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Click Here To PrintMegastructures (US) Episode Guide
1 :01x01 - Super Carrier: USS Ronald Reagan
Touring the USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 2003 that is as tall as a 20-story building and houses 85 planes (and fuel for them). The Nimitz-class vessel is staffed by 6000 officers and sailors.
2 :01x02 - Autobahn
Germany's Autobahn. Included: construction and maintenance of the superhighway.
3 :01x03 - Channel Tunnel
Examining the construction of the Channel Tunnel from England to France. Included: a look at the engineering details; and construction equipment designed to bore through rock.
4 :01x04 - Sears Tower
Examining the Sears Tower, the tallest building in North America. Included: inside the elevator shafts; the towering antennae; a window-washer's view of Chicago.
5 :01x05 - Kansai International Airport
The Kansai Airport, located three miles off the coast of Japan, features a manmade island the size of the country of Monaco, the longest two-story bridge and the largest single-room building.
6 :01x06 - Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
A look at the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan, the world's tallest, longest and most expensive suspension bridge. The structure was built over a deepwater channel beset by typhoons, heavy rain and treacherous currents, in the middle of a major earthquake zone.
7 :01x07 - Itaipú Dam
The engineering behind the Itaipu Dam in Brazil and Paraguay, which took 16 years to complete.
8 :01x08 - Petronas Towers
Engineering and construction of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Included: complications caused by weather and local geology.
9 :01x09 - Inside a Super Casino
Construction of the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City is detailed.
11 :01x11 - Alcatraz
The island-prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay is examined.
1 :02x01 - Golden Gate Bridge
5 :02x05 - Tau Tona: City Of Gold
Examining the Tau Tona gold mine in South Africa.
14 :02x07 - Black Gold (Oil Mine)
A look at companies in Canada's Alberta forest that are attempting to develop technologies that will allow oil to be extracted from sand below the surface.
15 :02x08 - Ekati Diamond Mine (Diamond Diggers)
Three mining machines at the Ekati diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories. Included: the D90 rotary blast drill; the DeMag 655 hydraulic shovel; the CAT 793C haul truck.
33 :02x08 - Ekati Diamond Mine (Diamond Diggers)
The frozen Ekati Mine is the setting of this documentary on workers and machines that dig for diamonds.
16 :02x09 - Sea Launch
Examining Sea Launch, a multinational venture for sending commercial satellites into space from ships. Featured: engineering successes, including the launch of the heaviest commercial payload (nearly six tons), and several spectacular failures.
10 :02x10 - North Sea Wall
An extremely damaging 1953 storm surge on the Dutch coastline triggers construction of concrete and steel sea walls and retractable floodgates, but rising sea levels since then prompt the Dutch to design floating houses and roads.
20 :02x11 - Impossible Islands: Dubai's Palm Island
Examining Palm-Jumeirah Island in Dubai, an enormous artificial island in the shape of a palm tree.
19 :02x12 - Indy Motor Speedway
Examining design and construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
21 :02x13 - Super Port: Rotterdam
Examining the Port of Rotterdam, as it receives three large, challenging ships.
34 :02x13 - Super Port: Rotterdam
The Port of Rotterdam is examined. Included: a look at how it operates in regard to rough currents and narrow channels.
22 :02x14 - Mega Plane (Air Force Transport)
The Galaxy C-5, a plane that's six stories high with a wingspan of 223 feet, a cruising speed of 490 mph, and a cargo compartment as big as an eight-lane bowling alley.
37 :02x14 - Mega Plane (Air Force Transport)
Dover Air Force Base is visited for a look at the facility's role in fulfilling military-supply needs.
30 :02x15 - North Branch Correctional Facility (Hi-tech Prison)
Touring the North Branch Correctional Institution, a technologically advanced maximum-security facility in Cumberland, Md.
