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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:00,330 --> 00:00:05,870 Today on Impossible Engineering, the biggest construction project in the 2 00:00:05,870 --> 00:00:06,930 of New York City. 3 00:00:07,130 --> 00:00:10,350 When you think about all the things that we had to do on this site to make it 4 00:00:10,350 --> 00:00:12,850 possible, I mean the project is just astounding. 5 00:00:13,250 --> 00:00:18,630 Over 16 million square feet of space conjured out of thin air. Every week we 6 00:00:18,630 --> 00:00:21,270 come up with challenges that I've never faced as an engineer. 7 00:00:21,770 --> 00:00:26,470 And the pioneering historic innovations. That flame gets pulled into the 8 00:00:26,470 --> 00:00:28,650 cylinder. It causes an explosion. 9 00:00:28,930 --> 00:00:30,550 And that throws the ocean up. 10 00:00:30,770 --> 00:00:32,430 These boats are gigantic. 11 00:00:32,870 --> 00:00:35,090 And these are concrete boats. Can you believe that? 12 00:00:35,950 --> 00:00:38,710 That made the impossible possible. 13 00:00:49,790 --> 00:00:50,790 Manhattan. 14 00:00:51,460 --> 00:00:55,620 26 square miles of some of the most valuable land in the world. 15 00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:59,400 Demand for space is high. 16 00:00:59,980 --> 00:01:03,600 But surrounded by water, spreading out is not an option. 17 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:06,520 The only way is up. 18 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,700 It's extremely difficult to get a large plot in Manhattan because everything's 19 00:01:12,700 --> 00:01:14,180 been spoken for for over 100 years. 20 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,360 So basically, when you do find a large plot, chances are it's because it's a 21 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:19,360 railroad yard. 22 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:24,540 These vast expanses may be free of buildings, but they're strewn with 23 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,160 Any construction seems impossible. 24 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:33,480 But now on the west side of Manhattan, ambitious engineers are taking that 25 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:34,480 challenge on. 26 00:01:41,260 --> 00:01:46,800 Hudson Yards, America's largest real estate development, is being built 27 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:48,820 on top of a working rail yard. 28 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,040 The engineering on this site is incredible. 29 00:01:57,900 --> 00:02:00,300 But it's not one individual piece, right? 30 00:02:00,540 --> 00:02:03,260 There's a whole series of these things added together. 31 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,380 I mean, not just you're designing a building, but then you're designing a 32 00:02:08,380 --> 00:02:12,360 complete specialty underlying structure to be able to support that. And unless 33 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,680 you look out at the Western Rail Yards and see the trains there, you have no 34 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:16,780 idea what's underneath us. 35 00:02:19,620 --> 00:02:23,980 Changing the skyline is not just one new skyscraper, but six. 36 00:02:24,260 --> 00:02:29,280 With more towers to come, Jeff Butler is the senior project manager on site. 37 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:33,060 Each of these buildings is an amazing building. 38 00:02:33,340 --> 00:02:39,280 We have over a million square feet of retail space. We have almost 5 million 39 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:43,460 square feet of residential space, 10 million square feet of commercial space. 40 00:02:43,850 --> 00:02:45,970 It has no comparison in scale. 41 00:02:46,210 --> 00:02:49,870 There have been some great developments in New York, but I'm very excited that 42 00:02:49,870 --> 00:02:51,330 this is the biggest and best. 43 00:03:00,030 --> 00:03:04,890 Built almost entirely over a giant base platform above a working rail yard, 44 00:03:05,290 --> 00:03:09,250 Hudson Yards covers a 28 -acre site on the west side of Manhattan. 45 00:03:11,330 --> 00:03:15,670 Multiple megastructures are being constructed simultaneously, including 46 00:03:15,670 --> 00:03:21,630 third tallest tower in New York, an arts venue that can appear from nowhere, and 47 00:03:21,630 --> 00:03:24,310 a brand new park constructed from scratch. 48 00:03:28,710 --> 00:03:33,670 When Hudson Yards is complete, we'll have 125 ,000 people here working, 49 00:03:33,690 --> 00:03:37,070 and playing every day. It's an entire city within a city. 50 00:03:38,350 --> 00:03:44,010 But this ambitious $25 billion project poses immense engineering challenges. 51 00:03:44,370 --> 00:03:48,130 How do you build New York's highest external observation deck? 52 00:03:48,530 --> 00:03:54,810 We're about 1 ,050 feet up. So the combination of engineering and 53 00:03:54,810 --> 00:03:57,110 the construction sequence was really complicated. 54 00:03:57,610 --> 00:04:02,830 In a city where blackouts can be catastrophic, how do engineers keep 55 00:04:02,830 --> 00:04:04,610 Yards running 24 -7? 56 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:11,860 The firms at Hudson Yards absolutely cannot live with the threat of power 57 00:04:11,860 --> 00:04:12,860 outages. 58 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:17,380 But it's the specific site that poses the biggest problem of all. 59 00:04:23,140 --> 00:04:26,420 Jay Cross has masterminded the project from the start. 60 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:32,000 The actual plot of land is highly valuable because there's just only so 61 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:33,280 it. There's rivers all around us. 62 00:04:33,740 --> 00:04:37,600 But the West Side Yards was always like the hole in the donut because it was all 63 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:38,600 train tracks. 64 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:44,020 Spanning seven city blocks, the West Side Yard was used solely as railway 65 00:04:44,020 --> 00:04:45,460 sightings for Penn Station. 66 00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:50,600 The audacious plan to construct on top of the tracks while the trains continue 67 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:51,600 to run. 68 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,160 The engineering challenges were significant, not least of which we have 69 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,060 over an operating rail yard. That logistically is a challenge unlike any 70 00:05:01,550 --> 00:05:05,710 How is it possible to build directly over 30 active train tracks? 71 00:05:06,010 --> 00:05:10,350 Part of the answer is to be found 715 miles west of Manhattan. 