The BEST episodes of Megastructures season 2005

#1 - World's Biggest Airliner (Airbus A380)

Season 2005 - Episode 16 - Aired 10/4/2005

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.

#2 - Ultimate Oil Sands Mine

Season 2005 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/20/2005

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.

#3 - North Sea Wall

Season 2005 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/28/2005

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..

#4 - Air Force Transport

Season 2005 - Episode 14 - Aired 9/20/2005

#5 - Berlin's Grand Central (Berlin Train Terminal)

Season 2005 - Episode 21 - Aired 11/15/2005

#6 - Inside Grand Central

Season 2005 - Episode 25 - Aired 12/18/2005

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 New York City, United States. The terminal serves commuters traveling on the Metro-North Railroad to Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties in New York, as well as to Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut. The terminal also contains a connection to the New York City Subway at Grand Central–42nd Street. Grand Central Terminal has intricate designs both on its inside and outside, lending to its landmark designations, including as a U.S. National Historic Landmark. The terminal is one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, with 21.9 million visitors in 2013.

#7 - Baikonur Cosmodrome

Season 2005 - Episode 24 - Aired 12/13/2005

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 status as a gateway to the International Space Station.

#8 - Tau Tona - City Of Gold

Season 2005 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/27/2005

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 working mine in the world. Its main shaft is 3.6 km deep and consists of 800 km of tunneling. This episode gives viewers a tour of the dynamic systems involved in maintaining a working environment deep in the earth. It also provides a glimpse of what life as a mine worker is like in Tau Tona. Risking heat exhaustion, and with 10 earthquakes a day, the miners work through narrow tunnels to extract gold from a 25 cm thick gold vein.

#9 - North Branch Correctional Institution (Hi-Tech Prison)

Season 2005 - Episode 15 - Aired 9/27/2005

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 prison guards and revolutionize rehabilitation programs for inmates.

#10 - Golden Gate Bridge

Season 2005 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/2/2005

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 efforts that are being made to retrofit and strengthen America’s most recognized bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, before the next big earthquake happens. It also gives a brief history about the construction of the suspension bridge, and the people who were involved in its construction.

#11 - Sea Launch

Season 2005 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/3/2005

A satellite delivered by a rocket that is launched from the earth’s equator instead of any other place, can have its lifespan extended for as much as 3 years. This would mean huge savings for the companies that own these satellites. Thus the Sea Launch was constructed. The Sea Launch is made up of 2 megastructures, a floating launch pad called the Odyssey and a shipping vessel called the Commander. The episode gives a brief history of the construction, the successes and the failures of the Sea Launch.

#12 - The World's Most Extreme Island (Impossible Islands)

Season 2005 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/4/2005

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.

#13 - The World's Tallest Bridge

Season 2005 - Episode 26 - Aired 12/20/2005

#14 - America's Biggest Dig

Season 2005 - Episode 22 - Aired 11/22/2005

'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 Big Dig is considered to be the most complex, expensive, and technically challenging civil engineering public works project in the United States. The project was inspired by Fred Salvucci, the Transportation Commissioner to the Mayor of Boston, who wanted to find a solution to the city’s traffic woes. He came up with an idea to link up the major sectors of the city with a system of wide underground tunnels for traffic. Consisting of 4 elements, a tunnel under the harbor, an underground connection to the Interstate 90, an underground traffic system under the city itself to replace the elevated city highway, and a wide cable-stayed bridge to replace the old double-decked bridge. The episode looks at the many obstacles that were faced in the construction, from water leaks to residential protest. The episode also contains brief words from some of the major people involved in the project.

#15 - Norad (Spy Fortress)

Season 2005 - Episode 20 - Aired 10/25/2005

Examining construction of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in the Colorado mountains. Including the technical challenges it presented.

#16 - Submarine: USS Virginia

Season 2005 - Episode 17 - Aired 10/18/2005

Virginia-class submarine with the U.S. Navy

#17 - Ekati Diamond Mine (Diamond Diggers)

Season 2005 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/27/2005

#18 - World's Busiest Port

Season 2005 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/13/2005

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.

#19 - Inside The Pentagon

Season 2005 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/1/2005

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 politicians also share their feelings about the Pentagon.

#20 - Port of Rotterdam (Super Port)

Season 2005 - Episode 13 - Aired 9/13/2005

#21 - The Ultimate Roller Coaster

Season 2005 - Episode 19 - Aired 10/25/2005

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 tallest roller coaster in the world when completed, breaking the Dragster’s record. The documentary includes brief comments from Project Engineer, Jeff Glinter, and Chief Corporate Engineer, Larry Chickola. And explains how the Kingda Ka utilises a hydraulic launch system to launch riders to a speed of 206km/h in 3 seconds.

#22 - C-5 Galaxy

Season 2005 - Episode 99 - Aired 9/20/2005

#23 - Alcatraz

Season 2005 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/16/2005

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 and the brilliant criminal minds locked inside. We'll explore the design, construction and legendary escapes from The Rock.

#24 - Las Vegas

Season 2005 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/22/2005

Power systems and infrastructures that keep Las Vegas glittering are examined.

#25 - Indy Motor Speedway

Season 2005 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/13/2005

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.