Original subtitles

Narrator: A top-secret nazi facility

With aims for the stars.

Gough: the genesis of the space Program was military.

How to attack your enemy --

That was the start Of the space program.

Narrator: ...A huge abandoned tower Dominating the landscape...

Bell: not only is it functional.

It's intriguing to look at.

Narrator: ...And a shocking machine that Strikes with lightning force...

Narrator: ...And a shocking machine that Strikes with lightning force...

That thing is just immense.

It's a man-made Wonder of the world.

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?

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

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

Rising above the oka river In western russia

Is a revolutionary Engineering landmark.

This abandoned tower stands Nearly 420 feet high,

Is only 98 feet wide At its base,

And is made entirely Out of steel.

Despite it's massive height And narrow base,

This lattice work of interwoven Steel still stands

As a true engineering marvel.

Bell: you look at it, and you're Not entirely sure why,

Bell: you look at it, and you're Not entirely sure why,

But you know there's something Different about it.

It's got a curved profile. It has a curved shape to it,

Yet all the members And the constituents of it

Are long and straight.

It's a work of art.

It's a work of engineering.

It's a work of maths.

Archer: It's almost mind-bending, Looking at that thing.

It looks like there's All this curving steel.

It looks like there's All this curving steel.

Got to remember, every piece In there is straight.

How do you work out how strong This structure is gonna be,

How resilient It's gonna be

To wind and all these Sorts of things?

Narrator: but who built This stunning piece

Of architectural engineering?

What was its purpose?

And why was it abandoned?

In the late 1920s, The newly founded soviet union

Has an electricity problem In its city of nizhny novgorod,

Has an electricity problem In its city of nizhny novgorod,

East of moscow.

Both its military and industrial Resources need more power.

But to deliver on that, They must create

An unprecedented Electrical tower

With far-reaching capacity.

The man who dreams up, designs,

And builds this Groundbreaking structure

Is russian engineer

And scientist Vladimir grigoryevich shukhov.

And scientist Vladimir grigoryevich shukhov.

I think the shukhov design Is very pioneering

Because a lot of these masts Were there to be practical.

And we just needed To get the height,

And we wanted to it with As little steel as possible

And just get up there.

But I think shukhov thought A little bit deeper

About the problem.

He thought about how we could Actually make it look beautiful,

How it could be Mathematically very precise.

And he came up with, what I Think, is a very, very beautiful

And unusual structure.

And unusual structure.

Narrator: this is the Revolutionary shukhov tower.

It is one of six built in 1927 To carry power lines

Across the oka river To vital soviet industries

In the city of nizhny novgorod,

260 miles east of moscow.

Engineers begin working On one of two towers

Standing on the north bank Of the river.

But at a staggering 420 feet high,

But at a staggering 420 feet high,

Will shukhov's revolutionary Design be able to cope

With the weight Of the cables

And the effect of the wind Blasting against it?

Bell: Any engineer designing a tower

That's gonna be Hundreds of meters up in the air

Needs to consider The effect of wind.

That wind is gonna be Striking it,

And if you can't feel anything On the ground, up there,

There's going to be forces Acting against your tower,

Effectively trying to Bring the thing down.

Effectively trying to Bring the thing down.

If you look at an example Like the eiffel tower,

You can take a look at that And say,

"It's quite a squat structure."

It's got a wide base,

And it kind of tapers in Towards the top.

That looks pretty solid.

Shukhov's towers Don't have that.

They're much more graceful.

Yet, somehow, Using his mathematical mind

And putting that into practice,

He's created towers that have That grace and elegance,

But still do the job.

He must have had to so many Calculations to work out

Whether this thing was feasible.

Kept it in that simple, Elegant, beautiful design --

Almost transparent nature.

All those beams are very, Very thin, that you can imagine

Wind being able To pass through it

Without causing That much of an issue.

So, in a way, It's a very efficient,

If complicated, design.

If complicated, design.

Narrator: but as stunning As the design is,

Building a tower of this Astonishing height

Requires an innovative approach.

I think the way that they built The shukhov tower

Is actually quite clever.

So, they started off at the base

And then lifted the segments Through the base

And then placed it on top.

And that actually Works quite well

Because you could put The segments on the side.