72 00:05:21,070 --> 00:05:23,710 Architect Marty Sandberg is in Chicago. 73 00:05:25,730 --> 00:05:30,340 Discovering how ambitious engineering helped a newspaper company overcome the 74 00:05:30,340 --> 00:05:32,280 confines of this crammed city. 75 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,940 In the 1920s, the Chicago Daily News was one of the best -selling papers in the 76 00:05:37,940 --> 00:05:41,860 city, and as a result, they had outgrown their current building and were on the 77 00:05:41,860 --> 00:05:42,860 search for a new home. 78 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,140 Unfortunately, there was just simply no open land left at that time. 79 00:05:48,060 --> 00:05:53,000 The problem was the same as that faced by the Hudson Yards team, the railways. 80 00:05:57,550 --> 00:06:02,430 At the beginning of the 20th century, Chicago was the busiest railroad hub in 81 00:06:02,430 --> 00:06:06,530 North America, with more lines radiating out than any other city. 82 00:06:08,610 --> 00:06:12,770 The downside to being such a rail hub was, at the time, Chicago was literally 83 00:06:12,770 --> 00:06:15,370 choked off by rail yards on every side of the city. 84 00:06:17,730 --> 00:06:22,430 But the Daily News decided to attempt an extraordinary engineering feat. 85 00:06:29,870 --> 00:06:32,310 So this is the Daily News building. 86 00:06:34,810 --> 00:06:38,470 I'm a sucker for a gorgeous old limestone building, and this is a great 87 00:06:38,470 --> 00:06:39,470 of it. 88 00:06:40,250 --> 00:06:45,050 In a city hemmed in by train lines, how did they manage to find the space to 89 00:06:45,050 --> 00:06:45,769 build this? 90 00:06:45,770 --> 00:06:48,990 It was down to a new law known as air rights. 91 00:06:49,250 --> 00:06:53,430 The Daily News had bought from the rail company the right to build in the air 92 00:06:53,430 --> 00:06:54,670 above their tracks. 93 00:06:56,180 --> 00:06:59,680 Essentially, the trains were only so high and they weren't really getting any 94 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,040 higher, so they recognized that they were wasting a whole lot of space up 95 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,860 and they saw this as a pile of money just waiting to be had. 96 00:07:09,180 --> 00:07:14,080 Pouncing on this opportunity were architects John A. Holabird and John 97 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:15,080 Root, Jr. 98 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,500 Incredibly, they built the 26 -story tower block directly on top of active 99 00:07:20,500 --> 00:07:25,190 tracks. So when we look at the building now, you can't tell there's still a mess 100 00:07:25,190 --> 00:07:27,050 of train lines running back and forth underneath. 101 00:07:27,450 --> 00:07:30,250 Everyone coming in there day to day would never have any idea that they're 102 00:07:30,250 --> 00:07:31,530 sitting over an active rail line. 103 00:07:32,690 --> 00:07:36,050 This is what the engineers at Hudson Yards need to achieve. 104 00:07:36,590 --> 00:07:38,210 So how is it done here? 105 00:07:38,910 --> 00:07:41,910 This is our sandbox of Chicago right here. 106 00:07:42,210 --> 00:07:46,150 All we need are areas where we can sink a couple of key foundations in between 107 00:07:46,150 --> 00:07:47,150 the trains. 108 00:07:47,260 --> 00:07:51,920 So we start by seeking out a couple of areas where we can sink these deep 109 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:54,480 foundations down, trying to aim for the bedrock if possible. 110 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:57,680 From there, we go ahead, 111 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:03,420 drill our foundations down nice and steady, and all of a sudden ground level 112 00:08:03,420 --> 00:08:05,800 no longer down here. We're up here 20 feet above. 113 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:10,700 The building could then be constructed on top of this platform, with the weight 114 00:08:10,700 --> 00:08:12,880 being supported directly by the pillars. 115 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:17,020 And we've just turned a train yard into some of the most valuable and useful 116 00:08:17,020 --> 00:08:17,999 land in Chicago. 117 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:19,000 The city is happy. 118 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,600 The railroad is happy. The person walking down the street is no longer 119 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,780 next to a train. It really turned into a great solution for everybody. 120 00:08:29,380 --> 00:08:33,720 Holabird and Root's incredible achievement led to an explosion in air 121 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,260 Railroad plots, once shunned by developers, were now worth millions. 122 00:08:46,030 --> 00:08:50,910 In New York City, the Hudson Yards development is thought to be the biggest 123 00:08:50,910 --> 00:08:51,930 rights deal ever. 124 00:08:52,310 --> 00:08:57,090 A billion dollars paid for fresh air above Manhattan's Western Rail Yard. 125 00:08:59,210 --> 00:09:04,150 Tracks covering 28 acres must somehow be straddled to build multiple 126 00:09:04,150 --> 00:09:07,990 skyscrapers, a supersized steel sculpture, 127 00:09:08,830 --> 00:09:13,930 an assortment of public buildings, and 14 acres of open space. 128 00:09:15,530 --> 00:09:19,490 And throughout construction, the trains below have to keep running. 129 00:09:20,550 --> 00:09:23,650 We work basically at the mercy of rail traffic. 130 00:09:23,910 --> 00:09:27,930 So think of it as they own the basement and you own everything above the 131 00:09:27,930 --> 00:09:32,890 basement. And so of the 30 tracks, we are only allowed to close four tracks at 132 00:09:32,890 --> 00:09:34,370 time for the purposes of construction. 133 00:09:34,710 --> 00:09:39,590 What we had to then do is weave all of the foundations for the buildings 134 00:09:39,590 --> 00:09:41,430 the track to go down to rock. 135 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:48,160 The foundations for this massive 28 -acre site draw on techniques used in 136 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:50,060 Chicago over 90 years ago. 137 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:56,200 The first step is to drill holes nearly 150 feet deep into the bedrock, which is 138 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,060 78 feet below the ground. 139 00:09:58,380 --> 00:10:03,740 Then, insert the supersized steel and concrete support column known as 140 00:10:05,140 --> 00:10:10,820 300 caissons support the entire development, carefully located between 141 00:10:10,820 --> 00:10:15,610 tracks. They take the weight of the steel frames for the tower blocks, as 142 00:10:15,610 --> 00:10:20,530 as the giant 430 ,000 square foot base platform that surrounds the buildings. 143 00:10:22,730 --> 00:10:27,870 This concrete and steel platform creates a new ground level above the tracks. 