Episode
MegaStructures: The World's Most Extreme Island (Impossible Islands)
Overview
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.
Details
- Series
- MegaStructures
- Season
- Season 2
- Episode
- Episode 11
- Air date
- 2005-09-13
- Runtime
- 60 min
Episode context
The World's Most Extreme Island (Impossible Islands) is Episode 11 in Season 2 of MegaStructures. It aired on 2005-09-13. The runtime is 60 min.
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Episode 10: 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..
Episode 12: 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
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Episode 13: 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.
Episode 8: 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.
Episode 14: Mega Plane (Air Force Transport)
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.
Episode 7: Black Gold (Oil Mine)
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Episode 15: North Branch Correctional Institution
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Episode 6: Las Vegas
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Episode 16: 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.
Episode 5: 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.
Episode 17: 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.