Original subtitles

[Narrator] These are the engineering wonders

of the Netherlands,

their secrets revealed in a way never seen before.

Visionaries here have pioneered building on water,

constructing futuristic seaports,

vast bridges, and super-sized ships.

Dutch engineers continue to break boundaries,

forming new land from the ocean,

and inventing marine machines on a staggering scale.

In this series, we reveal the secrets of the engineering

that built Europe's great nations,

the wonders that shape its cities,

landscapes, and history.

We reveal the astonishing innovations

and surprising connections

that helped forge this mighty continent.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

The Netherlands sits on the western edge of Europe.

It shares borders with Belgium to the south,

and Germany to the east.

The country is famed for its low-lying landscapes

and its constant battle with the North Sea.

Over a quarter of the Netherlands

lies below sea level,

and the country sits

at the intersection of three major rivers.

This puts the nation at a greater risk

of flooding than its neighbors.

For centuries, Dutch engineers worked to face this threat,

building cities and infrastructure

that work with marine environments at their heart.

Developing world-beating innovations

to control and harness water,

forging formidable flood defenses,

like artificially raised embankments called dykes,

to giant floodgates that protect the country.

♪ ♪

Through their constant battle with water,

Dutch engineers have become masters in constructing

extraordinary marine technologies.

♪ ♪

In the 17th century, engineers here developed the fluyt,

a highly efficient cargo ship that enabled the Netherlands

to dominate global trade.

And Dutch shipbuilders also mastered constructing

large, flat-bottomed merchant vessels

that revolutionized inland trade routes.

Outside Groningen, one company serves the world,

building monster craft on an epic scale

in a remarkable shipyard.

♪ ♪

This is the Royal Bodewes shipyard.

This family-run business covers eight square kilometers,

employs around 200 workers,

and can construct around eight ships a year,

ranging from gigantic cargo vessels

to colossal cement carriers.

Despite its location, which is 30 kilometers inland,

the company has been building massive marine marvels here

for over 200 years.

[speaking Dutch]

On the quayside,

the team is gearing up to launch

this enormous new cargo vessel, built to carry containers,

diesel oil, and vehicles into the water for the first time.

This is no ordinary ship;

it's one of the tallest and most unusual vessels

they’ve ever launched, and the team is on high alert.

Overseeing the operation is Carlijn Bodewes and Rik Wols.

[Carlijn Bodewes] The day that we're launching a vessel

is always a very exciting and important day for us.

It's one moment in the production process of a vessel

where you don't control the production process,

and you can just trust on the calculations of Rik.

[Rik Wols] It’s a very big ship, and it’s a special one.

It’s the first time we have a ship this size.

[Narrator] The shipyard is located on a narrow canal,

which means the team can't launch this enormous vessel

head-on into the water.

Instead, they plan to do something extraordinary.

They will slide the ship sideways into the canal,

using a series of ramps covered in grease.

[Rik] Well, this is the cylinder,

hydraulic cylinder system.

These are the only things

holding up the ship before launch.

So, we are very careful about it.

[Narrator] Building this 87-meter-long vessel

in a workspace just 40 meters long

requires a remarkable workaround.

The team builds the ship in sections,

and pieces it together like flat-pack furniture.

First, they assemble the vessel's giant bow section,

then install the upper decks,

including the captain’s bridge.

Finally, they construct the ship's stern,

then connect and weld them together on the quayside.

The ship is christened in a time-honored tradition

just before launch.

[smash]

[fireworks pop]

[Rik] Final steps now.

These people are going to get our supports away.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Narrator] The workers knock out the final supports

and clear the area.

Everything is set to go.

[powering up]

[clanking]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Narrator] After 10 months of design

and eight months of construction,

the latest in a long line of Dutch-made vessels

enters the water for the first time.

[Carlijn] Yes, the launch was definitely a success.

It was actually one of the best launches

I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.

[Rik] Looking at it floating now,

it looks good after all this time.

[Narrator] The finishing touches will be done at the shipyard.

Then the vessel will make its way to its owners,

in the warm waters of French Polynesia,

ready to load up and transport fuel and goods

between the islands.

♪ ♪

Dutch engineers are world-leading experts

in mammoth marine engineering.

The Veluwemeer Aqueduct is an engineering wonder:

an upside-down bridge where marine traffic travels

over a four-lane road.

