National Geographic - Megastructures Pack 1
English | AVI - 3079Kbps 25fps | MP2 256Kbps 2CH 48KHz | over 2h | 5.74 GB

With its oil reserves dwindling, Dubai switched its sights to 21st-century tourists, building the Burj al Arab, an amazing 60-storey hotel shaped like a sail.

Take a look inside the most ingenious and awe-inspiring structures of all time. From architectural triumphs of ancient times to the cutting edge science and technology behind marvels being built around the world today, MEGASTRUCTURES reveals the methods used and the challenges faced at every stage of design and construction.

MegaStructures focuses on constructions that are extreme; in the sense that they are the biggest, tallest, longest, or deepest in the world.
An aquatics structure like none other is designed and built in Beijing. The Beijing Water Cube is a bold experiment in architecture and a cutting-edge vision of eco-engineering. Go behind the scenes to learn more about this brilliant fantasia of steel and plastic.

Megastructures: Super Pipeline looks at one of the gas industry’s riskiest projects ever undertaken. By 508, Britain will be connected to Norway via a 1,50 km super pipeline. It’s composed of over one million tonnes of steel and equating to a 1/3 of the world’s combined pipeline production company. Yet all of the work must be completed by robots working 3 km under the North Sea against harsh underwater currents, sub-zero temperatures and abysmal wind and wave conditions.

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 bridge crosses the river Tarn in France and can save travelers almost an hour of travel between France and the Mediterranean. It also removes the traffic congestion once faced in the town of Millau. The episode documents the difficulties that the crew had to faced, and the challenging processes that were used in its construction. The documentary contains a few words from the mayor of Millau, Jacques Godfrain, the bridge architect, Norman Foster, and designer, Michel Virlogeux.

World's Largest Casino follows the construction of the world's biggest casino and its second biggest building.The Venetian is to be built by the Sands Corporation of Las Vegas, and is to feature a giant hotel with 3000 suites, a 15,000 seat arena, a theatre, event halls, 350 shops along indoor canals hundreds of metres long, an outdoor lagoon for gondola rides, and above all, a huge casino floor the size of eight football pitches.

Documentary series that lifts the lid on some of the most incredible structures and machines in the world. This instalment 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 construction of a gigantic underground power plant

Climb aboard the cargo ship OOCL Atlanta as she journeys from Hong Kong to Singapore. How does a minimal crew keep this 1,000ft-long vessel afloat in treacherous seas?

It is a bold experiment in architecture and a cutting-edge vision of construction eco-engineering. When hosts the 2008 the eyes of the world will be riveted on this building. Its official name is the National Aquatics Centre but in the world of mega-architecture it is reverently known as the Water Cube. It's a brilliant fantasia of steel and plastic – a honeycomb of 22,000 steel beams supporting pillows of high tech plastic inflated onto shimmering translucent bubbles. Go behind the scenes to learn more about the vision that saw the creation of a building destined to become one this century's leading architectural feats.

In the city that never sleeps, one architect's dream for a greener future has been realised. The One Bryant Park building in New York City is not only going to be the second tallest building in the city, but is set to be one of the most energy efficient skyscrapers in the world. Richard Cook and his team take on an exhilarating challenge to transform the modern approach to green technology. His vision to break new ground in the arena of environmentally conscious skyscrapers is a significant step forward in a city known for massive energy consumption. Follow the trials and triumphs of erecting a skyscraper whose blueprints might just map out a new design for our planet's future.

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 having the world’s highest antenna. John Zils, structural engineer and designer of this mega-structure shares some of the secrets about the tower. And get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the various systems and controls that are vital to the building, like security monitoring, the elevators, and the water and power distribution to the various levels, and even the machines that cleans the windows.