144 00:10:28,230 --> 00:10:32,830 The platform doesn't support anything except the open space where we're 145 00:10:32,830 --> 00:10:33,830 right now. 146 00:10:34,540 --> 00:10:37,940 Where the platform is underneath the buildings, the buildings go right down 147 00:10:37,940 --> 00:10:41,660 between the tracks. They go all the way to rock. So the trick is in the 148 00:10:41,660 --> 00:10:45,260 foundation. That's where all the load transfer goes. 149 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,540 The platform just fills in the space in between. 150 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:56,860 But while boxing in the active rail yard creates acres of new usable space, the 151 00:10:56,860 --> 00:11:01,660 incoming trains below are now confined underground, creating a fresh challenge. 152 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,580 When the trains come and bring commuters in, they drop them off in Penn Station 153 00:11:06,580 --> 00:11:10,840 and they park here for the day. We have engines running and just all the train 154 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:15,460 activity is creating heat below us. It can get up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, 155 00:11:15,780 --> 00:11:16,780 which is very hot. 156 00:11:16,940 --> 00:11:20,740 The team had to find a way to keep the rail yards ventilated. 157 00:11:20,980 --> 00:11:26,180 To utilize the record airspace above, they will need a solution to keep the 158 00:11:26,180 --> 00:11:27,460 city's commuters cool. 159 00:11:45,230 --> 00:11:49,810 Building on top of a major transportation hub yields serious 160 00:11:49,810 --> 00:11:53,630 challenges, but it also presents the problem of temperature control. 161 00:11:53,930 --> 00:11:58,710 If the heavy train traffic were left unchecked, the temperature below the 162 00:11:58,710 --> 00:12:01,990 Yards project could reach up to 150 degrees. 163 00:12:02,750 --> 00:12:05,930 Below you right now are about five jet engines. 164 00:12:06,210 --> 00:12:09,950 They're about 40 feet long, maybe five feet in diameter. 165 00:12:10,210 --> 00:12:13,990 They're actually lined up right like this, and they exhaust through that 166 00:12:14,300 --> 00:12:17,220 It's pretty exciting to be in here and to be able to see that this is something 167 00:12:17,220 --> 00:12:21,000 that nobody ever gets to see and to experience when we go down here, right? 168 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,940 actually see down into here and be within the structure and to see the fan 169 00:12:24,940 --> 00:12:26,640 systems that are operating on either side. 170 00:12:30,900 --> 00:12:36,520 Twin ventilation shafts at the plaza connect to 15 giant fans sandwiched 171 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:38,280 the tallest sections of the platform. 172 00:12:43,370 --> 00:12:48,530 Principal engineer Eli Gottlieb has special access to the restricted area 173 00:12:48,530 --> 00:12:49,870 the platform itself. 174 00:12:50,330 --> 00:12:54,110 The fans are installed at the plaza directly above the trains. 175 00:12:55,490 --> 00:12:59,930 Welcome to the central fan plant underneath the yards. 176 00:13:00,210 --> 00:13:02,790 This is one of three fan plants that are actually down here. 177 00:13:03,090 --> 00:13:06,390 These fans are really part of the lungs of the facility that actually allow it 178 00:13:06,390 --> 00:13:07,329 to breathe. 179 00:13:07,330 --> 00:13:10,550 So these fans allow us to exhaust. 180 00:13:11,130 --> 00:13:15,510 any of the heat generated by the trains out and pull in new, fresh, cooler air 181 00:13:15,510 --> 00:13:17,970 to maintain a tenable client for everybody who's down there. 182 00:13:18,370 --> 00:13:21,970 These fans can fully exhaust the entire facility in seven minutes with all the 183 00:13:21,970 --> 00:13:23,510 air that's here and completely replenish it. 184 00:13:29,810 --> 00:13:34,710 But for Hudson Yards engineers, more impossible problems could jeopardize the 185 00:13:34,710 --> 00:13:35,710 project. 186 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,040 Six skyscrapers will provide 18 million square feet of commercial and 187 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:51,460 residential space, including a school, over 200 -room hotel, and retractable 188 00:13:51,460 --> 00:13:57,780 center, all perched on 300 caissons squeezed between a network of train 189 00:13:58,500 --> 00:14:03,760 But in one critical section, this isn't possible, where the tracks converge in 190 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:05,340 an area called the throat. 191 00:14:08,820 --> 00:14:12,820 Engineer Eli Gottlieb is one of the team charged with solving the problem. 192 00:14:13,060 --> 00:14:15,720 From here, you can actually see that there's going through a lot of 193 00:14:15,780 --> 00:14:19,380 and this switching allows them to fan out from the four tracks that they come 194 00:14:19,380 --> 00:14:23,520 at to the 30 storage tracks. And you can imagine that if the tracks are spaced 195 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:27,800 far apart, there's space in between them to be able to build a caisson and a 196 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:31,660 column coming up. But as the tracks converging together, you can just 197 00:14:31,660 --> 00:14:34,980 that you're just running out of space in between the two of them to actually be 198 00:14:34,980 --> 00:14:35,980 able to install anything. 199 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:41,660 This area of the development is earmarked to have a tower block and a 200 00:14:41,660 --> 00:14:42,900 mall built on top of it. 201 00:14:43,260 --> 00:14:48,920 If engineers can't span the 148 -foot wide gap and support the buildings 202 00:14:49,460 --> 00:14:52,640 Hudson Yards will be left with a massive hole in its plans. 203 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:57,500 This is really a key problem on the site. 204 00:14:58,540 --> 00:15:02,500 All of that underneath us really narrows down the number of possibilities of 205 00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:04,340 what we can do to be able to support everything above. 206 00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:09,120 Can a game -changing innovation from the British railway boom be the missing 207 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,500 piece of the puzzle for the team at Hudson Yards? 208 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:17,220 Almost there now. 209 00:15:18,140 --> 00:15:19,140 Wow. 210 00:15:19,620 --> 00:15:20,860 It's a long way down. 211 00:15:22,140 --> 00:15:23,140 Physicist Dr. 212 00:15:23,340 --> 00:15:27,460 Andrew Steele is getting up close with the Worcester Railway Bridge in order to 213 00:15:27,460 --> 00:15:28,460 find out. 214 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:29,520 Wow. 215 00:15:31,500 --> 00:15:32,640 What a beautiful view. 216 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,840 In the early 20th century, the UK railway system was undergoing a huge 217 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:44,520 expansion. Not only were there more tracks, but there were also more trains, 218 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,300 these trains were much faster. 