This breathtaking design was chosen

as a cheaper and faster build

than a traditional bridge or tunnel.

The Netherlands is criss-crossed

with a network of dykes.

These raised embankments,

built alongside rivers and coastlines,

prevent high tides from overwhelming

nearby land and waterways.

The 32-kilometer-long Afsluitdijk stops the North Sea

on one side from flooding an inland lake on the other side.

Outside Rotterdam lies, arguably,

the most famous symbol of Dutch water engineering.

This neatly irrigated farmland,

next to the village of Kinderdijk,

is a prominent icon

of the Netherlands’ battle against the sea.

In the 18th century, Dutch engineers pioneered

innovative machines to protect the country

from disastrous flooding.

They constructed dykes around the land,

then built windmills on the banks to pump water

from the fields into the waterways,

to keep the fields dry.

Back in the 18th century,

there were more than 10,000 working windmills

dotted around the Netherlands coastline.

These 19 windmills of the Kinderdijk

are the largest collection still standing.

Marc Polderman and Robert Hoffman

are water millers.

It’s their job to keep the windmills in tip-top shape.

[Marc Polderman] I wanted to be a water miller

since I was a little boy.

I was two years old.

It’s my dream, and my dream come true over here in Kinderdijk.

I love it.

[Narrator] Marc and Robert face a constant battle

to keep these historic wonders working.

The timber strut on this windmill is rotting away,

risking the integrity of its 28-meter blades.

♪ ♪

[Marc] The board is part of the whole construction

of the blades.

It's very important to repair or replace it,

because when you don't do that, it's getting bigger,

and it costs also more money.

[Narrator] Remarkably, the Kinderdijk windmills

are still used to control floodwater,

and they work with the power of wind alone,

just as they did over 250 years ago.

♪ ♪

The sails of the windmill drive a system of gears and shafts

that turn a water wheel.

The wheel pushes water from the low-lying floodplain

up to the level of the raised waterway,

from where it eventually flows out to sea.

♪ ♪

After six hours of climbing up and down the windmill,

Marc and Robert complete the fix.

[Marc] Now the job is done, so we have to turn the windmill

a little bit better into the wind.

And then we put the sails on the blades,

put the pumping wheel on,

and then test if everything is all right.

[Narrator] Marc and Robert prepare to fire up

this Kinderdijk windmill,

to test if their blade repairs hold up.

[Marc] So, now the brake is off, block the rope for safety.

You see the blades are turning,

and the pump as well.

This is very beautiful to see,

especially with this kind of weather.

There is water, there is sun, there is wind.

Just perfect.

[Narrator] Under their guardianship,

the Kinderdijk windmills should continue to stand proud

for another 300 years.

♪ ♪

Keeping the water at bay in the Netherlands

requires engineers here to innovate

on a scale never seen before.

In Rotterdam, engineers built the Maeslantkering Floodgate.

These mammoth gates are the world's largest

moving structure, when they close to prevent a flood,

while the Ramspol Storm Barrier is a huge rubber dam

that inflates, to hold back high tides.

One of the world's greatest engineering achievements

designed to control water

is built across the southwest of the Netherlands.

This is the Eastern Scheldt Storm Barrier,

a colossal nine-kilometer wall of moving steel

and concrete gates that rise up from the North Sea.

It is the key component in an enormous system

of flood defenses called the Delta Works.

They were built in the 1980s

to safeguard the nation from deadly storm surges.

Every year, as storm season approaches,

the team here must perform a critical safety test

to ensure the barriers work

in the event of a life-threatening mega storm.

[Eric Van Der Weegen] The Delta Works are very important

for the Dutch people.

And we work all day, all year,

to make sure the barrier is working.

So, we must be sure that when we push the button,

the barrier will go down.

[Narrator] The 62 gates in the barrier

weigh up to 480 tons each.

Powerful hydraulics close the gates shut,

to keep out storm floods and high tides.

The entire barrier is just one of 13,

forming a shield of steel protecting the Dutch coastline

from catastrophic floods.

At the press of a button, Eric's team begins to lower

the 62 gigantic gates of the storm barrier into the water.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Each of the concrete pillars supporting the steel gates

took an astonishing one and a half years to build.

This whole barrier took a decade to complete

and cost an eye-watering 2.5 billion euros.

