All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S02E01.Armageddon.Highway.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

*

Narrator: five strange,
Circular structures

Mysteriously deserted...

Gough: everything is curved.

There's no place where
You can go and not be seen.

*

Narrator:
...An abandoned wall of concrete

Perilously wedged
Between mountains...

Something so impressive
In the landscape

To be built
Is a real engineering feat.

Narrator:
...And an american escape route
From nuclear armageddon.

Dickrell: you can envision
Terrorized people

Trying to avoid
A nuclear explosion

In a large metropolitan area.

*

Narrator: once, they were some
Of the most advanced structures

And facilities on the planet,

At the cutting edge
Of design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned,
Contaminated,

And sometimes deadly.

But who built them?
And how?

And why were they abandoned?

And why were they abandoned?

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

*

*

On the cuban island
Of isla de la juventud

Sprawls a group
Of peculiar structures.

*

*

Laid out like
Five spots on a die,

These circular giants
Are 174 feet in diameter

And tower over a 4-million
Square-feet open plain.

*

If you were flying over
The island and you looked down

And saw these five
Yellow, circular buildings,

You would think, "What, is this
Some sort of industrial beehive?

Is it a power plant?
No, it's not really shaped

Like a conventional power plant.

Like a conventional power plant.

What is it?"

Narrator:
The four outer buildings,
Each 98-feet high,

Consist of six levels,

Yet inside,
There are no floors --

Only a colossal empty space.

Light pierces
The dank, grim interior

Through 465
Rectangular openings.

Had a pretty sinister reputation
Amongst local residents.

And the conditions inside
Were just atrocious.

And the conditions inside
Were just atrocious.

Narrator:
The most bizarre feature
Is a short lighthouse-like tower

Standing in the center
Of each building.

When you walk inside, you're
Instantly struck by the fact

That there are
No straight corridors.

Everything is curved.

You are constantly in view
From somewhere else.

There's no place where
You can go and not be seen,

And that was all by design.

Narrator:
What happened on this remote
Island in these odd structures,

Narrator:
What happened on this remote
Island in these odd structures,

And why was this site abandoned?

*

In the 1920s, cuba experiences
A period of economic development

Against a backdrop
Of political corruption.

Cuban president gerardo machado

Is determined to stay in power
At all costs,

But to do this, he must
Maintain ultimate control

Over his political opponents,

Not only physically
But also psychologically.

Not only physically
But also psychologically.

The solution for
This dictator's total domination

Is the incredible island complex
Presidio modelo,

Cuba's "Model prison."

Gough:
It was created and conceived
By a cuban dictator

Who drew upon
An 18th-century social reformer

Who's whole ethos
Was that behavior

Could be modified
Via surveillance.

Narrator:
Though originally intended as a
Tool to rehabilitate prisoners,

Narrator:
Though originally intended as a
Tool to rehabilitate prisoners,

Surveillance here comes
In the form

Of an oppressive
Observation tower

At the center of the structure,

Which is key
To the building's design.

You have a central
Observation tower,

And then you have
A circular structure

That surrounds that tower, which
Is where all the cells are,

And the idea is that all
The prisoners in their cells

Are not really sure whether
The guards are looking at them

Or looking at
Their neighbor downstairs,

And so they have to be on their
Best behavior all the time.

And so they have to be on their
Best behavior all the time.

That design inside the prison

Certainly feels
Quite menacing to me.

That central tower
With guards who, theoretically,

Then can be observing
What's going on

In all of those prison cells
At any time --

I mean, it certainly
Feels quite big brother,

Something you might have read
In george orwell's "1984."

Narrator: construction begins
In 1926 using inmate labor.

As they complete each building,
It is populated.

And these structures
Are not just designed

And these structures
Are not just designed

To create paranoia
Amongst the prisoners,

They also have an unexpected
Engineering benefit.

This philosophy of prisoner
Observation actually led

To a very interesting
Structural advantage,

And this advantage is the fact
That having a circular wall

Going all the way around meant

That there was an inherent
Stiffness in the structure

That meant you don't need
To put intermediate floors in

To keep the structure stable.

Narrator:
By the 1930s, presidio modelo
Is fully operational.

Narrator:
By the 1930s, presidio modelo
Is fully operational.

Each building contains 465 cells
That house two inmates,

All of which face inwards
Towards the central guard tower.