But in that case, you'd need to Lift it up and then sideways.

What they did was, simply, to Lift it up and fix it in place.

What they did was, simply, to Lift it up and fix it in place.

Bell: the shukhov tower -- Not only is it functional,

It's intriguing to look at.

Narrator: but this isn't Shukhov's first attempt

At building a tower At this scale.

Years earlier, he tried to build The shabolovka tower in moscow.

It was his first Major construction project

For the newly founded Soviet union,

And he had major plans.

And he had major plans.

He designed it to be Over 1,100 feet in height,

But he faced An unexpected problem.

Not only would shukhov's tower Have dwarfed the eiffel tower,

It would have been three American football fields tall.

Imagine that.

Narrator: a shortage of steel Limited his ambitions,

And the tower didn't even reach Half the intended height.

And the tower didn't even reach Half the intended height.

Agrawal: I believe shukhov Could have done it.

I think he could have Got up to 300 meters

Because his structure was So incredibly elegant,

So incredibly light,

And so perfectly oriented

With all the different Steel beams

Coming into create stability,

That I believe He would have done it.

Narrator: for two years, shukhov And his workers construct

This breathtaking tower In nizhny novgorod.

But will his Groundbreaking design

But will his Groundbreaking design

Help power Soviet ambitions?

And why was it abandoned?

Narrator: the abandoned Shukhov tower in western russia

Stand at an impressive 420 feet tall.

It's an electricity pylon Made entirely out of steel

And the brainchild Of russian architect

And engineer Vladimir grigoryevich shukhov.

Bell: shukhov's approach To engineering

Is from an extremely Theoretical perspective.

Is from an extremely Theoretical perspective.

He's managed to turn An extremely complex

Mathematical formula Into something very practical.

And apparently, it can be used In almost any function

Where you need to have something Raised up into the sky.

Narrator: in 1929, shukhov Completes his epic tower,

And for years, the tower Successfully carries electricity

Through its cables Without incident.

Through its cables Without incident.

[ being translated ] Shukhov was a brilliant artist.

Some people are talented In an artistic field.

Some are talented In mathematics.

Shukhov was a brilliant artist And a brilliant engineer

At the same time, So he was perfect.

He was a pioneer in this area.

Nobody else was doing it Before him.

He had a brilliant intuition That helped him

He had a brilliant intuition That helped him

To estimate risks And make it work.

Narrator: The genius of shukhov's tower Inspires other engineers

To replicate his revolutionary Diagrid hyperboloid design.

And today, his innovative Approach can be seen

In some of the world's Greatest structures,

Including the hearst tower In new york city

And king's cross station In london.

And king's cross station In london.

In 1989, because the power line Is rerouted,

The shukhov tower is abandoned.

But today, its engineering Strength remains.

And though shukhov's name May be largely unknown,

His legacy and structure Still stand.

Bell: shukhov may not be One of the most

Well-known mathematical Or engineering names

Known to us, Here in the west,

Known to us, Here in the west,

But what he created Was totally unique.

You can't just walk past one of Shukhov's towers and go, "Fuh."

You're gonna stop And look at it.

And for me, that's enough To keep it preserved

And keep generations To come interested.

Narrator: 1,100 miles away, on the Northeastern coast of germany,

On the edge of the baltic sea,

Is what remains of a top-secret Military installation.

Is what remains of a top-secret Military installation.

Spread across This windswept peninsula,

Hidden among the pine trees, Are perplexing mounds

Of shattered concrete And twisted steel.

Contaminated by chemicals And designated a no-go area,

These abandoned Underground bunkers, airfields,

And buildings could once hold Up to 12,000 workers.

And buildings could once hold Up to 12,000 workers.

And before it all Stands the remains

Of a 46-foot-high rocket.

Gough: what's forgotten is that, The genesis of the space program

Wasn't these ambitious goals Of putting a man on the moon.

It was military.

It was sending missiles Straight up into space,

It was sending missiles Straight up into space,

Not caring about where they go,

But caring about how they Come down, and observing that

So you can understand How you could use

That information To attack your enemy.

That was the start Of the space program.

Narrator: but what role did This remote facility play

In the nazi quest For world domination?