It may seem like overkill,

but this epic engineering innovation

is here for a very good reason.

On February the 1st, 1953,

hurricane force winds sent a wall of seawater

towards the Netherlands.

Around 162,000 hectares of land was flooded,

and over 1,800 people lost their lives.

After the storm, engineers soon began planning

the epic Delta Works project,

and the final barriers were completed in 1986.

[Eric] That's very important,

not only Holland, but all Europe,

to make sure that the water is staying where it belongs.

We are here with the barriers, with the Delta Works.

We keep Holland safe.

[Narrator] The barrier test is almost complete,

and so far, it’s run without a hitch.

Eric heads to the roof of the barrier's control center

for a bird’s-eye view of the final moments.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Eric] I think five minutes, and then it’s finished.

[Narrator] The gates successfully close,

sealing the Netherlands off from the North Sea.

Now they will need to make sure it will open again.

The massive gates start to rise as the winter sun begins to set

over this lifesaving mechanical marvel.

And by 6:00 pm, the test is over.

[Eric] Everything is running as planned, so it’s great.

The test is a success.

[Narrator] The barrier should continue to keep

the Netherlands safe for many more years to come.

Dutch engineers have not only spearheaded the construction

of remarkable marine machines,

but also pioneered innovative infrastructure.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Engineers in the Dutch city of Rotterdam are inventing

new ways to build infrastructure on water.

The city is the location of the world's first floating farm,

complete with its own cows.

And innovators here have built

the world's largest floating office

that straddles 15 giant concrete barges.

Rotterdam is also home to a modern engineering marvel

that eclipses them all.

This is the port of Rotterdam.

It is Europe’s largest port.

At over 40 kilometers long,

it covers an area of more than 17,000 football pitches,

and is equipped with some of the world's most advanced docks

for handling containers.

Robotic transporters and cranes quietly haul

436 million tons of freight

to and from colossal cargo vessels,

without a human in sight.

The amount of cargo is predicted to rise

in the coming years,

so the port needs to evolve to meet this growing demand.

To do this, site owners are expanding

one of the vital interior waterways

called the Yangtze Canal.

[Narrator] The port of Rotterdam's Yangtze Canal

is a colossal 600 meters wide.

But the canal bed is covered in sloping silt banks,

so deep-draught vessels must stay in the middle,

limiting traffic to just one big container ship at a time.

To remove this bottleneck, engineers will excavate

around 3.5 million cubic meters of silt...

...to make space for two-way traffic.

And they plan to build almost two kilometers of new quayside,

with berths for 12 powerful tugboats,

needed to safely guide these marine juggernauts

to one of the port’s enormous terminals.

Engineer Sjors Allersma oversees work constructing

the first section of the giant new quay wall.

[Sjors Allersma] The quay wall will be 500 meters long.

And on top of the quay wall,

there will be a concrete construction.

Within the concrete, there will be steel reinforcement bars.

[Narrator] The steel reinforcement is critical,

to ensure the port's new quay wall is strong enough

to support the new tugboat moorings.

[Sjors] So, here, multiple reinforcement bars

from multiple sections are coming together.

And to connect them with each other,

we need some overlapping lengths,

and that’s what I’m measuring now.

[Narrator] Perhaps the most remarkable aspect

of the advanced docks is that the site

was once part of the North Sea.

Now called Maasvlakte 2,

the entire area is reclaimed land.

To build it, giant ships dredged

240 million cubic meters of sand from the North Sea.

This was fed into mammoth vessels that sprayed it

into huge piles to form new land for the port.

This remarkable feat of engineering

took five years to complete,

and expanded the port's footprint by 2,000 hectares,

allowing for vast new developments,

including the world's most advanced

fully automated container docks.

Here, the remotely operated cranes

simultaneously unload and reload each giant vessel,

to reduce the amount of time spent in the port.

The robotic transporters are preprogrammed with routes

to shuttle each container to its destination,

ready to be loaded onto a truck, train, or another ship,

for delivery.

Back on site, Sjors signs off the steel reinforcement

for the port of Rotterdam’s new quay wall.

[Sjors] The overlapping lengths are okay.

The spacings between the bars are also sufficient.

So, so far, so good.

[Narrator] And the team is one step closer

to adding another chapter

to the port’s already remarkable history.