It has a total capacity
Of over 3,000 inmates.

But most incredibly,
There are no cell doors.

The architecture itself
Affects, shapes,

And enforces the behavior
Of those in prison.

Translator:
The tower was to control
The prisoners inside.

Translator:
The tower was to control
The prisoners inside.

If there were any discussions,
We'd say,

"Hey, there! Shh! Watch it!"

And they would.

The tower was to maintain order.

Narrator:
Unseen by the prisoners,

Who never know if and when
They are being watched,

The guards enter
The observation tower

Through a 98-feet-long
Underground tunnel.

Hidden from view,
The guards keep an eye

On the prisoners
Through narrow slits

In the top of the tower.

In the top of the tower.

You're constantly being watched,

Not only by the prison guards
From the central tower,

But other prisoners whose cell
Is only a few feet from yours.

There's no privacy whatsoever,

And it must have generated
A whole lot of paranoia.

Narrator: the large open space
Within each building

Makes surveillance easy,
And the result is

That the inmates increasingly
Police themselves.

Even at meal times within
The shorter central structure,

There is no respite from
The watchful eye of the guards.

There is no respite from
The watchful eye of the guards.

You would think
That leaving your cell

Where you're constantly
Under surveillance

And going for a meal
Would be a nice experience

Of chatting with
Your fellow cellmates.

Not at all. You went
To a building that was called

"The hall
Of the 3,000 silences,"

And it was aptly named because
You weren't allowed to speak.

Imagine how oppressive
That would be --

You're being watched
All day in your cell,

And now you're having a meal
And you can't even speak.

*

*

Narrator: ironically,
Its cutting-edge design

Originally conceived
To rehabilitate convicts

Earns presidio modelo
A reputation for horror.

And the prisoner relies
On more than watchful guards

To keep its inmates
Under control.

There are all sorts
Of legends about the prison,

Including the fact that there
Were crocodiles in the ponds

And lakes on the perimeter
Of the prison itself.

Translator:
When this was built, there
Were crocodiles living there,

Translator:
When this was built, there
Were crocodiles living there,

And the prisoner who escaped,

If he didn't get caught running,

He would be taken by them
When he got there.

No freedom -- that was it.

*

Narrator: but will
The architecture of paranoia

At presidio modelo be enough
To keep the prisoners in line

And maintain
A dictatorial grip on power?

And why was
The prison abandoned?

*

Narrator: off the cuban coast
On isla de la juventud

Sprawls cuba's abandoned
"Model prison," presidio modelo.

After multiple regime changes,

Its terrifying approach to
Imprisonment works for 27 years.

But then, in 1953,
Its most notorious inmate

Enters its doors.

Enters its doors.

The communist revolutionary
Fidel castro

Serves two years here

For attempting to overthrow
The ruthless dictator

Fulgencio batista.

Seeing the psychological success

Of the jail's effective design
Firsthand,

Castro realizes
The potential power of paranoia

When he overthrows batista
In 1959

To become president of cuba.

*

When he comes into power,
He doesn't, you know,

Destroy the place.
He doesn't knock it down.

Destroy the place.
He doesn't knock it down.

No, he sends
His political opponents there.

I think that's quite rich.

Narrator: for eight years,
Castro uses presidio modelo

To bury his enemies.

But his political prisoners
Begin to put up resistance

And pose serious security
And political risks.

There is a dramatic plan
To get rid of the prison

Using the underground
Guard tunnels.

There was actually a plan
To blow up these structures

Using that tunnel by actually
Packing it in with explosives.

Using that tunnel by actually
Packing it in with explosives.

And thinking about
The sheer size

And scale of these structures,

The fact that they had
This inherent stiffness

Because of its shape,

I think it would have
Been quite difficult

To actually bring
That structure down.

Narrator:
Dynamite may not be able
To destroy presidio modelo,

But castro does.

The prison has a capacity
For 3,000 inmates,

But he packs it
With double that number.

Bell: something that was
Originally designed to house

Bell: something that was
Originally designed to house

Up to 3,000 prisoners

Was now housing anything
From 6,000 to 8,000 prisoners.

Riots were commonplace,
Fights, unsanitary conditions,

And the place was just hellish.

Narrator: the measure
Of over population backfires,

Encouraging further resistance
From the inmates,

Eventually leading
To the prison's demise.