And why was it abandoned?

In 1936, hitler has been In power for three years.

With his eyes set On a military conquest,

With his eyes set On a military conquest,

He sets out to create One of the largest

Armament centers in europe With this --

The infamous peenemunde base.

It's designed to be

One of germany's largest Military proving grounds.

And construction begins To create the first

Rocket-testing range In the world.

Green: governments were willing To fund this program

Because they wanted to have this Military dominance in europe.

And so, that flow of funding And the focused effort

Meant that rocket technology Accelerated

In a very short amount Of time.

Narrator: And pushing nazi germany's Long-rang weapons program

Narrator: And pushing nazi germany's Long-rang weapons program

Is the ambitious young engineer,

Wernher von braun.

Green: he was very enthusiastic About opening up

The opportunities of rocketry For space exploration.

Narrator: Completed in 1937, the whole Complex costs the staggering

Narrator: Completed in 1937, the whole Complex costs the staggering

Modern-day equivalent Of $25 billion.

It consists of an assembly hall, A banked sand wall,

And a launch pad known Known as "Prufstand sieben,"

Or test sand vii.

Reporter: in 1936, they had Started their peenemunde project

To develop missiles Of an entirely new type.

And their first one Was not a rocket.

And their first one Was not a rocket.

It was the buzz bomb -- the v-1.

It's propulsion Was by pulsejet engine.

Narrator With the pioneering success Of the v-1, engineers move on.

And at the height of World war ii, in october 1942,

Von braun spearheads The first successful launch

Of his signature rocket -- The v-2.

Reaching an astonishing altitude Of 52 miles,

This historic rocket Reaches the upper atmosphere

And launches nazi military Technology into the future.

Standing 46 feet high, The v-2 weighs 28,000 pounds

And carries a ton Of high explosives.

The v-2 missile is in itself An extremely impressive weapon,

The v-2 missile is in itself An extremely impressive weapon,

And arguably, it's the start Of the putting man on the moon

And rocket technology.

But around that rocket, You've got the infrastructure

And the facility

That enabled the germans To do what they did with it.

We're talking about Refueling the rocket.

We're talking about producing That fuel in the first place.

The logistics of getting Everything that they needed,

The monitoring systems in place,

The monitoring systems in place,

As well as actually getting That rocket actually firing.

Narrator: But can the german engineers Get this new rocket technology

To reach outer space?

And why was The peenemunde base abandoned?

Narrator: During the second world war,

The peenemunde test facility In northeast germany

Is home to nazi germany's Cutting-edge v-2 rocket program.

It embodies one of hitler's Great dreams --

A powerful weapon To destroy his enemies

And a means to exploring The far reaches of space.

But this new technology Gets off to a rocky start.

But this new technology Gets off to a rocky start.

...Of exploding and Misfunctions.

Narrator: But by june 1944, von braun And his engineers make history

When they vertically launch A v-2 rocket

From test stand vii At peenemunde.

From test stand vii At peenemunde.

Traveling at four times The speed of sound,

This historic rocket Becomes the first

To cross The boundaries of space.

But during the war,

The nazis also drop thousands Of v-2 warheads

On allied civilian targets.

The v-2 was developed And being tested

Whilst the germans were At war with the allies.

So, albeit, that v-2 rocket Was not used for a purpose

So, albeit, that v-2 rocket Was not used for a purpose

That we can celebrate,

The engineering behind Was extremely thorough

And very impressive.

Gough: hitler was obsessed With wonder weapons,

And that's where All the money went.

And it was good for the u.S. And the allies at large

Because there weren't basic Funding for infrastructure.

There weren't enough tanks.

People were riding bikes.

It wasn't like state-of-the-art Anything on the battlefield.

And that's the irony.

And that's the irony.

Narrator: at the end of world War ii, nazi germany crumbles,

And many of its key V-2 launch sites,

Like test stand vii, Are destroyed.

And as part of Operation paperclip,

The americans extricate Von braun and his team,

Who further the v-2 Rocket program

For the united states.

Once in america, His advanced military work

Forms the foundations For nasa's apollo program,

Forms the foundations For nasa's apollo program,

Which eventually takes humans To the moon

In the 1960s And '70s.

