The BEST episodes of Build it Bigger
Every episode of Build it Bigger ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Build it Bigger!
Architect Danny Forster takes you inside some of the most head-scratching builds in the world. Join Danny as he meets the men and women tackling the unique challenges of constructing the tallest buildings, the most effective military tanks, the largest luxury cruise ships, and the most extreme thrill rides. How do you build a 3,113-foot-long wooden roller coaster in winter temperatures of minus 40 degrees? Or get your workers safely to and from a worksite on a skyscraper that's 1,614 feet above street level? Or dig a water tunnel - along the San Adreas Fault and 1,000 feet below the earth's surface - without it collapsing on itself ... or flooding? Our intrepid host answers these puzzles and more. Don't miss the big stories behind these even bigger engineering marvels.
#1 - Peru Dam & Tunnel
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/18/2009
One of the deepest tunnels ever attempted will break through the Andes to bring water to drought-ridden farms in western Peru. Join host Danny Forster as he visits remote Olmos to learn how this project will dramatically impact this country's future.
#2 - Sakhalin Oil And Ice
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/26/2006
Danny travels to a remote Russian island for the construction site of the Sakhalin Oil and Gas Complex. The multi-billion dollar project is designed to drill for oil and gas in the northern Pacific. Danny gets some first-hand experience in constructing this mega facility.
#3 - Gotthard Base Tunnel
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/30/2010
Welcome to the world's longest worksite —thirty- five miles long. Right now, Switzerland's government is spending $18 billion to revolutionize European transit, using the world's largest Tunnel Boring Machine to build the longest tunnel in history — the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Connecting from Southern Germany to Northern Italy, the GBT will circumvent the winding mountain passes that serve as the current transit system, getting people and goods across the Alps up to 3 times faster, and safer than ever before.
#4 - Rio De Janerio's Power Island Project
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/15/2010
Rio de Janeiro was recently awarded the two biggest sporting events in the world — the Olympics and World Cup. But before they'll be ready, they still have one major problem — frequent widespread blackouts. So now, Brazil is currently building one of the largest hydroelectric projects in the world. Host Danny Forster takes us into the wilderness 100 miles from Rio, where workers are rapidly building 5 massive canals, and tunneling through 7 mountains, to move a powerful river through two dams — all to make sure that while the whole world is watching Rio, the lights stay on.
#5 - Singapore Sky Park
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/8/2010
Danny Forster takes us to Singapore, where the tiny island nation is doing something that's never been done before — building the first ever Skypark. A modern version of the hanging gardens of Babylon, this 7000-ton urban oasis will hang 650 feet in the air on top of 3 soaring skyscrapers.
#6 - Abu Dhabi
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/1/2009
Host Danny Forster visits the $500 billion Al Raha Beach development in Abu Dhabi, where they reclaim land from the sea and erect buildings that will revolutionize the world of architecture.
#7 - Turbocharged Boats
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/26/2007
Danny travels to Florida to help rebuild one of the circuit racing boats. He must help them finish within two weeks, if they want to get it done before the next race.
#8 - Hurricane-Proof Homes
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/28/2007
Danny explores how heavy-duty modular homes are made from the beginning to the end.
#9 - Space Tower
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/12/2006
Danny travels to Spain for the site of the Torre del Espacio or Space Tower.
#10 - Big Easy Rebuild
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 7/5/2006
Danny travels to New Orleans, LA to assist in rebuilding levees damaged during Hurricane Katrina.
#11 - Hong Kong Bridge
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/27/2009
Host Danny Forster heads to China's south coast to climb atop the nearly completed Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong. This $343 million dollar engineering marvel has a 3,340-foot main span, making it the world's 2nd longest cable-stayed bridge
#12 - South African Gold Mine
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/7/2010
Travel to the deepest place on Earth, Johannesburg, South Africa's Mponeng Gold Mine. South Africa's economy depends on gold, but recently, productivity has plummeted. Now, Mponeng is fighting back by digging deeper than man has ever gone, towards an untapped gold reef worth $10 billion. Setting a new depth record every day, workers blast through super-heated rock nearly 3 miles down, in the most remote and dangerous construction site on the planet.
#13 - Kuwait Tower
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/29/2010
Kuwait is building the world's tallest twisting structure, the Al Hamra tower. Clad in over 2000 tons of limestone, and capped by a 17-story open restaurant with views of the Persian Gulf, this incredible building is the perfect desert skyscraper.
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#14 - Overhauling The Bay Bridge
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/27/2010
The overhaul of the Bay Bridge is one of the biggest construction projects in the country right now. After almost a decade, California is nearing the crucial end of what has become its most expensive public works project ever, the $6 billion dollar rebuilding and earthquake-proofing of the Bay Bridge. This massive overhaul involves building an entirely new approach into San Francisco, retrofitting the 4.5-mile double suspension bridge with more than 17 million pounds of structural steel and completely replacing the 2.2-mile cantilever bridge with a self-anchored suspension bridge, a skyway, and new touchdown into Oakland.