Cramped, dirty, and overcrowded,
Cuba's model prison

Is forced to close its doors
For good in 1967,

Is forced to close its doors
For good in 1967,

And castro's enemies are
Dispersed to other prisons.

It just stops to function,

And it's a little bit
Dilapidated anyway,

But the political climate
Had changed,

And it no longer
Had a purpose to serve.

Narrator: the unique design
And function of the prison

Makes the buildings virtually
Impossible to be repurposed,

And after 41 years
Of oppression and paranoia,

They are abandoned.

Now the gigantic,
Circular cellblocks

Now the gigantic,
Circular cellblocks

Of the presidio modelo

Are decaying shells
And stark reminders

Of cuba's political turmoil.

As symbols, they demonstrate

The groundbreaking
Architectural design

Could not only
Shape human behavior,

But also reveal
The limits of social reform

And how easily it can backfire.

Today, the prison is a museum,

It's a school,
It's a research center,

And that's about right
Because what it really was,

Historically --
I think we look back at it

Historically --
I think we look back at it

As an innovative attempt
At social reform.

It was all about surveillance,

And actually it was
Quite ahead of its time.

*

Over 2,000 miles away
Across the gulf of mexico,

A barren landscape
Hides an enigmatic enterprise

Of forgotten engineering.

*

High above los angeles
Is a closed-off road

High above los angeles
Is a closed-off road

Winding 900-feet up
In the san gabriel mountains.

It leads to a mysterious masonry
Arch over 20-feet high,

Driven into its slopes.

But what is this an entrance to?

When you first see
These entrances

Opening up on the sides
Of the mountain,

You can't fathom
Why the effort was gone

To build these huge,
Great, big tunnels.

For me, you'd expect to see
Some kind of railway or a road

Or something coming out of it,
But none of that's there.

In fact, it becomes
Quite mysterious.

Narrator:
The light at the end of the
Tunnel shows that this structure

Narrator:
The light at the end of the
Tunnel shows that this structure

Runs for 1,000 feet
Through the mountain.

As you're standing there,
You appreciate

What an impressive feat
Of engineering it is

And how difficult
It would have been to have made.

The interesting thing is
There's a lot more to this story

Than meets the eye.

Narrator: why did someone
Go to the trouble of building

This immense structure
Through a mountain

And why was it abandoned?

And why was it abandoned?

In the 1950s,
The threat of the cold war

Looms over a paranoid america.

The nation fears
Not only an invasion,

But nuclear attack
From the soviet union.

L.A.'s many aerospace facilities
And military bases

Make the city a prime target.

America's early warning systems

Can recognize potential threats
Hours before impact.

But in that small window
Of time,

How can
The authorities save

How can
The authorities save

The then population
Of nearly 2 million?

L.A. Authorities began to
Wonder, "How would we evacuate?"

In the 1950s,
There might have been 20 minutes

Or half-an-hour's warning

Of an impending nuclear attack
On los angeles.

Any evacuation
For the people of los angeles

Had to be prepared in advance.

man: in this trouble stage
of the atomic age,

our very lives may depend
on always being alert.

our very lives may depend
on always being alert.

Narrator: if the soviets
Strike los angeles

With nuclear weapons,

A credible escape plan needs
To be in place for its citizens.

To get out of los angeles,

You've got
To get through the hills

And the mountains
And out the other side.

That means either twisting
And turning through canyons

Or tunneling right on through.

Narrator: so, a 25-mile shortcut
Is devised

That's designed to speed
The city's residents through

That's designed to speed
The city's residents through

The san gabriel mountains
Via multiple tunnels

To safety of the mojave desert.

*

This path to safety
Is shoemaker canyon road,

Better known
As "The armageddon highway."

The armageddon highway
Would work in premise --

The entire population
Of los angeles

Would get in their cars
And exit away from the city

And the eventual destruction
That was happening.

Corum: this was part
Of the culture at the time,

This fear that the other guy has
A technology and can strike us,

This fear that the other guy has
A technology and can strike us,

And we need to have some kind of
Way to protect ourselves.

*

Narrator:
Will shoemaker canyon road
Work as an escape route

From nuclear fallout
In los angeles?

And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator: in the 1950s,

Gripped by cold war paranoia
And desperation,

Los angeles authorities

Order the construction
Of shoemaker canyon road,

With multiple tunnels
Driven through the solid rock

Of the san gabriel mountains.