23 :02x16 - World's Biggest Airliner (Airbus A380)
17 :02x17 - USS Virginia
Examining construction of the USS Virginia, the first major redesign in nuclear submarines since the end of the Cold War.
24 :02x18 - Ultimate Casino
Examining the designing and building of the Venetian Hotel Resort Casino in Nevada by billionaire developer Sheldon Adelson. Included: two subsequent additions to the project.
25 :02x19 - Ultimate Roller Coaster Rider
Structural and technical details of the Kingda Ka roller coaster in New Jersey, which reaches speeds of 128 MPH and includes a 90-degree incline 45 stories high.
26 :02x20 - Norad
Examining construction of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in the Colorado mountains. Included: the technical challenges it presented.
27 :02x21 - Berlin's Grand Central (Berlin Train Terminal)
Examining the construction of Berlin's Grand Central, planned as the largest train station in Europe with nearly 2 million feet of space.
28 :02x22 - Boston's Big Dig
Tracing the 20 years of planning and construction of Boston's Big Dig, the 7.8-mile downtown highway bridge-and-tunnel project that replaces an elevated highway.
29 :02x23 - Ultimate Oil Rig
A report on offshore oil drilling visits an oil rig in the North Sea and a Singapore shipyard where 23 rigs are under construction.
31 :02x25 - Millau Bridge
The "World's Tallest Bridge" examines the Millau Viaduct over the River Tarn in southern France. Built over a gorge between two plateaus, the cable-stayed 1.5-mile viaduct is 336 meters high at its highest point, taller than the Eiffel Tower. Construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2004.
38 :02x25 - Impossible Bridges: Greece
Charting the construction of Greece's Rion-Antirion Bridge, a nearly 2-mile span over the Gulf of Corinth that also crosses a seismic fault line.
32 :02x26 - Mega Ship
A voyage on the Atlanta, a 134,000-ton "megaship" operated by the Orient Overseas Container Line. Footage of the Atlanta, which began sailing in 2005, is shown as it negotiates its way through the Singapore and Malacca Straits into the South China Sea.
39 :02x26 - Hoover Dam
Exploring Nevada's Hoover Dam in Black Canyon on the Colorado River. The 726-foot dam weighs more than 6,600,000 tons and is 660 feet thick at its base. Completed in 1936, it can store up to two years' worth of the Colorado's average water flow, and generates four billion hours of hydroelectric power a year.
40 :02x27 - Dubai's Palm Island
Dubai's Palm Jumeirah, a manmade island shaped like a palm tree, is examined in this documentary.
41 :02x28 - Millau Bridge
The making of the Millau Viaduct in France, the world's tallest bridge, is examined in this documentary.
1 :03x01 - Berlin Wall
A history of the Berlin Wall, the “wall of shame” that divided East and West Germany from 1961 to 1989. The hour chronicles escape attempts and how East German authorities responded to them, and also recalls the opening of the Wall on Nov. 9, 1989. East and West Germany were formally reunited a year later.
42 :03x01 - Near Miss
The work of New York's air-traffic controllers is examined. Included: a look at equipment used; previous air disasters are discussed.
43 :03x02 - Mega Chopper
Examining “super choppers,” a modern breed of highly advanced, mulit-purpose helicopters. Included: a look at the creation of these aircrafts, through CGI, live action and archival footage.
36 :03x03 - Impossible Bridges: Denmark to Sweden
Chronicling the construction of the Oresund Bridge, a 10-mile span linking Denmark and Sweden that opened to auto and rail traffic in 2000. The link---from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden's third largest city---includes a tunnel and an artificial island, and took five years to construct.
44 :03x03 - Mega Sub
The inner workings of large submarines are featured. Also: examining historic submarine accidents and subsequent technological changes.
45 :03x04 - Iceland's Big Dig
A look at massive machinery used to build a hydroelectric power plant in Iceland's eastern highlands. Included: a tunnel-boring machine called Jaws; a multiarmed rig.