But I think, even if that Hadn't have been the motivation,

We still look Towards the stars.

It's across all of our cultures To think about humans going out

Into the solar system And out into the cosmos.

So, the second world war Was the catalyst,

But it was no means the reason

For us having rocket technology.

Narrator: Today, the launch sites At peenemunde lie abandoned,

Narrator: Today, the launch sites At peenemunde lie abandoned,

Slowly rotting away, and Disappearing into the forest.

900 miles east lies another, Even more shocking, structure.

Hidden among the forests In istra, russia,

Just a short distance From moscow,

Is a series of bizarre, Alien-looking metal structures.

Is a series of bizarre, Alien-looking metal structures.

Outfitted with numerous Electricity-conducting coils,

This apocalyptic machine Towers over 100 feet in the air.

Archer: That thing is just immense.

I think it's actually stunning.

All the sort of balls And bits of steel --

It's a man-made wonder Of the world, I would say.

I think it looks amazing.

Narrator: but why were these

Narrator: but why were these

Strange-looking Structures built?

What purpose did they serve?

And why were they abandoned?

In the 1970s, During the cold war,

The soviet union is looking To boost its military defense

Against the united states.

And to do that, the military, Along with government,

Try something radical --

To generate huge, man-made Bolts of lightning.

To generate huge, man-made Bolts of lightning.

The soviet union keeps this Top-secret project classified,

Positioning it In a secluded forest.

The '60s and '70s --

Very engineering-focused Architecture.

And they say, "Oh, Isn't that dirty and ugly."

No. I think there's actually Some hidden beauty within that.

Narrator: This is the marx generator.

Looking like a relic From a science-fiction movie,

Looking like a relic From a science-fiction movie,

These structures Actually generate

A shocking form of electricity.

In fact, the electricity Generated here

Dwarfs its rivals.

When you've got anything That sort of seems to be

Revolutionizing the world, That seems really cool

And seems to be the future,

People want to harness that.

Narrator: and it has one Terrifying purpose.

For a fraction of a second, It's able to create

An artificial blue-and-white Lightning bolt

An artificial blue-and-white Lightning bolt

650 feet long.

To do this, the marx generator Must use all the energy

The neighboring power stations Can provide --

6 million volts.

But what possible use could A man-made lightning bolt hold?

In the '70s, both the east And west are too evenly matched

For either side to risk A first military strike.

For either side to risk A first military strike.

So, the soviet union Focuses on defense

And develops other ways To disable america's

Intercontinental ballistic Missiles.

There was a wide variety Of defenses and systems

In place On both sides.

Like, we had a pretty good idea Of their missile capabilities,

And I think they had A pretty good idea

Of the capabilities Of our weaponry.

Of the capabilities Of our weaponry.

But can the marx generator

Actually deter Incoming missiles?

Will it work?

And why was it abandoned?

Narrator: Hidden among the forests In istra, outside of moscow,

Is a series of bizarre Metal structures

Called the marx generator.

Designed to generate Artificial lightning,

This machine has One singular purpose --

To strike down Incoming american missiles.

In the 1970s, it's very Important for protecting

In the 1970s, it's very Important for protecting

One's nuclear deterrent force In the homeland.

And remember, also, they're Building anti-missile defenses

Against ballistic missiles.

Narrator: but one side effect Of exploding nuclear weapons

Is that they generate A massive surge of power

Called an "Electromagnetic Pulse," or e.M.P.,

Which can knock out All kinds of electronics,

Including the guidance systems Of missiles.

Including the guidance systems Of missiles.

We didn't quite understand The electromagnetic pulse

That would have very like Have damaged our weaponry.

But as we moved to more Sophisticated systems,

They actually become More vulnerable

To electromagnetic pulse.

The technology is developed And developed and developed.

It's not as simple As just creating a wave.

How do you turn electrical power Into an electromagnetic power

How do you turn electrical power Into an electromagnetic power

That you can then transmit?

Narrator: The soviet military takes on This engineering challenge.

Because lightning Naturally generates

An electromagnetic pulse,

Soviet scientists try to create A machine to harness that power

And paralyze America's missile arsenal.