Once complete, they're designed
To form a costly

But potentially vital evacuation
Route high above the city.

Given the cold war in 1950s --

Given the cold war in 1950s --

Everyone was afraid
Of nuclear war,

And in that, the response --

The government was to drill
A hole though a mountain

Such that the population
Of los angeles

Could escape
Given all-out nuclear war.

One soviet nuclear weapon air
Bursted over los angeles

Could kill more people
Than were killed

In hiroshima, nagasaki combined.

Narrator: but carving a road
Through a mountain of hard rock

Narrator: but carving a road
Through a mountain of hard rock

Is difficult
At the best of times.

And in the volatile region
Of the san gabriel mountains --

With severe heat in the summer
Avalanches in winter,

And the continuous
Threat of landslides --

The challenges are
All the more extreme.

To hold up
In this harsh environment,

Interlocking steel beams
And molded concrete

Are needed to shore up
Critical stress points

Of 1,000-foot-long tunnel
As construction starts in 1956.

Of 1,000-foot-long tunnel
As construction starts in 1956.

You would have thought that
A project of this importance

Would have warranted
Professionals,

But what they got instead
Was a chain gang.

I mean, they literally asked
The inmates of nearby prisons

To go up into the mountains,
Build the road.

I mean, not only was their heart
Probably not into it,

But they didn't have
The skill sets.

Narrator: with unskilled workers
Struggling

To cut through solid rock,

The two-lane escape highway
Makes agonizingly slow progress.

The two-lane escape highway
Makes agonizingly slow progress.

This 1,000-feet tunnel
Takes five years

And is only completed in 1961.

Dickrell: to be inside of it,

You can almost envision
Terrorized people

Trying to avoid
A nuclear explosion

In a large metropolitan area.

Bell:
The fact that they were prepared

To blast their way
Through these mountains

Just shows that level of panic
And urgency that was felt

To give the people of a major
U.S. City a means of escape

And a means to get to safety.

And a means to get to safety.

Narrator: the route to salvation
Finally makes progress

Through the mountains.

But engineers realize there is a
Fundamental flaw in their plan.

Predictably,
Progress on the road was slow,

And that led
The l.A. Authorities to say,

"Hang on, let's have a re-think.

What we're really doing
Is creating a potential

For a huge traffic jam
In the future.

Do we really want to do that?

It's gonna be world war iii just
Trying to get to that road."

Dickrell: given los angeles's
Notoriously congested highways,

Dickrell: given los angeles's
Notoriously congested highways,

The premise that
The armageddon highway

Would have been able
To safely transport

The denizens
Of los angeles to safety

Is basically ludicrous,

Especially when viewed
From a modern perspective

Of grid-locked
Los angeles highways.

Narrator: and with the advent
Of faster intercontinental

Ballistic missiles
Giving even less warning,

Escape from soviet nuclear
Fallout becomes impossible.

L.A.'s evacuation plans
Through shoemaker canyon

L.A.'s evacuation plans
Through shoemaker canyon

Are now useless.

When you really think about it,
That given the warning time,

Which is next to nil,

It's basically impossible
To evacuate major urban areas.

Now, I think by the late 1960s
They're thinking,

"Well, this is just
A whopping waste of money.

It's just not worth it."

Narrator:
In 1969, 13 years after
The project commences,

The los angeles authorities
Finally call time

The los angeles authorities
Finally call time

On the escape route.

All that has been achieved
Of the 25-mile shortcut

Through shoemaker canyon
Is a 4 1/2 mile road

And two tunnels
That lead to nowhere.

Today, the road and tunnel
Still stand on the slopes

Of shoemaker canyon
But are rarely visited.

They survive as a monument
To cold war paranoia,

And the real dangers
Felt by the citizens of l.A.

Half a century ago.

Half a century ago.

Today, the most striking remains
Of the road are its tunnels.

And it makes you appreciate
The fact that this is

What cold war paranoia
Forced us to do.

*

Narrator: over 6,000 across
The atlantic in northern italy,

In the mountainous province
Of belluno

Is an engineering wonder.

*

Towering above
The town of longarone,

Towering above
The town of longarone,

An 871-foot wall
Of concrete spans

The tree-covered cliffs
On either side.

*

All of a sudden,
You'd come to an opening

With this big concrete wall
In front of you.

