rotary blast drill, the DeMag 655 hydraulic shovel and the CAT 793C haul truck.
Aug 3, 2005
Season 2Episode 1060 min
North Sea Wall
A historic and present look at Holland's efforts to hold on to their precious land from floods as a result of rising sea levels and climate changes. After a storm in 1916, the Dutch began a labor intensive construction of a Barrier Dam in 1923, stretching 30 km in length. It resulted in the reclamation of 165,000 ha of new land, and creation of a fresh water lake. However, in 1953, a combination of a hurricane and high spring tides caused the North Sea waters to force through the barrier and flood the Dutch coastline, resulting in the loss of over 1,800 lives and 47,000 livestock. The disaster resulted in Holland's creation of the 'Delta Project'. Costing billions of dollars, the project began in 1958. The project consisted of the construction of concrete dams, steel sea walls and retractable floodgates. Environmental considerations also led to the construction of the storm surge barrier in the Eastern Scheldt, one of the biggest in the world. It consists of 2 floating gates built on special docks. The vast gates are controlled by a computer system that allows the gates to be kept open but closes when a flood is imminent. Also presented are current emergency plans that include allocation of certain areas of land to be flooded during worse case flooding..
Aug 17, 2005
Season 2Episode 1160 min
The World's Most Extreme Island (Impossible Islands)
Dubai's artificial palm islands, United Arab Emirates
Sep 13, 2005
Season 2Episode 1260 min
Indy Motor Speedway
How engineers created the USS Virginia and commissioned the first of a new class of nuclear submarine in the 1970s, hailed during its lifetime as the world's deadliest vessel
Sep 13, 2005
Season 2Episode 1360 min
Port of Rotterdam (Super Port)
Spanning 559 acres and host to over 250,000 permanent seats, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the largest seated sporting arena in the world. The Speedway opened its gates in 1909 during the horse-and-buggy era. Now, it is one of the most technologically advanced racetracks on the globe.
Sep 20, 2005
Season 2Episode 1460 min
Air Force Transport (Mega Plane)
Megastructure looks at how one of Dubai's greatest engineering marvel came to be. Examining the Palm-Jumeira Island from it's design to it's method of construction, the documentary also lists the problems faced in it's construction. Like the effects from the September 11 fears to corrosions and weather.
Sep 20, 2005
Season 2Episode 1560 min
North Branch Correctional Institution (Hi-Tech Prison)
Sep 27, 2005
Season 2Episode 1660 min
World's Biggest Airliner (Airbus A380)
The episode profiles the C-5 Galaxy, one of the largest aircrafts in the world, and the operations of the crew of the mega-plane. The episode includes a look at how the C-5 Galaxy transports military equipment over to the troops in Iraq from America's Dover Air Force Base.
Oct 4, 2005
Season 2Episode 1760 min
USS Virginia
It is the largest passenger plane ever built and it is a 12 billion dollar investment. The episode documents the history of the Airbus A380, from its design concept, its interior features, the precision manufacturing, the logistics, the final assembly and its final maiden flight.
Oct 11, 2005
Season 2Episode 1860 min
Ultimate Casino
Venetian Vegas
Oct 18, 2005
Season 2Episode 1960 min
The Ultimate Roller coaster
The episode follows the construction process of the 25 million dollar Kingda Ka Roller Coaster being built by Six Flags. Constructed under secrecy, the 139m tall roller coaster will be the fastest and tallest roller coaster in the world when completed, breaking the Dragster’s record. The documentary includes brief comments from Project Engineer, Jeff Glinter, and Chief Corporate Engineer, Larry Chickola. And explains how the Kingda Ka utilises a hydraulic launch system to launch riders to a speed of 206km/h in 3 seconds.
Oct 25, 2005
Season 2Episode 2060 min
Spy Fortress NORAD
Oct 25, 2005
Season 2Episode 2160 min
Berlin Train Terminal (Berlin's Grand Central)
Berlin’s new train terminal is designed to be constructed almost entirely out of glass and is being rushed to completion before the World Cup 2006, when millions of soccer fans will be expected to visit Berlin. Megastructures documents the historical feat when two daring teams attempt a feat never before accomplished in construction history; the tipping of two bridges over the roof of the glass station. Already costing 4 billion dollars, almost 5 years in construction delays, over budget, and with the architect suing the developers for cutting corners, will the terminal be ready before the dateline?
Nov 15, 2005
Season 2Episode 2260 min
Boston's Big Dig
'National Geographic Channel MegaStructures' takes a look at the construction history of Boston Big Dig project. Costing almost 15 billion dollars and taking almost 20 yrs to complete, the Boston's Big Dig is considered to be the most complex, expensive, and technically challenging civil engineering public works project in the United States. The project was inspired by Fred Salvucci, the Transportation Commissioner to the Mayor of Boston, who wanted to find a solution to the city’s traffic woes. He came up with an idea to link up the major sectors of the city with a system of wide underground tunnels for traffic. Consisting of 4 elements, a tunnel under the harbor, an underground connection to the Interstate 90, an underground traffic system under the city itself to replace the elevated city highway, and a wide cable-stayed bridge to replace the old double-decked bridge. The episode looks at the many obstacles that were faced in the construction, from water leaks to residential protest. The episode also contains brief words from some of the major people involved in the project.
Nov 22, 2005
Season 2Episode 2360 min
Ultimate Oil Rigs
The dwindling energy supplies have forced oil companies to set up their oil rigs in some of the harshest environments on the globe. Ultimate Oil Rigs introduces viewers to the Noble Piet, an oil rig built to withstand the fury of the natural elements of the North Sea. The episodes follows the roughnecks as they drill for natural gases deep under the ocean bed. As well as follow the crew of Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore in the designing and building of 23 rigs within 2 years.
Dec 6, 2005
Season 2Episode 2460 min
Baikonur Cosmodrome
Explore the Baikonur Cosmodrome, crown jewel of Russia's space program. Trace the glorious history of this megacomplex from the landmark launches of Sputnik and the first cosmonauts to its current status as a gateway to the International Space Station.
Dec 13, 2005
Season 2Episode 2560 min
Inside Grand Central
Railroad terminal in New York City.
Dec 18, 2005
Season 2Episode 2660 min
World's Tallest Bridge (Millau Bridge)
It is the world’s tallest bridge, at 343 m tall at its highest pillar, the Millau Viaduct in Southern France is almost a third taller than any other bridge in the world. A freeway in the sky, the bridge crosses the river Tarn in France and can save travelers almost an hour of travel between France and the Mediterranean. It also removes the traffic congestion once faced in the town of Millau. The episode documents the difficulties that the crew had to faced, and the challenging processes that were used in its construction. The documentary contains a few words from the mayor of Millau, Jacques Godfrain, the bridge architect, Norman Foster, and designer, Michel Virlogeux.
Dec 20, 2005
Season 2Episode 2760 min
Mega Ship (OCCL)
Orient Overseas Container Line / OOCL Atlanta ship
Dec 27, 2005
Season 2Episode 2860 min
Deep Sea Drillers
Dec 31, 2005
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