219 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,820 And as they were getting faster, they were also getting heavier, and that 220 00:15:49,820 --> 00:15:53,000 that bridges on the railway network were being put under increasingly large 221 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:54,000 strains. 222 00:15:54,900 --> 00:15:59,200 Like the team in New York, engineers needed to find something strong and 223 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:00,820 reliable to bridge the gap. 224 00:16:04,750 --> 00:16:08,450 James Warren was a merchant with no formal training in engineering. 225 00:16:09,790 --> 00:16:16,030 In 1848, he registered a patent that would revolutionize bridge design, the 226 00:16:16,030 --> 00:16:17,030 Warren Trust. 227 00:16:20,210 --> 00:16:25,750 This is Warren's design, this repeating pattern entirely made of equilateral 228 00:16:25,750 --> 00:16:29,190 triangles, so triangles which are the same length along each side. 229 00:16:30,170 --> 00:16:33,450 Now, triangles like that have the advantage that they're incredibly 230 00:16:34,540 --> 00:16:38,360 The railway track is above my head right now. And what that means is that as a 231 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,200 train passes over the top of us, then its weight is distributed through all 232 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:46,360 these different struts. And every single one of them can share that load. That 233 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:50,540 means that all these individual beams are either in tension, so being pulled, 234 00:16:50,540 --> 00:16:52,160 compression, so being squashed. 235 00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:03,300 Previously, many bridge engineers had used vertical struts. 236 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:05,819 So how much stronger was the triangle? 237 00:17:07,460 --> 00:17:08,980 So they can both take one brick. 238 00:17:10,020 --> 00:17:14,240 Two model bridges are being tested to the braking point. So in this simple 239 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,540 design, all that load is mainly going through, honestly, just this vertical 240 00:17:17,540 --> 00:17:18,219 strut here. 241 00:17:18,220 --> 00:17:21,640 Whereas on the Warren truss over here, all of that load with this triangular 242 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:25,260 pattern of struts is being spread throughout the whole bridge. 243 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:27,760 We're going to go for brick number three. 244 00:17:29,860 --> 00:17:31,140 All right, brick number four. 245 00:17:32,330 --> 00:17:33,850 Bit nervous about this one, to be honest. 246 00:17:34,750 --> 00:17:36,730 The question is, can it take a fifth? 247 00:17:40,850 --> 00:17:42,610 But a sixth. I think this is going to be it. 248 00:17:42,930 --> 00:17:43,930 Surely this time. 249 00:17:45,830 --> 00:17:46,830 Oh! 250 00:17:47,510 --> 00:17:51,090 Total structural failure there. You can see there's lollipop sticks everywhere. 251 00:17:51,370 --> 00:17:55,010 But the Warren Trust, it's still supporting that load pretty strongly. 252 00:17:55,230 --> 00:17:58,210 Because no individual lollipop stick is taking that much weight. And so, 253 00:17:58,350 --> 00:18:00,850 incredibly, it can hold all of that mass. 254 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,840 The Warren Trust really was an incredible engineering innovation. 255 00:18:07,100 --> 00:18:10,700 And, of course, it's not just bridges. Wherever a weight needs to be borne and 256 00:18:10,700 --> 00:18:14,900 spread over a structure, you'll see these equilateral triangles holding them 257 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,180 This incredibly time -tested design. 258 00:18:19,300 --> 00:18:25,400 So how can engineers at Hudson Yards supersize this 170 -year -old creation 259 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:27,060 support their mammoth project? 260 00:18:47,620 --> 00:18:53,820 Engineers at Hudson Yards are supersizing a 170 -year -old creation to 261 00:18:53,820 --> 00:18:56,880 part of their seven -story shopping mall and skyscraper. 262 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:05,400 Where piled foundations are impossible, sandwiched between the retail space 263 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:10,640 above and the converging rail tracks below, lie a series of 13 -foot -high 264 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:11,680 Warren trusses. 265 00:19:12,780 --> 00:19:16,300 So we're inside the platform underneath retail. 266 00:19:16,980 --> 00:19:21,440 Over all the switching of Long Island Railroad, we're standing basically 267 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,280 a bridge structure, right, where we're standing on the bottom of the bridge and 268 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,000 there's the top of the bridge above us, and these warrant trusses are those main 269 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,580 elements of the bridge that are spanning across. 270 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:35,240 In total, 14 giant trusses are used to span the crucial 148 -foot gap. 271 00:19:35,940 --> 00:19:40,720 By being able to use this truss structure and build a nice stiff bridge 272 00:19:40,900 --> 00:19:44,020 that's actually really efficient for being able to support the buildings 273 00:19:47,310 --> 00:19:51,850 The tower supported by the truss is not only the highest on the project, but 274 00:19:51,850 --> 00:19:56,050 once it's complete, will be the second tallest office building in New York. 275 00:19:57,190 --> 00:20:02,310 Engineer Jay Cross has special access to its most incredible feature on the 276 00:20:02,310 --> 00:20:06,810 100th floor, a 10 -minute ride away in the temporary lift elevator. 277 00:20:07,930 --> 00:20:11,090 They need to change it so dramatically as you get higher and higher. 278 00:20:11,390 --> 00:20:12,390 It's amazing. 279 00:20:13,220 --> 00:20:17,400 And it's the view from the top that inspired another phenomenal piece of 280 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:18,400 engineering. 281 00:20:28,940 --> 00:20:31,440 At first we designed the building without an observation deck. 282 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:34,340 And we realized how high we're going to be. 283 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:38,840 So we challenged the architects to say, come up with the idea of an observation 284 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,480 deck. We, of course, thought they were going to come up with something that was 285 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:42,480 inside the tower. 