

MegaStructures is a documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic Channel in the United States and the United Kingdom, Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, France 5 in France, and 7mate in Australia. Each episode is an educational look of varying depth into the construction, operation, and staffing of various structures or construction projects, but not ordinary construction products. Generally containing interviews with designers and project managers, it presents the problems of construction and the methodology or techniques used to overcome obstacles. In some cases this involved the development of new materials or products that are now in general use within the construction industry. MegaStructures focuses on constructions that are extreme; in the sense that they are the biggest, tallest, longest, or deepest in the world. Alternatively, a project may appear if it had an element of novelty or are a world first. This type of project is known as a Megaproject.
No reviews yet
Sign in to write the first review
E1 · Super Carrier: USS Ronald Reagan
The USS Ronald Reagan is a 4.5 billion dollars Nimitz-class supercarrier. Powered by 2 nuclear reactors, the 1100ft. long vessel is equipped with all the necessary facilities to house 6000 personnel a…
E2 · Autobahn
What began as a racing track, and thanks to Adolf Hitler’s World War II propaganda efforts, the track grew into a sophisticated high-speed road system, linking to almost all the major cities in German…
The Channel Tunnel or Euro Tunnel is one of the world’s longest underground rail tunnels, and links England with France. Consisting of two rail tunnels and a small service tunnel in-between, they tota…
For 20 years, the Sears Tower held the record for the world’s tallest building. Completed in 1973, the 110 stories high building is almost half a kilometer tall. And it still holds the record for havi…
Located 5 km off the coast of Osaka, Japan, is the Kansai International Airport. The airport is built entirely on a man-made island, 4 km long and 1 km wide. The only link between the island and Osaka…
In 1955, two ferries sank along the Akashi Strait, Japan, killing 168 children. It led to a 30 year research on designing a bridge that would link the Awaji Island to Kobe; the bridge would also have …
In the Paraná River of South America, lies the Itaipú Dam. Costing 20 billion dollars, the Itaipú Dam is the world's largest and most powerful hydroelectric power plant. It is a representation of the …
Designed by Cesar Pelli, the Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world on the date of its completion. Located in Kuala Lumpur, the design of the 88 storey, 450m tall twin towers, carrie…
Megastructures gets an inside look into the 13-year design and construction of Atlantic City's towering new casino, the Borgata.
Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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 eff…
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…
E4 · World's Busiest Port
Cameras are taken inside the Pentagon for a rare look at the usual going ons in the Pentagon, and a look at how the important meetings might be conducted. High ranking military officials and politicia…
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.
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…
.
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 extr…
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 o…
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 inte…
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 prob…
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
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-a…
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 prob…
The North Branch Correctional Institution (NBCI) will house 2,000 violent criminals. Its security measures are much more than technological marvels they are the features that will protect the lives of…
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 …
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 precisi…
The Venetian in Las Vegas is the ultimate casino. Dreamed up and owned by Sheldon Adelson, the Venetian replicates the beautiful Venice in Italy. Megastructures looks at how this Las Vegas hotel and c…
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…
Examining construction of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in the Colorado mountains. Including the technical challenges it presented.
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 vis…
'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 Bi…
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 b…
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 sta…
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter and intercity railroad terminal at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in …
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 brid…
The episodes documents the 134,000 ton Mega Ship's voyage through the pirate infested waters of the Singapore and Malacca Straits carrying millions of dollars of precious cargo. From the bridge to the…
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 …
The Oresund, spanning 10 miles in length, is the longest bridge in the world. The bridge links countries Denmark and Sweden, and Megastructures chronicles the history in it's design and construction.
Megastructures chronicles the design and construction of Greece's Rion-Antirion Bridge. The bridges is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world and spans over the straits of Corinth.
E5 · Hoover Dam
Explore the US Treasury's impenetrable subterranean vaults housing monster money-making machines that churn out billions of dollars. See the army of protectors that ensure the world's most powerful ec…
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the United States Department of the Navy's primary law enforcement agency. Let Megastructures give you a first hand tour!
Lupu Bridge in Shanghai, Runyang Bridge in Jiangsu Province, and Sutong Bridge near Suzhou
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the United States Department of the Navy's primary law enforcement agency. Let Megastructures give you a first hand tour!
10,000 tons of crystal clear ice and 30,000 tons of pure snow are needed to build the Ice Hotel in Sweden every year. The hotel accommodates over 100 guests and every bedroom is unique. It has become …
No summary currently.
Uncovering the secrets behind the engineering and designs of the supertankers in one of the largest shipyards in the world. And discovering the technology, power and science of these lords of the ocea…
E13 · How it's built: Steel
Track the flight of a Tomahawk cruise missile from launch to target and discover the technology that makes the missile the ultimate surgical attack weapon.