*

It's an astonishingly impressive
Piece of engineering.

Even by modern standards,

It's still one
Of the highest in the world.

*

*

Narrator:
627-feet wide at its summit,

The structure narrows
To just 89 feet at its base,

Which is an incredible
72-feet thick.

Constructed using 1.3 billion
Cubic feet of concrete,

This fortress holds back
Over 9 billion cubic feet

Of sedimentary rock and debris.

Standing at its base,
Gazing up at it,

You would be overwhelmed
At its size.

You would be overwhelmed
At its size.

You would be dwarfed.

Buy why did engineers
Build such a giant structure

In such a difficult place?

And why was it abandoned?

*

As post-war italy rises
From the ashes,

A drive to boost
Its faltering economy

Comes in the form
Of rapid industrialization,

Which demands
A huge amount of power.

In the 1950s when italy
Was just coming off

The back of
The second world war,

The back of
The second world war,

Its economy was in
A state of devastation.

Narrator: so, drawing on
Its natural resources,

The country harnesses masses
Of water in the italian alps,

Supplied by the rivers,
Snowmelt, and high rainfall.

It's perfect
For hydroelectricity.

*

Jerram: hydroelectric power
Is incredibly attractive

In a mountainous region,

Because if you can
Have a tight valley,

And you can trap water high up,

You've suddenly got the ability
For that water to move downhill

You've suddenly got the ability
For that water to move downhill

Very quickly
And generate free electricity.

Narrator: in the shadow
Of the mighty monte toc,

Engineers identify the deep
And narrow vajont valley

As the ideal location
To store huge amounts of water

And use it as part
Of a vast hydroelectric plant.

Jerram: the gorge itself was
A particularly attractive site

Because of the sheer
Highness of the gorge,

And the amount
Of the volume of water

That you'll be able to get

For such a small cutting off
Of the valley.

For such a small cutting off
Of the valley.

You can more or less
Throw a stone

From one side to the other.

Narrator: to kick-start
Italy's post-war economy,

The engineers devise this --

The vajont dam.

*

Dickrell:
A curved dam is a very classical
Way of structuring a dam,

To make it strong and resist

The fluid forces
Of the reservoir behind it.

Narrator: it's designed to hold
A three-mile-long reservoir.

Narrator: it's designed to hold
A three-mile-long reservoir.

When you have a huge of water
Pushing up against a dam,

And the dam is in
The shape of an arch,

And it's made from materials

That are really good
In compression,

Then what it means is that
The arch is really strong,

You don't need as much material
To resist that massive force,

And it stays stable.

And the clever thing is that
It channels all of that force

Into the cliff faces,
Either side of it.

Narrator:
Employing over 400 laborers
From the local area,

Narrator:
Employing over 400 laborers
From the local area,

Work starts in 1957
On this powerful structure.

The vajont dam
Is the centerpiece

Of a hydroelectric network
In the area.

Engineers hope it will hold over
6 billion cubic feet of water

And feed 4 power stations via 37
Miles of water-delivery tunnels,

Bringing much needed energy
To the cities of northern italy.

For three years, workers labor

Until dam's
Distinctive curvature

Is finally in place.

Is finally in place.

Something that big, something
So impressive in the landscape

To be built at that time,
Is a real engineering feat.

Narrator:
The filling of the reservoir
Basin begins in february 1960.

But will it work?

Jerram: when you're filling
The dam up with water,

There's a lot of weight,
A lot of pressure

That's being exerted
On the sides of the valleys.

But at the same time,
You're bringing water into areas

Where it's not normally there
All of the time.

Where it's not normally there
All of the time.

So, those two factors
Clearly changed the way

The landscape was reacting.

Narrator: for nine months,

The dam hold its water level
At over 590 feet,

Producing 9,000 kilowatts
Of energy

For just
One power station alone.

But a 6,000-foot crack

Soon appears across
The slope of monte toc,

And on november 4th, 1960,
A massive landslide happens.

*

*

Over 24 million cubic feet
Of rock breaks off

And slides into the reservoir

Just under 2,000 feet
From the dam wall,

Drastically increasing
The water level,

Which could breach
The crest of the dam.

Providing you keep enough space
In the level of the reservoir,

And this slow rock mass
Moves into it,

It would not necessarily
Be a problem.

They can control it.