286 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:47,400 Instead, they came up with a protrusion, which was pretty darn dramatic. 287 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:54,400 This is the highest man -made outdoor observation area in the Western 288 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:55,400 Hemisphere. 289 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:01,880 Almost 1 ,100 feet up, it offers a brand -new bird's -eye view of the city 290 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:02,880 below. 291 00:21:07,269 --> 00:21:11,790 But constructing a platform in the air calls for more impossible engineering. 292 00:21:12,750 --> 00:21:15,110 At first, we weren't quite sure how to construct it. 293 00:21:15,490 --> 00:21:19,470 We thought maybe it would be like a bridge where you just kind of build a 294 00:21:19,470 --> 00:21:21,270 and you inch your way out from the building. 295 00:21:22,210 --> 00:21:24,950 But the problem was we felt that we would have to have a lot of supporting 296 00:21:24,950 --> 00:21:26,250 scaffolding to do that. 297 00:21:29,750 --> 00:21:34,270 So our steel fabricator came up with the idea of making 14 pieces. 298 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,960 that would come up pre -assembled, and you would just bolt them on as you go 299 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:39,960 out. 300 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:49,160 Built out from the building, section by giant section, some weighing up to 50 301 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:50,160 tons. 302 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,680 The result is an 800 square foot sky deck. 303 00:21:55,420 --> 00:22:00,320 But the final piece of the puzzle will be an immense triangle made of 304 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:01,320 glass. 305 00:22:04,899 --> 00:22:08,700 We felt that in addition to walking towards the peak, which I think will be 306 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:12,500 exciting enough, we thought, why not make it a little bit more exciting and 307 00:22:12,500 --> 00:22:13,500 create a glass floor? 308 00:22:14,500 --> 00:22:18,520 Right now, there's nothing there. There's no glass. We're just looking 309 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:19,439 ,000 feet. 310 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:21,840 And it's pretty exciting, don't you think? 311 00:22:22,340 --> 00:22:25,900 It felt a lot more comfortable when the orange netting was across here. Now that 312 00:22:25,900 --> 00:22:29,240 it's down to like two or three wires, there's no need to get too close. 313 00:22:31,260 --> 00:22:36,160 Four 1 ,200 -pound triangular sections of glass will complete the sky deck. 314 00:22:37,980 --> 00:22:42,720 Two and a quarter inches thick, it will allow visitors to take in the vertigo 315 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,780 -inducing views from this mind -blowing vantage point. 316 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:51,660 I'll walk on it, I'm sure. I'll be goaded onto it, but I'll be nervous 317 00:22:58,700 --> 00:23:04,180 But this impossible project is attempting more audacious engineering, 318 00:23:04,180 --> 00:23:05,400 further challenges. 319 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:10,520 We're moving the equivalent of about 600 elephants stacked up on top of each 320 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,280 other, wearing eight roller skates. 321 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,380 Can their innovative construction be taken to the next level? 322 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:20,940 It's very difficult to figure out that solution from an engineering standpoint. 323 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,580 New York's biggest ever impossible engineering challenge. 324 00:23:49,180 --> 00:23:55,040 Hudson Yards is a 17 million square foot real estate project constructed over a 325 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:56,580 fully functioning rail yard. 326 00:24:00,660 --> 00:24:05,600 Perched on a specially constructed base platform above the tracks, this is a 327 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:06,980 multi -tower mini -city. 328 00:24:08,020 --> 00:24:13,840 Multiple skyscrapers, a super -sized mall, 14 acres of public land, all 329 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:14,980 to life simultaneously. 330 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:21,500 But perhaps the most inventive engineering on site is a unique arts 331 00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:22,620 as The Shed. 332 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,040 Engineer Eli Gottlieb is overseeing its build. 333 00:24:30,420 --> 00:24:32,420 The Shed is built up of two parts. 334 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,220 One is what we've always thought of as the fixed building, which is the 335 00:24:36,220 --> 00:24:37,500 that we're standing in right now. 336 00:24:37,870 --> 00:24:42,950 And then it has the sleeve that slides over the fixed building so that when 337 00:24:42,950 --> 00:24:47,590 not in use, it's actually retracted. But then when they have larger events and 338 00:24:47,590 --> 00:24:51,390 they need the space, they'll be able to roll the shed out to enclose the plaza 339 00:24:51,390 --> 00:24:55,710 and turn it into this larger venue that we can see here in front of us. There's 340 00:24:55,710 --> 00:24:56,990 really no other places like this. 341 00:24:59,310 --> 00:25:03,890 The team is using a special inflated plastic to keep the shell as lightweight 342 00:25:03,890 --> 00:25:04,890 possible. 343 00:25:05,070 --> 00:25:07,830 so the power required to move it is kept to a minimum. 344 00:25:10,550 --> 00:25:14,490 The drive system on the roof generates just 180 horsepower. 345 00:25:15,570 --> 00:25:19,630 So we're up on the roof of the fixed building of the shed. You can see here 346 00:25:19,630 --> 00:25:24,430 the main teeth from the drive mechanism that the actual shed motors will then 347 00:25:24,430 --> 00:25:27,430 roll against and drive the assembly back and forth. 348 00:25:27,970 --> 00:25:31,810 We're moving the equivalent of about 600 elephants stacked up on top of each 349 00:25:31,810 --> 00:25:34,770 other. In this case, wearing eight roller skates. 350 00:25:35,730 --> 00:25:40,150 The roller skates are, in fact, eight pairs of six -and -a -half -foot -high 351 00:25:40,150 --> 00:25:42,590 wheels running along heavy -duty rails. 352 00:25:44,770 --> 00:25:51,730 And in 2016, this retractable building was put to the 353 00:25:51,730 --> 00:25:53,090 test for the first time. 354 00:25:55,190 --> 00:26:00,250 To see the shed move was actually fantastic, but it was also really 355 00:26:00,250 --> 00:26:01,650 because it is so quiet. 