"The Discovery Channel Explores Extreme Engineering," ME Online Web Exclusive, May 7, 2003

for 5/07/03

The Discovery Channel Explores 'Extreme Engineering'

Through mid-June, the Discovery Channel is presenting a new series that examines the world's largest construction projects ever imagined — "Extreme Engineering."

The series, which began in April, continues tonight and will run through June 11. "Extreme Engineering" airs Wednesday nights from 9-10 p.m. (ET/PT). The program introduces viewers to building engineers and their creations using computer animation.

"Tunneling Under the Alps," which will be broadcast tonight (May 7), will cover the longest tunnel in the world — the 35-mile-long Swiss Monster. To build it, miners exposed themselves to extreme risk, as pounds of unstable mountain reaching 110 degrees F bore down on them.

On May 14, the channel will present "Building Hong Kong's Airport." This episode will take a look at the Chek Lap Kok (CLK) airport, one of the world's busiest and largest civil engineering projects ever. To build the airport, engineers had to merge two smaller islands into one giant island. The land they created now holds some 90 aircraft gates, a pair of runways and a main terminal measuring ¾ of a mile long and contains, among other things, 288 check-in counters, 200 immigration desks and 140 stores.

"Holland's Barriers to the Sea," on May 21, will cover the Delta Works and Measlandkering — a true engineering wonder. The Delta Works is a series of massive, computer-controlled sea barriers and dams that straddle Holland's major rivers emptying into the delta. The Measlandkering consists of two horizontal, curved hydraulically run walls. Its more than 60 75-foot-high floodgates remain up in good weather, allowing the three rivers to flow into the sea, but lower in less than an hour when a storm or hurricane threatens.

On May 28, the program will focus on "Boston's Big Dig." When completed, the Big Dig will be an 8- to 10-lane-wide highway winding 120 feet underground through downtown Boston. The project only spans eight miles, but has been a work in progress for the past 10 years, costing more than $16 billion, and won't be finished until 2007.

"Widening the Panama Canal," on June 4, showcases the 50-mile-long Panama Canal, through which more than 13,000 ships a hear carry more than 220 million barrels of oil and 200 million tons of cargo. Because the canal is too narrow for today's cargo ships, engineers have been drilling, blasting and removing earth from the canal to allow two large ships to pass each other without stopping.

The final episode of the season, "Subways in America," will air June 11. The show will look at one of the most daring engineering feats in the history of New York City — the city's subway system. Engineers are now at work on an enormous subway renovation project to transform New York's subways and commuter rail systems into the most technologically advanced mass transit system in the world.