Narrator: the engineers
Lower the water level,

Easing the pressure
On the surrounding cliffs,

Easing the pressure
On the surrounding cliffs,

Which stop the landslide.

To control further land movement

While also keeping
The dam running,

They raise and lower
The reservoir level accordingly,

Causing fatigue in the process.

So, if you imagine
Taking a metal spoon,

And then you bend it back
And forth a number of times,

Eventually that spoon
Is gonna snap.

So, by raising and lowering
The level of the water

In the reservoir,

They changed the pressure
Exerted on the soil.

They changed the pressure
Exerted on the soil.

Narrator:
Using the water level in the dam

To control the surrounding
Landmass is risky.

It makes it virtually impossible
To predict

How fast any landslide
Might react.

Will this technique
Stop future landslides?

And why was the vajont dam
Abandoned?

*

*

Narrator: in northern italy,
High in the alps,

Is one of the tallest concrete
Barriers in the world --

The vajont dam.

In 1960, engineers lower and
Raise the water in the reservoir

To ease the pressure
On the surrounding cliffs

In order to save the dam
And stop future landslides.

The technique works.

For three more years,

For three more years,

The dam successfully supplies
Water to four power stations,

Producing much needed
Hydroelectricity

To fuel the economy
Of northern italy.

And in april 1963, with
The landslides under control,

The engineers fill
The reservoir behind the dam

To its capacity at 2,345 feet
Above sea level.

The lesson that civil engineers
Are reminded of time and again

Is to be acutely aware
Of the natural surroundings

Is to be acutely aware
Of the natural surroundings

And the geology in which
You are building your stricture,

Because if you don't take heed
Of those lessons,

The price you pay
Could be devastating.

Narrator: then, at 10:39 p.M.,
October 9th, 1963,

Disaster strikes.

Over 9 billion cubic feet of
Rock breaks away from monte toc,

Hurdling down
At 68 miles an hour.

Hurdling down
At 68 miles an hour.

The destructive debris smashes
Into the reservoir below.

*

Bell:
It wasn't just the massive earth

That slid away
Into the reservoir.

It was the ferocious speed
At which it came...

*

...45 seconds for effectively
Half of the mountainside

To drop into the water.

To drop into the water.

*

Jerram:
It cascades into the water
And causes big waves.

Now, if you imagine a bath,

You've got a wall
On one side of the bath,

And you've got a lip
At the other side.

You jump into that bath,

You're gonna cause waves
In two directions.

One will hit the wall
And bounce back,

And that's exactly what happened
In part of the valley.

The other's gonna actually
Go over the rim.

It's literally
Like an airborne tsunami.

Narrator: over 800 million
Cubic feet of water

Becomes an 820-foot-high wave,

Becomes an 820-foot-high wave,

With the village of longarone
In its path.

*

A massive amount of water forced
Down such a tight gorge --

It displaced all of that air,

And it was almost like
A shock wave of air,

Hit the village directly
Before the water did,

And started destroying
Some of the buildings,

And the next minute,
A wall of water hits you.

It's got rocks in it,
It's got trees in it.

It is like liquid sandpaper, and
It just wipes the village clean.

It is like liquid sandpaper, and
It just wipes the village clean.

Narrator: barely four minutes
After the landslide begins,

Most of the town is obliterated
By the subsequent wall of water.

It is one of the worst natural
Disasters in european history,

Killing nearly 2,000 people.

The tragic irony
Of this story is that

Whilst the villages below the
Dam were completely destroyed

By the on-rush of water,

The dam itself remained
Completely intact.

*

*

I guess that's
A testament, really,

To the quality of the design
And build of the dam,

Was just a dam built
In the wrong place.

Narrator: the reservoir is
Ultimately filled with debris,

And this spells the end
For the great vajont dam.

It is abandoned.

Today, the vajont dam stands
Isolated in the rocky landscape,

Scattered with hints
Of its tragic past.

It forms a permanent reminder

It forms a permanent reminder

Of humanity's underestimation
Of the forces of nature.

From an engineering perspective,

The vajont dam
Should have become

One of the most impressive
Dams in history.

Instead it's become
One of the most infamous.

Jerram:
It's an unfortunate tragedy,
But from tragedy

We learn about
How the landscape can react,

And hopefully we can mitigate

Against such tragedies
In the future.