Once finished, the expanded canal will be able

to accommodate enormous ships

stacked with an eye-watering 30,000 containers,

ensuring the Netherlands remains a key player

in shipping the world’s cargo.

[horn blows]

The Netherlands is criss-crossed

with lakes and rivers.

So, Dutch engineers have built spectacular bridges

to knit the country together.

From the elegantly designed MX3D steel bridge in Amsterdam,

built using robotic welders,

to the striking Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam,

with its graceful rear-leaning pylon.

In Utrecht, one of the Netherlands' vital bridges

is undergoing a major refurbishment.

This is the Galecopper Bridge,

one of the nation’s busiest and most important crossings.

This 54-year-old engineering marvel

is made up of two bridge decks, supported by cables,

and they carry 12 lanes of fast-flowing traffic.

The bridge is on a vital transport route,

and sees around 220,000 vehicles cross each day.

But there’s a problem.

The steel cables supporting the southern bridge deck

are starting to corrode.

The bridge is too busy to close,

so engineers must replace the cables

while traffic speeds by their work site.

[Janwillem Breider] Today is an important day for the project.

We're installing new strands, as part of the new cables

that will be carrying the bridge.

[Narrator] To fit the new cables and keep the traffic flowing,

the team must perform a remarkable balancing act.

Engineers can only remove one of the old cables

once a new one has been installed.

They must do this cable by cable to ensure that the bridge

remains fully supported at all times.

In charge of installing the strands that make up

each new cable is site foreman Guillaume Henry.

[Guillaume Henry] So, all the strands for each cable

is prefabricated at the right length.

So, when we are ready, we fit it through the machine, the pusher,

and then the machine after

is going to push the cable up to the pylon.

[Narrator] Engineers at the top of the pylon

intercept the strand.

Then they thread it through a guide to send it back down

to the bridge deck on the other side.

Guillaume makes his way inside the bridge

to where they must lock the strand into place.

The new strand emerges from the road deck above.

Now, they must use a giant hydraulic jack

to pull it tight and lock it into the structure.

This ensures the strand takes the weight of the bridge.

[speaking Dutch over radio]

[Worker] Three, two, one.

[Guillaume] So, we have to stress on both sides

at the same time.

[Narrator] A team on each end of the strand

uses a computer to precisely control the jacks.

They must work in unison to pull each end

with the same force to draw it tight.

[speaking Dutch over radio]

[Worker] Three, two, one.

[Guillaume] Like that, we know that each of the strand

will have the same load.

[Narrator] With the new support in place,

the team can finally cut away the 54-year-old cables.

[Narrator] The Galecopper Bridge team uses a powerful saw,

equipped with a razor-sharp cutting band,

to slice through the old bridge cable.

Slowly, the rusty old wire separates.

They’ve done it.

Thanks to this innovative strand replacement process,

Galecopper Bridge has been given a new lease of life,

with minimal disruption to traffic.

When the works are finished, the busy bridge should support

the nation for another 100 years.

Dutch engineers are not only masters of building

innovative bridges for cars,

but also novel highways for bicycles.

The Hovenring is a cycle path roundabout

suspended above a road by 24 steel cables,

and supported by a 70-meter-tall central pillar.

It is the first of its kind in the world.

And to honor Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh,

engineers created a cycle path

with thousands of glow-in-the-dark stones

to illuminate nighttime journeys.

Now, the city of Amsterdam is embarking

on its most ambitious cycle-friendly

infrastructure project yet.

♪ ♪

This is the Zuidas district,

just outside Amsterdam's city center.

It’s a densely populated urban area that is expected to grow.

Residents and commuters face a problem.

A cramped rail and road network here

limits access to the city center.

Now, a four-billion-euro scheme is underway

to solve this problem.

It's the biggest civil engineering project

in the country.

In the first stage, engineers are expanding the railway

and adding a new platform.

Next, on both sides of the tracks,

they will sink the twin highways underground.

A green space with bike lanes will extend

below the raised railway,

giving the neighborhood a complete facelift.

The engineers' first task was to dig beneath

the existing rail lines to install a new concrete base,

before reinstating the platforms and tracks.

Next, they temporarily removed the highway

to create the foundations

for a new subterranean station passage.

