About this season
Behind every seemingly impossible marvel of modern engineering is a cast of historic trailblazers who designed new building techniques, took risks on untested materials and revolutionised their field. Each episode details how giant structures, record-beating buildings, war ships and spacecraft are built and work. As the show revels in these modern day creations, it also leaps back in time to recount the stories of the exceptional engineers whose technological advances made it all possible.
Episodes (16)
1. Dubai's Impossible Island (Bluewaters)
Aired 1 January 2020 • 42 min
The man-made islands of Dubai are modern-day engineering marvels that turn the Arabian Sea into high-priced real estate. Today, a team of expert engineers use cutting-edge technology to build a brand-new city district where there was once only water.
2. World's Toughest Tunnels (London's Super Sewer)
Aired 8 January 2020 • 42 min
A team of engineers are overhauling London's underground infrastructure to build a world-class sewer system. Using cutting-edge tech and the latest construction methods, they work to transform a centuries-old network into a modern-day masterpiece.
3. F-35 Fighter Jet (F35 Lighting II)
Aired 15 January 2020 • 42 min
The F-35 is the most advanced fighter jet on the planet. Special access into the most expensive military program ever reveals how engineers use cutting-edge tech to outfit this 1,200 mile-per-hour aircraft with a state-of-the-art stealth system.
4. NYC Mega Tower (111 W. 57th Street)
Aired 22 January 2020 • 42 min
The skinniest skyscraper in the world at 111 W. 57th Street, New York, will soon become the Big Apple's third tallest. Using an innovative, gravity-defying design, this colossal megastructure is breaking all the rules of engineering. Can engineers find a way to build this ultra-tall slender building?
5. World's Biggest Airport (Beijing Daxing)
Aired 29 January 2020 • 42 min
A look at the Beijing Daxing, set to become the biggest airport in the world, designed to accommodate a staggering 100 million travellers each year.
6. Spy Plane Declassified (Nato AWACS)
Aired 5 February 2020 • 42 min
A state-of-the-art NATO airplane is one of the most complex surveillance tools in the world. Special access inside the behemoth reveals how cutting-edge engineering and a hi-tech midair refueling system helps its crew defend against security threats.
7. World's Highest Bridge (Beipanjiang)
Aired 12 February 2020 • 42 min
The world's highest bridge, the Duge Bridge or Beipanjiang Bridge, impossibly spans an 1,800-foot chasm known as the Crack in the Earth, and to build this engineering marvel, experts use cutting-edge construction technology that can conquer the deadly cliffs of this rugged environment.
8. Conquering Avalanche Country (Whistler, Canada)
Aired 19 February 2020 • 42 min
Deadly avalanches and catastrophic flooding are ever-present threats at one of the world's busiest ski resorts, but new technology and cutting-edge construction methods help engineers conquer the elements to keep this mountain-top getaway safe.
9. Infantry Assault
Aired 4 March 2020 • 42 min
***This episode is a duplicate of S09E03, which is the correct episode number on IMDB and TVDB*** A look at the incredible machines built to get troops directly to the front line, on land, at sea and in the air.
10. The Independent
Aired 11 March 2020 • 42 min
***This episode is a duplicate of S08E03, which is the correct episode number on IMDB and TVDB*** The Independent, a residential skyscraper in Austin, Texas. At 690ft, it is the tallest building in the city, surpassing the 683ft Austonian, another residential skyscraper.
11. Supertanker Europe
Aired 18 March 2020 • 42 min
***This episode is a duplicate of S08E01, which is the correct episode number on IMDB and TVDB*** A look at the world's biggest oil tanker - the mighty Supertanker Europe of the record-breaking TI Class of ship.
12. Beijing Daxing
Aired 25 March 2020 • 42 min
***This episode is a duplicate of S07E07, which is the correct episode number on IMDB and TVDB*** A look at the Beijing Daxing, set to become the biggest airport in the world, designed to accommodate a staggering 100 million travellers each year.
13. 111 W. 57th Street
Aired 1 April 2020 • 42 min
***This episode is a duplicate of S07E04, which is the correct episode number on IMDB and TVDB*** The skinniest skyscraper on earth is being built in New York City. Can engineers find a way to build this ultra-tall slender building?
14. South-North Water Diversion
9.0Aired 8 April 2020 • 42 min
***This episode is a duplicate of S09E02, which is the correct episode number on IMDB and TVDB*** Chinese authorities attempt a huge infrastructure project as they try to move vast amounts of water from the wet south of the country to the dry north.
15. The Falkirk Wheel
Aired 15 April 2020 • 42 min
***This episode is a duplicate of S09E04, which is the correct episode number on IMDB and TVDB*** The Falkirk wheel is the first and only rotating boat lift, capable of moving 600 tonnes of boat and water over a 25-metre height difference in just minutes.
16. Stratolaunch
Aired 22 April 2020 • 42 min
***This episode is a duplicate of S09E01, which is the correct episode number on IMDB and TVDB*** Stratolaunch is designed to lift rockets, spacecraft and experimental high-speed hypersonic planes into the stratosphere, then release them for their onward journey into space.