*

*

Narrator:
Over 500 miles across europe,

South of dover
On the british coast

Is the quiet seaside village
Of littlestone

That has a secret past.

*

In the rough seas
Of the english channel,

A mysterious 200-foot-long
And 32-foot-wide steel structure

Lies partially submerged
In its waters.

If you're one of the thousands
Of holiday makers

Playing on the beach
At littlestone

Playing on the beach
At littlestone

Or even out
For an early morning walk,

You'd quite happily dismiss it

As part of a sunken barge
Or something.

But the fact is it's got far
More historical significance

Than you could ever imagine.

Narrator: when the tide lowers
To seven feet,

It reveals
Some of its secrets --

A large block of concrete
Nearly one-foot thick,

Weighing over 6,000 tons.

This bizarre object's
Humble appearance

This bizarre object's
Humble appearance

Disguises its
Ambitious engineering.

Imagine that
The engineers at the time

Were a little bit worried

That this was gonna be
A big risk to take.

*

Narrator:
But what is this strange object?
Why is it here?

And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator: in 1943, the largest
Sea-borne invasion

Of the 20th century
Is conceived -- d day,

Which calls for thousands
Of allied troops and supplies

To invade nazi-occupied
France in normandy.

But with the germans
Heavily defending

Its major ports and harbors,

Where and how can the allies
Land an entire invading army?

It becomes obvious to
The british, to the americans,

It becomes obvious to
The british, to the americans,

That it's immensely difficult
To give an army

The supplies it needs
To keep on fighting

Once you've thrown them
Onto a beach.

Narrator:
So, the allies developed
A unique and ambitious plan

To supply the allied forces.

We, the allies,
Brought together technology

From the field
Of civil engineering,

Military engineering,
Material science,

To create something
That had not existed before --

To create something
That had not existed before --

An entire harbor that can move
60 miles to where it's needed.

*

Code named "Operation mulberry,"

These floating harbors
Can only succeed

If they have a particular
Critical component --

The phoenix caisson.

The phoenix caisson
Is but a tiny element

Of an incredibly complex,

But at the same time
Brilliantly simple plan

To take a self-assembling,
Floating harbor

To take a self-assembling,
Floating harbor

Over to the beaches of normandy
For the d day landings.

*

Narrator:
This watertight structure
Is designed to provide

Much needed protection for
The floating mulberry harbors

Of the invading allied forces.

But with wartime
Steel shortages,

Engineers must turn to a more
Readily available material,

Concrete, which,
Amazingly, can float.

The idea of using
Floating concrete blocks

Was actually nothing new.

Concrete vessels have been made
Since the late 1800s.

Concrete vessels have been made
Since the late 1800s.

What was different was using
Them to create your own harbor

The size of any modern
International ferry port.

Narrator: each concrete block
Is five-stories high.

Intended to join together
In a chain,

They serve
As the protective walls

To the floating
Mulberry harbors.

Bell: the purpose of
The phoenix caissons

Was to act
As a breakwater

As the outer limits
Of the harbor

As the outer limits
Of the harbor

Within which you'd have
Much calmer waters

To land the supplies,
The vehicles,

And the troops required
On the beaches of normandy

For the d day landings.

Narrator: the caisson is made up
Of reinforced concrete,

But it's the nine
Hallow compartments

That hold
The secret to its buoyancy.

Its volume consists
Of a shell of concrete

Combined with an element
Lighter than water -- air.

Weighing less than the water
It displaces,

This concrete block
Is able to float.

This concrete block
Is able to float.

Equipped with sea valves
Through which each compartment

Can be flooded,

These mobile blocks can be sunk

Wherever they are needed
To become immovable.

The phoenix caisson itself
Rates quite high in terms

Of the engineering ingenuity
Involved in world war ii, right?

The engineers knew
They had a job to do,

And they solved it
Very efficiently

And very beautifully.

Narrator: construction begins
In late 1943.

Workers must make 212 caissons
With only six months

Workers must make 212 caissons
With only six months

To complete this colossal task.

At 12 different coastal
Locations around britain,

45,000 laborers
Work in complete secrecy

To construct the caissons
That require

Over 8 million cubic feet
Of concrete

And 31,000 tons of steel.