356 00:26:02,030 --> 00:26:05,130 And in fact, a whole number of people actually kind of missed it because it 357 00:26:05,130 --> 00:26:08,270 happened and they sort of didn't hear it or realize that it was going on in that 358 00:26:08,270 --> 00:26:09,270 moment. 359 00:26:11,590 --> 00:26:16,790 The vast 28 -acre Hudson Yards is a series of separate construction 360 00:26:17,170 --> 00:26:21,570 With many being built over an active rail yard, the challenges are 361 00:26:21,570 --> 00:26:22,570 huge. 362 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:30,560 Although the site's southwest corner is clear of the main tracks, it posed an 363 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:31,980 equally challenging problem. 364 00:26:32,220 --> 00:26:37,900 A massive tower had to be perched directly on top of a $2 .4 billion 365 00:26:37,900 --> 00:26:39,260 transportation hub. 366 00:26:40,020 --> 00:26:45,260 Just three years old, the 34th Street Hudson Yard Station is one of the city's 367 00:26:45,260 --> 00:26:50,040 newest. With one and a half million commuters coming into Manhattan every 368 00:26:50,220 --> 00:26:52,480 it's a key selling point for the development. 369 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,600 but it presented the engineers with a challenge. 370 00:26:58,820 --> 00:27:03,900 We've limited opportunities to put weight on the subway station and limited 371 00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:08,620 footprint to put weight outside the subway station. So we're looking for 372 00:27:08,620 --> 00:27:13,000 putting as big a building as we can with the limited options we have at the 373 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:14,000 foundation. 374 00:27:15,870 --> 00:27:20,970 Lack of space for new foundations meant 40 % of the tower block's weight had to 375 00:27:20,970 --> 00:27:24,070 be carried by the foundations of the subway station itself. 376 00:27:27,050 --> 00:27:28,710 Overloading was a real danger. 377 00:27:29,010 --> 00:27:32,990 The tower had to shed some weight without shrinking in size. 378 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:39,080 Our building is 51 stories of office space, and that's a lot of building to 379 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:40,400 on limited foundations. 380 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,640 So the engineers needed to find solutions to lighten up the building as 381 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:51,200 possible. It seems impossible, but can engineers of the past shed any light on 382 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:52,220 lightweight materials? 383 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:02,620 It's beautiful. 384 00:28:04,460 --> 00:28:06,640 Kip to Peak State Park in Virginia. 385 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:12,160 Engineer Megan Hart is off to discover how a material used to solve a wartime 386 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,500 problem could help the team in New York. 387 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:21,300 During World War I and World War II, there was a massive manufacturing 388 00:28:21,300 --> 00:28:23,680 and that took a lot of raw material. 389 00:28:24,100 --> 00:28:25,420 The main one was steel. 390 00:28:27,340 --> 00:28:30,660 Steel production went into overdrive to supply the military. 391 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:32,460 This led to a shortage. 392 00:28:33,390 --> 00:28:34,410 But the U .S. 393 00:28:34,730 --> 00:28:36,930 Navy needed to build a fleet of supply ships. 394 00:28:37,630 --> 00:28:39,230 So how did they manage it? 395 00:28:42,830 --> 00:28:48,070 These are the inspired solution, made out of an innovative version of a 396 00:28:48,070 --> 00:28:49,150 surprising material. 397 00:28:50,930 --> 00:28:53,450 These are concrete boats. Can you believe that? 398 00:28:53,930 --> 00:28:55,990 And they actually float. 399 00:28:56,290 --> 00:28:59,750 Not only do they float, but they carried supplies during the war effort. 400 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,460 The man behind it is Stephen J. Haidt. 401 00:29:06,020 --> 00:29:11,240 He was working in the Kansas City building trade in the early 1900s when 402 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:12,240 a eureka moment. 403 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:19,620 He noticed that shale stones left too close to the kiln during the firing 404 00:29:19,620 --> 00:29:22,120 process would bloat up when they overheated. 405 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:28,200 The heat caused air bubbles to form in a honeycomb -like structure inside the 406 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:29,920 stones, making them lightweight. 407 00:29:32,170 --> 00:29:36,970 So Haidt added them to cement and water to create his revolutionary new 408 00:29:36,970 --> 00:29:41,310 concrete, an invention that could help out Hudson Yard's engineers. 409 00:29:42,450 --> 00:29:47,570 So Stephen J. Haidt, instead of using traditional aggregate, which is heavy, 410 00:29:47,710 --> 00:29:53,990 it's just rock, he used an expanded shale. And that expanded shale is much 411 00:29:53,990 --> 00:29:54,990 dense. 412 00:29:56,890 --> 00:30:03,820 During World War II, 24 of these 330 -foot -long concrete ships were made, 413 00:30:03,820 --> 00:30:06,700 unexpected solution to the Navy's problem at sea. 414 00:30:18,700 --> 00:30:24,240 In New York, engineers draw on Hayes' discovery to solve a skyscraper's 415 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:25,240 weight issue. 416 00:30:26,220 --> 00:30:33,100 55 Hudson Yards is a whopping 780 feet high, and its sizable mass bears down on 417 00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:34,460 a major transport hub. 418 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:39,500 To avoid overloading, the team had to save weight on the inside. 419 00:30:41,820 --> 00:30:48,020 We're on the 47th floor of 55 Hudson Yards, and lightweight concrete helped 420 00:30:48,020 --> 00:30:52,860 achieve a light building to go over the limited foundation we had around the 421 00:30:52,860 --> 00:30:53,860 subway station. 422 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:59,740 So if we look above and below us, slab above, slab below, every floor on this 423 00:30:59,740 --> 00:31:01,400 building is made out of lightweight concrete. 424 00:31:02,220 --> 00:31:06,440 And we saved about 20 to 30 percent in weight overall. 425 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:09,040 It made a huge difference. 426 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,260 If we save 20 percent in weight, we can make the building 20 percent higher. So 427 00:31:13,260 --> 00:31:14,980 20 percent more buildings, quite a bit. 428 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:20,100 The concrete floors are also lightweight because they're only nine inches thick. 