Corum: we had cruise missiles, Which were, possibly,

Our most effective weapon

For targeting soviet airspace

For targeting soviet airspace

Because they flew Above the earth.

And they are extremely difficult To pick up on any kind of radar,

And certainly the radars They had in the 1970s.

Narrator: this vulnerability Makes the marx generator

Even more crucial For the soviets' defenses.

What makes the lightning Generator work are its coils.

These coils create Powerful electromagnetic pulses,

These coils create Powerful electromagnetic pulses,

Which can be directed At incoming nuclear missiles,

Disabling them Before hitting their targets.

[ being translated ] The machine works The same as lightning.

Planes are instructed to fly No more than 30 kilometers

From a thundercloud.

This is because Strong electric fields

Reside in the atmosphere Of the thundercloud,

And a plane can Conduct lightning.

The lightning will cause An e.M.P.

And knock out The plane's electrics.

And knock out The plane's electrics.

Archer: the coils are actually Great at sending

The electromagnetic waves.

It's developed Sort of new techniques

To be able to harness, Essentially,

These wiggles Of electricity and magnetism

Into something useful.

Narrator: though it's never Ultimately used to strike down

Incoming u.S. Missiles, The engineers

Keep the marx machine In operation for 20 years.

Keep the marx machine In operation for 20 years.

But there's a significant cost.

Because the marx machine Must use

6 million volts Of energy to work,

It's very expensive to run.

And when the soviet union Collapses in 1991,

Finances for the marx generator Simply run out.

Today, what could have been One of the world's

Ultimate weapons of defense

Is now left abandoned In a remote forest lair.

Is now left abandoned In a remote forest lair.

Over 1,500 miles away, Lying forgotten

On a sheer-sided mountain In derbyshire,

In northern england.

Is the most ruined route

In the whole Of the british isles.

The abandoned road runs For nearly 12 miles

Through the remote And hilly peak district,

Formerly connecting the cities Of sheffield and manchester.

Formerly connecting the cities Of sheffield and manchester.

It's one of the highest Routes in england

At around 1,000 feet Above sea level,

In a location known locally As "The shivering mountain."

Agrawal: it gives us a very, Very clear reminder

That things can go wrong,

And this is how awfully They can go wrong, as well.

Narrator: But why was the road built?

And why was it abandoned?

In the early 19th century, During the heart of britain's

In the early 19th century, During the heart of britain's

Industrial revolution, Industrialists need to provide

A much-needed commercial Lifeline between communities.

Bell: during the industrial Revolution in britain,

There was industry popping up All over the country.

But that industry was entirely Dependent on the goods

And materials Coming in and going out.

Transportation networks Were critical.

Agrawal: so, without the new Roads, without the railway,

Agrawal: so, without the new Roads, without the railway,

Without these news canals That had been dug around,

And this huge network

That basically joined The whole country

And made it one country,

The industrial revolution

Just simply Couldn't have happened.

Bell: these were the veins And the arteries

That pumped life into The industrial revolution.

You couldn't have one Without the other.

Narrator: to establish This vital link,

Engineers designed The mam tor road,

One of the most Treacherous routes

One of the most Treacherous routes

In all of britain.

But to make it, engineers Must face a big problem --

The road crosses A range of steep mountains.

And with a steep gradient, Any straight road

Would be practically unusable

By the horse-drawn wagons Of the day.

There's a certain limitation To how steep a road

You can get a horse to draw An enormous, heavy load up.

You can get a horse to draw An enormous, heavy load up.

Mam tor was chosen as a route

Because of the natural lie Of the land.

It had a much gentler slope,

So as they could Snake their way up,

Getting over the problem Of having two steeper roads.

It was a road that horses Could go up,

But little did they know,

Because of the geology Around it,

It was probably the worst place They could have built it.

Narrator: So, what do the engineers try to Overcome this difficult geology?

Narrator: So, what do the engineers try to Overcome this difficult geology?

And how did this remote Mountain road become abandoned?

Narrator: In england's peak district lies The treacherous mam tor road.

It snakes its way Across 12 miles

Through some of The countries hilliest

And most rugged terrain.

For 19th-century engineers To build around

This steep gradient, They route the new road

Across the side of a 1,700-foot Peak called mam tor.