A lot of the people would be
Out there fighting the wars

And so on, so you'd get
The unskilled laborer,

And then you can actually
Train them up quite quickly

And then you can actually
Train them up quite quickly

To fix steel,
To pour the concrete,

'cause actually
The process of doing that

Is not terribly technical
Or complicated.

Narrator: to keep a project
Of this magnitude under wraps,

The engineers used the caissons'
Design and function

In a daring way.

To keep the plans
For the d day landings

A complete secret
From the germans,

Once the phoenix caissons
Had arrived

At their assembly point
On the south coast,

They were sunk to keep them out
Of view below the water level,

They were sunk to keep them out
Of view below the water level,

The idea being then that
You could pump the water out

To float them up before
Being towed over to france.

Narrator: in a mere six months,
212 phoenix caissons are built

And many are sunk
In the english channel

In preparation for d day.

Now, true to their name,
They must rise again

To play their part
In the invasion of normandy.

Of course
There's always the chance

That once you've done
The first sink,

It actually does
What it's supposed to do

And sticks into the ground

And then stays there
Nice and stable

And then stays there
Nice and stable

Against the sea currents.

Narrator: will engineers get
All the caissons to re-float?

How will they work
During the invasion?

And why was
The phoenix caisson abandoned?

*

*

Narrator: off the british coast,
Lies the unsung hero of d day --

The phoenix caisson.

On june 7th, 1944,
Within 24 hours

Of the allied invasion
Of nazi-occupied france,

The troops need
Supplies and fast.

This is the moment
For the phoenix caisson to rise.

The majority of
The giant concrete breakwaters

Hidden under the english channel
Are successfully re-floated.

Hidden under the english channel
Are successfully re-floated.

The allies sail them
To the normandy beaches

To play their part
In the invasion.

The phoenix caissons
Had a crew of six men.

I mean, imagine that --
Being a crewman on board

A floating piece of concrete.

As they were towed
Along by tugboats,

On board was
A little accommodation hut,

A life raft in case
Anything went wrong,

But they also had
Anti-aircraft guns

Just in case
They came under attack.

Just in case
They came under attack.

At a rate of three knots,
It takes 30 hours

To float 146 of these giant,
Concrete caissons

To the secured beachheads
Of omaha and gold.

Once sunk in place, they act
As a two-mile-long breakwater

And outer wall of the harbor,

Fulfilling their crucial role
In operation mulberry.

Concrete boxes
Of the phoenix caisson,

In and of themselves
Are not terribly impressive

When described
As a concrete box.

When described
As a concrete box.

But the usage of that caisson
In landing material, men,

And equipment
On the beaches of france

Was tremendously important.

Narrator:
The mulberry harbor makes up
An area of 500 acres

That is protected
By a ring of phoenix caissons.

Critically, they calm the waters

So boats can safely dock
At the floating piers,

Whether at high or low tide.

Having taken
The germans by surprise,

The phoenix caissons
Evade serious bombardment.

The phoenix caissons
Evade serious bombardment.

Designed to last only 90 days,
The mulberry harbors in france

Are still going strong
10 months later.

With the help
Of the phoenix caissons,

The allies are able to unload
2.5 million men,

Half a million vehicles,

And four million tons
Of goods and supplies.

Bell: to the engineers involved,

The mulberry harbors
Were a phenomenal success.

D day landings
Have been described

As one of the most monumental
Events in modern history.

As one of the most monumental
Events in modern history.

The phoenix caissons
Were a huge part of that.

Narrator:
But not all the caissons
Are successful.

Many don't make it, and
Off the coast of littlestone,

No matter how hard
The engineers and pumps work

On the stranded caisson
Beached there,

It refuses
To rise to the surface.

Only problem was
In certain areas

The seabed was extremely sticky,
And try as they might,

The phoenix caisson
At littlestone

Just couldn't be floated again.

Just couldn't be floated again.

Narrator:
Unable to rise from its watery
Grave of the shore of england,

It lies abandoned.

The phoenix caissons
Played a crucial role

In the allies
Winning world war ii

And are now a monument
To military ingenuity

And inspiration for generations
Of civil engineers to come.

The story of the
Phoenix caisson at littlestone,

In a way, is a story of failure.

It never made
Its way over to france.

But if you were able to get it
Off the seabed today

But if you were able to get it
Off the seabed today

And float it,
It would still be able

To do the job
It was designed to do,

And that's testimony

To quality engineering
And a sound plan.

*