429 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:25,360 But spanning the tower's vast open plan areas is problematic for such a thin 430 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:30,860 floor. To keep floor weight down, meet the expectation of vast open floor 431 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:35,880 and maintain structural integrity, engineers must employ a revolutionary 432 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:37,620 innovation from the past. 433 00:31:54,900 --> 00:31:59,820 Engineers must find a way to maintain the lightweight qualities of Hudson 434 00:31:59,820 --> 00:32:04,620 concrete floors while also preventing deflection or bowing under pressure. 435 00:32:04,860 --> 00:32:09,640 The team's solution is a pioneering technique known as post -tensioning. 436 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:14,740 Historically, post -tension technology in New York City specifically hasn't 437 00:32:14,740 --> 00:32:19,820 used regularly. And this is the first building where it was used regularly in 438 00:32:19,820 --> 00:32:20,809 the slabs. 439 00:32:20,810 --> 00:32:25,270 So overhead we can see white painted areas that say PT zone. 440 00:32:25,510 --> 00:32:27,430 That's where we're using post -tension concrete. 441 00:32:27,690 --> 00:32:32,670 Simply put, it's a high -strength cable that's pulled through the concrete that 442 00:32:32,670 --> 00:32:33,870 helps limit deflection. 443 00:32:35,650 --> 00:32:39,470 A network of steel cables are threaded through liquid concrete. 444 00:32:40,490 --> 00:32:43,830 Hydraulic jacks apply massive tension to pull them taut. 445 00:32:45,010 --> 00:32:46,170 Anchored in place. 446 00:32:46,410 --> 00:32:52,070 The compressive force of the concrete is increased from 7 ,000 to 8 ,500 PSI, 447 00:32:52,210 --> 00:32:56,750 reducing deflection, allowing a thinner, lighter slab. 448 00:32:59,210 --> 00:33:03,410 With our high -strength lightweight concrete and using the post -tension 449 00:33:03,510 --> 00:33:07,450 it makes for the most robust system we can for a thin slab. 450 00:33:07,690 --> 00:33:12,110 And while post -tensioning allows the team to build bigger and higher over the 451 00:33:12,110 --> 00:33:16,050 east side of the project, they have yet to break ground to the west. 452 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:20,540 the other half of the $25 billion Hudson Yards development. 453 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:28,580 A second, even bigger steel and concrete platform will be built above the tracks 454 00:33:28,580 --> 00:33:31,400 on the other side of the 11th Avenue viaduct. 455 00:33:31,860 --> 00:33:34,460 Eight colossal buildings will be created. 456 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,760 This city within a city will double in size. 457 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:45,360 We have six giant buildings around us, and we have a lot more coming in very 458 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:46,239 short order. 459 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,920 We're bringing more office space to New York City than there is in downtown San 460 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:50,920 Diego. 461 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:56,200 But the engineers of this brand new neighborhood face another hurdle. 462 00:33:57,100 --> 00:34:01,160 They must defy New York's notoriously unpredictable weather. 463 00:34:03,580 --> 00:34:10,040 To be a success, Manhattan's newest business quarter must stay online 365 464 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:11,040 year. 465 00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:17,159 But maintaining a steady power supply in New York is a huge challenge. 466 00:34:18,699 --> 00:34:23,320 Hurricane Sandy caused the latest and most devastating in a long history of 467 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:24,840 power cuts affecting the city. 468 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:31,260 When we lose power here in Manhattan, it's eerie, right? It's a large city. 469 00:34:31,260 --> 00:34:36,800 We're used to seeing it lit up, and we're used to seeing the city alive 24 470 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:37,800 a day. 471 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,239 Frank Norcross is in charge of Hudson Yards Energy Supply Team. 472 00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:48,139 He needs to find a way to protect the new development from power cuts. 473 00:34:49,620 --> 00:34:55,500 The customers that will call Hudson Yards home can absolutely not afford to 474 00:34:55,500 --> 00:34:56,639 power at any moment. 475 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:02,980 The things that we maintain to keep safety and security in a large city are 476 00:35:02,980 --> 00:35:04,520 under threat when we lose power. 477 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:09,420 So, in the face of hurricanes or other disasters, how do you keep the power 478 00:35:09,420 --> 00:35:10,420 supply running? 479 00:35:10,660 --> 00:35:15,420 The team needs to turn to the past to prevent history from repeating itself. 480 00:35:21,470 --> 00:35:22,470 Physicist Dr. 481 00:35:22,730 --> 00:35:27,930 Andrew Steele is at the Anson Engine Museum in the north of England in search 482 00:35:27,930 --> 00:35:31,250 a historic innovation that would blow steam power away. 483 00:35:33,870 --> 00:35:39,290 It was Nicholas Otto, a German salesman with a passion for engineering, who came 484 00:35:39,290 --> 00:35:42,470 up with an invention that transformed the 19th century. 485 00:35:47,279 --> 00:35:51,440 This is what Otto came up with. It's called an atmospheric gas engine, and 486 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,760 got a number of advantages over the steam engines that existed at the time. 487 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:57,860 Firstly, you don't need a huge supply of water to run this thing. 488 00:35:58,140 --> 00:36:00,780 Secondly, you don't need a team of people. You can do it with just one 489 00:36:01,340 --> 00:36:04,240 And thirdly, you can have a load of these small engines scattered around the 490 00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:08,260 factory to operate individual machines, rather than having one massive steam 491 00:36:08,260 --> 00:36:10,500 engine to drive all the equipment in the whole place. 492 00:36:13,300 --> 00:36:16,920 More powerful for its size than its steam engine counterpart. 493 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,380 Sorry, that's a bit of physical labor. 