It's man made and one of the strongest materials on earth. Explore the science behind steel and the innovations it has made possible -- from the Brooklyn Bridge to the tools for medical miracles.
Megastructures examines the mega-machines used to run the Panama Canal and uncovers the canal's five-billion dollar project for it's expansion.
Brick: They are an essential building block of civilization. They are one of the worlds first building materials and today they continue to create structures that amaze us. From paving our driveways t…
Concrete: It is the most widely used building material on earth. It was a building block of the Roman Empire and is a material of choice for a new generation of gravity-defying skyscrapers. From the s…
In this episode, one of the world's most famous sports car, the Ferrari, is featured. From it's design stage to it's completion stage, viewers get to witness some of the manufacturing processes that b…
Megastructures heads to the tiny desert kingdom of Dubai to explore the remarkable engineering behind the seven-star Burj Al-Arab Hotel. Five years in the making, this striking building stands like a …
Megastructures will take you on a voyage through the largest ocean liner ever built, from the cutting of the first steel panel to the installation of the iconic red and black funnel of this 800 millio…
Welcome to the South Pole, one of the most isolated places on the planet. For decades, the South Pole has been a haven for astronomy, climatology, and other science fields. Now, nearly 50 years after …
In 2002 Chinese engineers and workers tackled one of the biggest construction projects on earth. Thirty kilometers out to sea in the middle of the ocean is the location for Yangshan Deep Water Port. W…
Looks at the technological designs and construction of the huge cruiseliner "Freedom of the Seas".
The engineering, design and construction of a man-made archipelago, built in the shape of a world map, just off the coast off Dubai, the project of ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Embarking on a quest to design and build a meeting place for athletes and their families at the Games, the designers of the Olympic Rendezvous must come up with a design that genuinely reflects green …
Lupu Bridge in Shanghai, Runyang Bridge in Jiangsu Province, and Sutong Bridge near Suzhou.
Building Extreme Alaska is about how nature engineered and built America's most rugged state, rock by rock. The State of Alaska is a vast and powerful natural structure forged over millions of years a…
Looks at the design, engineering and construction of the luxury Burj Al-Arab Hotel, built of the coast of Dubai.
A historic bridge is being taken down and recycled, but the demolition team faces challenges while doing it.
The design and construction of the Shanghai World Financial Centre which, at 101 floors high, will be China's tallest structure.
Looks at the technological designs and construction of the huge cruiseliner "Freedom of the Seas".
The renovated California Academy of Sciences - the world's largest green public building - emerges from the landscape of Golden Gate Park. Viewed from the air, the undulating living roof resembles a p…
This episode looks at the Karahnjukar Hydroelectric Project in Iceland - an audacious engineering feat that includes the building of Europe's highest dam, the drilling of 30-mile-long tunnels and the …
Mega Green Tech is in search of geothermal power.
The Large Hadron Collider is a titan of science. Built on an unsurpassed scale, scientists aim to capture the smallest particles in the universe.
Looks at the technological designs and construction of the huge cruiseliner "Freedom of the Seas".
The renovated California Academy of Sciences - the world's largest green public building - emerges from the landscape of Golden Gate Park. Viewed from the air, the undulating living roof resembles a p…
The Orange Bowl, home to the Miami Dolphins for 21 seasons and host of five Super Bowls is about to be demolished. It’s a monster breakdown job, with a monster deadline: in just four months, a demolit…
E2 · Soviet Doomsday Sub
Perched 4,000 feet above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon is one of the most recent and innovative engineering marvels of our time. The Grand Canyon Skywalk, opened to the publi…
In the extreme Russian north a team of engineers are ready to dismantle a Typhoon-class submarine – the world's largest nuclear submarine. In its heyday, this monster sub was a terrifying weapon of wa…
Railroads are the backbone of American industry. 170,000 miles of track crisscross the country from coast to coast, moving two quadrillion tons of freight every year. But nothing lasts forever, and th…
Three teams of engineers are locked in a race to harness what may be the most powerful form of green energy: swift tidal currents and battering waves, the power of the oceans. Each team believes it ca…
The only purpose-built "flying crane" in existence, the Air-Crane heavy lift-helicopter is the most powerful helicopter workhorse in the world. It does extra-heavy, brute-force work with surgical prec…
Breaking through over 40 feet of ice demands a vessel of incredible power. That's where the Icebreaker comes into its own. These behemoths keep the world's shipping lanes open during the harshest of c…
E8 · Icebreaker
This installment follows the demolition of a 40-year-old rocket launch tower at Cape Canaveral. This tough, 90m high structure represents a massive logistical challenge for a family of demolition expe…
For over 40 years the Big Red Box at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, carried skiers, hikers, paragliders and sightseers up to the 3,400-metre summit of Rendezvous Mountain. But nothing lasts forever, so when c…
For over 40 years the Big Red Box at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, carried skiers, hikers, paragliders and sightseers up to the 3,400-metre summit of Rendezvous Mountain. But nothing lasts forever, so when c…
This installment follows the demolition of a 40-year-old rocket launch tower at Cape Canaveral. This tough, 90m high structure represents a massive logistical challenge for a family of demolition expe…
It's one of the biggest construction projects in British engineering history. A new high-speed rail line costing several billion pounds and cutting through some of the most heavily developed land on t…
Uncover how Abu Dhabi's extraordinary Aldar HQ skyscraper, in the form of a circle sitting on its edge, came to be built.