Across the side of a 1,700-foot Peak called mam tor.

But an underlying issue With the geology

Blindsides their efforts.

Agrawal: so, understanding The geology is so important

Because at the end of the day,

You can have a really strong Road surface there,

But if what's holding that up Is really weak

And not fit for purpose,

Then that strong road Is not gonna do anything useful.

Bell: Even for road builders today, The geology and the environment

Bell: Even for road builders today, The geology and the environment

-- where you're gonna Place your road --

Is probably The most important factor.

You need to know how to deal With the geology

And the environment That you've got

So that you've got A nice, solid,

Secure road That's gonna stay there.

Narrator: But the mam tor road is Anything but solid and secure.

Unknown to the engineers, The road and the hill it sits on

Actually move at a rate Of 1 foot every year.

Bell: You've got the road, which is Built on a layer of sandstone,

And underneath that Is a layer of shale.

Now, shale is Extremely unstable,

Especially in wintertime,

When you've got rainwater

And precipitation draining down Through the sandstone

And making that layer of shale Really quite fluid almost.

So, that is the critical factor Of mam tor.

Narrator: Soon after construction, The mam tor road begins to split

And buckle as the surface Of the hill continues to move.

And buckle as the surface Of the hill continues to move.

To compensate, Engineers make simple repairs

Throughout much Of the 19th century.

But by the 20th century,

They try to hold The road together

With a newly Developed material --

Tarmac.

So, the introduction of tarmac Made it easier

To actually repair The surface of the road,

'cause you could come And mix the rocks

With this kind of bitumen, Sticky material

And create a nice, Solid surface.

But the problem, again, here, Is that, the bottom of it,

But the problem, again, here, Is that, the bottom of it,

The foundations, are just Simply slipping away.

So, it doesn't mater how good Your surface is on top.

If the bottom's Not strong enough,

Then the top's Not gonna do very much.

Narrator: Despite the new tarmac surface, The slope keeps moving the road.

Bell: over time, there have been A number of attempts

To try and shore up the road To stop it from slipping away.

The biggest of those, Probably, in 1949 --

There was a big slippage.

There was a big slippage.

So, what they did -- they dug Further back into the hillside,

And then, on the lower side Of the road,

Built up the road With a load of limestone on top.

It actually made things worse, Because not only had they

Cut into the geology

And actually encouraged For more sliding to happen,

They then also overloaded The road surface.

And all that happened was, The whole thing

Started moving in a way that They hadn't even seen before.

Bell: By putting a load more mass On the kind of outer edge,

Bell: By putting a load more mass On the kind of outer edge,

There was even more slippage.

It's almost like sticking a huge Weight off the wrong side

Of the leaning tower of pisa.

It's gonna go.

Narrator: structural engineers Estimate that landslides

Containing about 45 million tons Of earth and rock

Have caused the road to slip Dramatically 131 feet downhill.

Agrawal: there was a decision Made to shelve it

Because it was just Getting to a stage

Because it was just Getting to a stage

Where it was Completely unusable.

And I guess the balance You need you to find is, well,

How much is it gonna cost To create a new road

And just completely Bypass what's there

And what's been destroyed?

And how much is it gonna cost Of fix the original pathway?

And if the new one Is actually cheaper,

And perhaps even better For the environment,

Than trying to fix This old one,

Then you go for the new one.

But there becomes a point Where you just have to say,

"Do you know what?

Enough's enough. Nature's beaten us.

Let's close it."

Let's close it."

Narrator: with ever-changing Geology and constant landslides,

Local authorities closed The mam tor road

To all vehicles in 1979.

Today, this road lies Ruined and broken,

Abandoned on the peaks Of derbyshire, in england.

Though inaccessible to vehicles, The mam tor road

Is now popular With hikers and bikers.

On the opposite side Of the planet,

In cape town, south africa,

An abandoned road that runs Through the heart of the city

Has become a notorious icon.

Made out of reinforced concrete, It silently towers,

But mysteriously ends, Above the city.

Gough: it's very unusual For authorities to leave

The catastrophe of this Great public works

The catastrophe of this Great public works

Suspended in the air.

It's a piece of infrastructure,

It's a piece Of civil engineering,

That you notice Because it's not finished.