494 00:36:20,860 --> 00:36:22,600 It's not like starting your car. 495 00:36:23,500 --> 00:36:26,560 This new breed was fueled by natural gas. 496 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:28,740 Oh wow, there we go. 497 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:37,840 The way this atmospheric gas engine works is it's got a massive piston 498 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:38,840 this cylinder. 499 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:42,880 So then when that piston starts moving upwards, it draws in a mixture of gas 500 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:46,380 air. And when it gets to a certain point, somewhere around here, that pilot 501 00:36:46,380 --> 00:36:49,020 light, a little bit of that flame gets pulled into the cylinder. 502 00:36:49,540 --> 00:36:53,360 It causes an explosion, and that throws the piston up through the cylinder. 503 00:36:56,020 --> 00:37:00,620 Essentially a miniature power station, Otto's single -acting cylinder was 504 00:37:00,620 --> 00:37:01,620 successful. 505 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,940 But it was his newly improved gas -powered model that could provide the 506 00:37:07,940 --> 00:37:10,080 for the engineers of Hudson Yards. 507 00:37:27,730 --> 00:37:32,510 19th century German engineer Nicholas Otto had a stroke of genius while 508 00:37:32,510 --> 00:37:34,590 on the early atmospheric gas engine. 509 00:37:35,510 --> 00:37:39,710 This is the next iteration of Otto's design, and it's truly revolutionary. 510 00:37:40,050 --> 00:37:42,770 It uses something called the four -stroke cycle. 511 00:37:43,310 --> 00:37:47,670 Unlike his previous engine, this makes four strokes of the piston for each 512 00:37:47,670 --> 00:37:48,670 ignition. 513 00:37:50,430 --> 00:37:54,930 First, the piston moves downwards, sucking air and gas into the chamber. 514 00:37:55,610 --> 00:37:59,610 Secondly, as the piston rises, the air and gas are compressed. 515 00:38:00,270 --> 00:38:03,290 Thirdly, it's ignited and the piston forced down. 516 00:38:04,510 --> 00:38:08,150 And on the fourth stroke, the exhaust gases are pushed out. 517 00:38:09,970 --> 00:38:14,310 The result is an incredibly efficient, reliable and quiet engine. 518 00:38:17,350 --> 00:38:21,530 The principle behind this engine, the four -stroke cycle, is also known as the 519 00:38:21,530 --> 00:38:23,770 Otto cycle after the man who invented it. 520 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:29,240 Engines like this were quickly deployed in factories, but they also rapidly 521 00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:32,980 found much more widespread use, particularly in the emerging automobile 522 00:38:32,980 --> 00:38:33,980 industry. 523 00:38:43,580 --> 00:38:47,400 Nicholas Auto's innovation found its fame in light industry. 524 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:52,500 Engineers at Hudson Yards are using his game -changing design to provide an 525 00:38:52,500 --> 00:38:54,260 immense power backup system. 526 00:38:58,670 --> 00:39:04,710 In 2015, four of the biggest four -stroke gas engines in the world arrived 527 00:39:04,710 --> 00:39:05,710 site in Manhattan. 528 00:39:07,070 --> 00:39:11,670 44 -ton, 20 -cylinder, 4 ,600 -horsepower beams. 529 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:21,940 What we're looking at here is very comparable to what you'd find in the 530 00:39:21,940 --> 00:39:23,540 end of any souped -up hot rod. 531 00:39:23,780 --> 00:39:28,500 It's an internal combustion engine that operates on a four -stroke cycle. It 532 00:39:28,500 --> 00:39:31,620 just happens to be about 30 feet long and 10 feet tall. 533 00:39:31,820 --> 00:39:35,900 This is really the beating heart of the energy infrastructure here at Hudson 534 00:39:35,900 --> 00:39:41,080 Yards. If New York's electricity fails and the city is plunged into darkness... 535 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:45,900 The natural gas supply will kick in, and these monumental machines will take 536 00:39:45,900 --> 00:39:48,820 over the job of running the Hudson Yards power plant. 537 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:55,440 This plant protects Hudson Yards from power outages because it has the ability 538 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:57,900 to operate in microgrid mode. 539 00:39:58,180 --> 00:40:02,660 What that means very simply is if there were an issue out on the utility grid, 540 00:40:02,900 --> 00:40:07,500 we could simply disconnect from the grid, then start restoring power that we 541 00:40:07,500 --> 00:40:08,840 source from our plant here. 542 00:40:13,130 --> 00:40:18,530 When called upon, these monster engines will produce over 13 megawatts of power. 543 00:40:19,810 --> 00:40:23,890 It is exciting to hear one of these engines fire up. 544 00:40:31,590 --> 00:40:37,570 It is the same sort of teenage boy excitement that you would find, you 545 00:40:37,730 --> 00:40:39,270 turning over any engine. 546 00:40:43,100 --> 00:40:45,880 several fold because of the size of these engines. 547 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:50,280 This engine has a heartbeat. 548 00:40:50,580 --> 00:40:56,840 This engine breathes. This engine creates energy, and you get a very 549 00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:58,460 sense of that when the plant is running. 550 00:41:11,820 --> 00:41:16,660 The Hudson Yards project represents impossible engineering on a staggering 551 00:41:16,660 --> 00:41:17,660 scale. 552 00:41:18,140 --> 00:41:22,800 A brand new 28 -acre neighborhood built over a working rail yard. 553 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,800 Everybody knows the Manhattan skyline of New York, so when you change it, that's 554 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:30,740 actually in some ways the most exciting thing. All of a sudden there's this 555 00:41:30,740 --> 00:41:32,760 monumental cathedral in the middle. 556 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:43,740 Every stage of this trailblazing enterprise poses extraordinary 557 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:49,500 The engineering on this site is such an example of incredible teamwork and 558 00:41:49,500 --> 00:41:53,800 incredible vision from so many people to be able to bring this to fruition. 559 00:41:55,600 --> 00:42:02,560 Inspired by the work of the pioneers of the past, supersizing and breaking 560 00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:03,560 the mold themselves. 561 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:11,540 The engineers are succeeding in making the impossible possible. 562 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:16,160 Coming on to the construction site, you get to appreciate it every day. 563 00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:19,520 But still, every single day, it's a wow moment. 564 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:21,660 I love this project. 565 00:42:21,710 --> 00:42:26,260 Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0 53893

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