The Pearl River Tower is one of the first of a new generation of super smart buildings. It will use less than half the energy of a conventional skyscraper and will harvest the forces of nature to make…
The secrets behind Singapore's Marina Bay Sands development, which includes hotels, a museum, casino, waterfront promenade and theatres.
"I love what I do. I get to tear stuff up." Every day around the world, thousands of planes, trains, and automobiles get cut down to size for recycling. A jumbo jet costing a hundred million dollars b…
It's one of the biggest construction projects in British engineering history. A new high-speed rail line costing several billion pounds and cutting through some of the most heavily developed land on t…
Uncover how Abu Dhabi's extraordinary Aldar HQ skyscraper, in the form of a circle sitting on its edge, came to be built.
Central to Dubai’s reputation as a leisure capital is: the Dubai Mall. With an indoor aquarium, ice rink, roller coaster and 1,200 shops, it must be completed by a nearly impossible deadline
As the World's insatiable need for oil and gas grows, companies are going deeper, into more hostile environments than ever before. Watch as we rip apart the largest oil rigs on the planet to reveal th…
Incredible technology is making these 'super copters' much more impervious to attack, with Kevlar and other advanced composite materials strengthening the body - while keeping it lightweight. Using li…
The Capital Gate building will create an iconic and avant-garde entrance to the city of Abu Dhabi. Leaning at a whopping 18 degrees westward, the tower will claim the Guinness Book of World Records ti…
South Korea never constructed a submerged tunnel, but now tackles the challenge of building one of the deepest immersed highways on Earth. Designed for the fickle conditions of the Pacific, the giant …
"I love what I do. I get to tear stuff up." Every day around the world, thousands of planes, trains, and automobiles get cut down to size for recycling. A jumbo jet costing a hundred million dollars b…
The renovated California Academy of Sciences - the world's largest green public building - emerges from the landscape of Golden Gate Park. Viewed from the air, the undulating living roof resembles a p…
Locomotives don't last forever. Eventually they go to a scrap yard to die. Their parts are cut up, melted down and ultimately reformed into new products. In this business, nothing goes to waste
Plans to erect a spaceport in the middle of a desert.
To save one of the most iconic engineering wonders of all time requires the creation of another masterpiece: the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge.
How much military power does it take to sink a top naval warship? Experience the mission at the hands of the US and Canadian Navy and Air Forces as they mount a sink exercise on a massive 4,250 foot l…
Locomotives don't last forever. Eventually they go to a scrap yard to die. Their parts are cut up, melted down and ultimately reformed into new products. In this business, nothing goes to waste
As the World's insatiable need for oil and gas grows, companies are going deeper, into more hostile environments than ever before. Watch as we rip apart the largest oil rigs on the planet to reveal th…
Incredible technology is making these 'super copters' much more impervious to attack, with Kevlar and other advanced composite materials strengthening the body - while keeping it lightweight. Using li…
The Capital Gate building will create an iconic and avant-garde entrance to the city of Abu Dhabi. Leaning at a whopping 18 degrees westward, the tower will claim the Guinness Book of World Records ti…
To save one of the most iconic engineering wonders of all time requires the creation of another masterpiece: the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge.
How much military power does it take to sink a top naval warship? Experience the mission at the hands of the US and Canadian Navy and Air Forces as they mount a sink exercise on a massive 4,250 foot l…
Built in the middle of the desert, the new Meydan racecourse will define raceday luxury. But will it be finished in time for the Dubai World Cup?
Experience the mighty mega shredder. The world's largest recycling machine takes the floor space of an entire factory. It will reduce the equivalent of 450 cars an hour to an unrecognizable pulp.
This is the story of the battle to build a railway across one of the most extreme environments on Earth. To lay down over a thousand kilometres of track in a remote wilderness. To drive 7 tunnels and …
How an innovative tunnel in Malaysia was designed to deal with rainwater from storms, as well as provide a solution to traffic problems.
Formula Rossa - The ultimate speed roller coaster is part of the world's largest indoor theme park - Ferrari World on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. This awe-inspiring ride takes …