Narrator: but why was This project started?

And why was it abandoned?

In the 1930s, The city of cape town

Reclaims 480 acres of land From the sea,

Known as "The foreshore."

To incorporate it Into the city,

Urban planners Need a new road layout.

Urban planners Need a new road layout.

They decide to build A large freeway

Connecting the port With the city.

So, you can see, We're right in the center

Of what's now Downtown cape town.

Ahead of us, we've got the port,

And we've got the other part Of the freeway.

And this whole area, From the port

Until just beyond These high-rises,

It's part of the foreshore.

And that's really where This story begins.

Narrator: this is the severed Foreshore freeway bridge,

Narrator: this is the severed Foreshore freeway bridge,

Now known as "The invisible bridge."

Planning starts In the early 1940s,

But the effort Soon faces problems.

Throughout history, there are Bucket loads of examples

In civil engineering

Where the final outcome Is a compromise

Between, maybe, Function and form.

And often, what you end up With is something pretty boring

Or enormously elaborate.

But there are so many Stakeholders

But there are so many Stakeholders

In these kind of projects

That it's never One person's decision.

Kane: There were two main parties that Were interested in this land.

One was the city itself, And one was the port authority.

The city of cape town, They had this vision that,

When europeans arrived By cruise ship at the port,

They would have this Monumental entrance.

It would be like A gateway to africa.

Narrator: but which side Will get their plan approved --

The port authorities Or the city?

The port authorities Or the city?

And why is This bridge abandoned?

Narrator: in the heart Of cape town are the remains

Of the foreshore freeway bridge.

In the 1940s, The city of cape town

Wants a grand, french Design and layout,

While the port prefers Simple function over form.

But in the 1950s, the new head Of city engineering,

Solomon morris,

Proposes a new direction.

Proposes a new direction.

The reason why the freeway Was styled the way it was,

Was not obvious to most.

It was styled as this huge sort Of freeway autobahn in cape town

Because that is what The lobbyists --

The u. S. Car manufacturers -- Wanted, not only in cape town,

But all around the world.

Big motorways that would be Filled with big buicks,

Big chevys, big american cars.

Over 20 years of wrangling, The plan,

Over 20 years of wrangling, The plan,

Which more or less looks Like what we have today,

We developed in 1963.

Until, finally, In the late in 1960s,

Some of the construction Actually began.

Narrator: but by the 1970s, South african politics

Impact the foreshore freeway.

Apartheid laws lead to The forced clearance

Of an ethnically diverse area Called "District six."

Reporter: in south africa, Natives protest flared

Against apartheid And pass-book law.

100 died when police fired On demonstrators at sharpeville.

The south african Apartheid government

Chose not to complete the bridge

And not to spend those funds On the freeway,

But rather to relocate A multi-ethnic community

That was in the heart Of prime, central cape town

To someplace Less important.

To someplace Less important.

It was all about focus.

It was all about funds.

Narrator: construction Still proceeds, slowly.

But with only the elevated Sections of the roadway

Left to build, work mysteriously Comes to a halt in 1977.

There are a couple of theories Why the freeway

Was never completed And left just suspended in air

Like you see it today.

One is that, There was a shopkeeper

Whose property was right in The critical path of the bridge.

Whose property was right in The critical path of the bridge.

He wouldn't sell.

The other theory, Which I really like,

Is that the engineer Who designed the whole thing

Realized two ends of the bridge Would never meet.

Narrator: Today, the foreshore freeway Bridge sits abandoned,

High above the streets Of the city,

Devoid of any cars, Any life, or any purpose.

But cape town's Inventive citizens

Are finding a variety of uses For the concrete white elephant.

Are finding a variety of uses For the concrete white elephant.

The aborted freeway has been Used for many artistic endeavors

Since it was abandoned.

Movie sets, supermodel shoots, That kind of thing.

But perhaps the most innovative Is, it was used as the set

For the 2010 football world cup.

And these giant horns That you hear in the stadium,

They had a huge one Mounted right there.

But it was so loud, people were Claiming they had heart attacks,

But it was so loud, people were Claiming they had heart attacks,

And there traffic accidents,

So the whole thing Had to be abandoned.