#15 - Rebuilding New York's Subway
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/8/2011
Danny takes us to New York City, where the largest public works project in the country is happening: a $15 billion expansion of the NYC transit system. He heads 150 feet underground to find out what can be done without shutting down the city above.
#16 - Deepest Tunnel
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 10/10/2007
Danny travels to Istanbul, Turkey, to help with a tunnel under water.
#17 - Major League Stadium
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 10/17/2007
In Washington, DC, 800 workers attempt to design and build a $650 million baseball stadium in less than two years. Danny finds out if they can finish the 41,000-seat Nationals stadium and helps complete the largest scoreboard in the US.
#18 - NASA
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 6/26/2009
Host Danny Forster visits NASA for an unprecedented look behind the scenes as they transition from the Space Shuttle to the Constellation Program. We'll help build the rocket that's taking American space exploration into the future: the Ares
#19 - Building a Better New Orleans
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/22/2010
Five years after hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is reinventing hurricane protection, with the largest public works project in U.S. history. The centerpiece of the project — a massive 2-mile long, 26-foot high storm surge barrier — is designed to defend against the fiercest storms on earth. Brad Pitt's Make it Right foundation is also pitching in to help rebuild, constructing 150 of the most hurricane resistant homes in the world, in New Orleans' most devastated neighborhood. But with hurricane season looming, engineers have just 18 months to protect the Big Easy before the next hurricane hits.
#20 - Melbourne Stadium
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/20/2010
The Victorian government has invested nearly $270 million to create one of the most innovative stadiums ever built — the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. Melbourne wanted their new stadium to be the crown jewel of their sports district — an icon for the entire city — so they've commissioned the most structurally innovative arena in the southern hemisphere. The stadium will be a living, breathing work of art on the outside, and the ultimate athlete and spectator experience on the inside.
#21 - Abu Dhabi Central Market
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/10/2010
Abu Dhabi City is building, and building BIG. They're hard at work on an incredible $300 billion plan to grow as quickly as possible. But they want to do it while protecting the city's culture, heritage, and natural environment. The centerpiece of this plan towers over the heart of the city: Aldar's appropriately-named Central Market. A 12-acre urban oasis filling 4 blocks, Central Market is a self-sustainable community for the modern ages, designed with a uniquely Arab point of view. Centered around the tallest residential tower on Earth, Central Market will be the first facility in the world that will take care of every spiritual, material, and relaxation need a person could have. It will also feature one of the world's tallest office towers, entertainment facilities for all ages, sky-high playgrounds for children, high-end shops, Edenesque gardens, hotels, as well as a reinvention of a traditional Arabian Souq — complete with a large mosque and vast outdoor market space filled with traditional Arabian goods.
#22 - Port of Rotterdam
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/17/2010
The Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands is the largest in the entire Western Hemisphere. Located less than 24 hours by road or rail from every EU capitol, it has for decades been the heartbeat of the European Union, and a cornerstone of the entire world's economy. But now, that cornerstone is in danger of collapse. With 90% of products today shipped by container, Rotterdam's container terminals are nearing capacity, threatening to become a trade bottleneck that could cripple a continent already devastated by recession. To make sure this doesn't happen, the Port of Rotterdam has launched the Maasvlakte 2 Project — an ambitious $4 billion plan to triple the port's container capacity by 2013. But in a country with literally nowhere else to build, that means undertaking the biggest land reclamation project in history, turning 8 square miles of the stormy North Sea into Europe's new gateway to the world. And it's much more than just earth-moving. To keep the port running 24-7, they're building 3 new power plants, and to house the army of workers servicing Europe's largest construction project, they are building the biggest hotel in the Netherlands — entirely from recycled shipping containers. To plan for the future, everything at the Maasvlakte 2 will be super-sized to accommodate the mammoth container ships of the future. Upon completion, it will be the most valuable port facility ever, providing the largest ships in the world direct connection to Europe's industrial heartland. Build it Bigger has unprecedented access to all aspects of this amazing project, as engineers literally reshape the Dutch coast, all while keeping one of the world's busiest ports up and running.
#23 - London's Olympic Aquatic Stadium
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/29/2011
The London Aquatics Centre will host 44 swimming & diving events during the 2012 Olympics and live on as a new addition to the London landscape. Danny Forster goes with crews as they construct one of the most advanced swimming facilities ever built.
#24 - Drought-Proofing Australia
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/15/2011
After 13 years of record-breaking droughts Melbourne looks to secure its future with a $3.5 billion desalination plant that will turn saltwater into freshwater. Danny joins crews as they build two undersea tunnels, 29 buildings and 52 miles of pipeline
#25 - Azerbaijan's Amazing Transformation
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/22/2011
After decades of Soviet occupation, Azerbaijan is reinventing itself. With a $6 billion a year renovation and over 500 new developments, Danny Forster goes behind the scenes of Baku's construction projects: the Flame Towers and Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center.