Now, one of their biggest challenges is to slide

this mammoth 80,000-ton concrete bridge into place.

The giant bridge will form the base of a new railway track,

and the roof of a pedestrian walkway beneath.

It's almost as heavy as 80 Eiffel Towers,

so engineers must use special tracks

to slide the bridge into position.

[Stephan Keizer] Taken a couple of months to get to this moment.

So, they're cleaning the sliding tracks

and they're greasing them, so they have less friction

when they’re trying to push the bridge into the final position.

[Narrator] They position huge hydraulic jacks

to help push the bridge along the tracks.

[Narrator] A computer controls the pressure of each jack.

It's critical all four push in unison to exert equal force

along the length of the bridge,

so it doesn’t slide out of alignment.

[Narrator] The jacks slowly push the 80,000-ton bridge deck

along the rails.

The bridge is now centimeters from its final resting place.

It’s a crucial phase.

The team must be on high alert

to ensure they don’t overshoot and push the deck too far.

[Stephan] Everybody's very focused

to get the last millimeters exactly.

[Narrator] Finally, the bridge slots into place.

[Stephan] It's a good feeling,

and also a relief for me, personally.

We've been working towards this moment for months now,

and it’s always a good thing to have a job well done.

[Narrator] Over the next 10 years,

the team will sink the highways and build the new station

to complete this massive project,

creating a brand new interchange

for Amsterdam’s cyclists and commuters.

♪ ♪

Dutch engineers are not only pushing the boundaries

of building innovative infrastructure projects.

They are also pioneering amazing architectural wonders.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

In Rotterdam, this collection of unique cube houses

experiments with living at height,

whilst maximizing public space below.

And Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum cleverly fuses

neoclassical with postmodern architecture,

to create a striking wonder.

Now, an innovative, new architectural marvel

in Amsterdam is set to redraw the city skyline.

[Narrator] This is the construction site

of a brand new 90-meter-tall super tower.

♪ ♪

When complete, this remarkable state-of-the-art building,

with more than 400 apartments, will be energy-neutral,

generating as much or more electricity

than the building uses.

It's a pioneering innovation,

and one of the first of its kind in Amsterdam.

The secret to this structure's energy-making prowess

is around 1,000 highly efficient solar panels

integrated into the skin of the building.

The solar technology is built into the structure's

exterior wall panels, which are prefabricated in a workshop.

All the team has to do on site is slot them into place.

[Arne Lijbers] This is one of the panels.

We have a lot of different ones.

They’re fully prefabricated.

[Narrator] Arne Lijbers is the tower’s architect.

[Arne] We can see already the wiring.

Everything is already installed.

So, if they mount the elements, they can plug and play,

and the solar panel works.

[Narrator] The tower's high-tech wall panels are prefabricated

at this factory in Belgium.

Workers mold each panel in a wooden frame,

where pre-colored concrete

sets around the solid steel skeleton.

Workers insert hollow tubes for the solar panels' wiring,

and then wash and sand the exterior finish.

This method brings the efficiency

of an indoor production line

to large scale outdoor construction,

and cuts delays caused by bad weather

that can wreak havoc with builds outdoors.

The wall panels, complete with windows, balconies,

and solar panels, weigh up to a hefty 12 tons.

♪ ♪

[Worker] Pull, pull, pull.

[Narrator] Workers, secured to the building

with safety tethers,

use ropes to stop the panels blowing out of control.

[Worker] Pull it, pull.

[Narrator] They use mortar to connect the panel into place.

Insulation strips, stuck to the outer edges of each panel,

ensure the connections are air and watertight.

[Sebastiaan Verstraete] We are building

an energy-neutral building.

To have everything airtight and watertight is very important

to don’t lose any air or heat through those joints.

[Narrator] They brace the panel,

and leave the mortar to set solid.

[Sebastiaan] Jimmy, nice job, mate.

[Worker] Yeah, it is.

[Narrator] Once the walls are sealed together,

engineers plug the solar panels into the rest of the building.

[Arne] This is one of the residential units.

And here you see the wires that was already mounted

in the prefabricated element.

The wires can be connected to the collective system.

[Narrator] A central control system gathers and distributes

the power around the building, where needed.

The team is set to finish work on the tower

in around 17 months.

And when complete, it will blaze a trail

on Amsterdam's skyline,

and set new standards for sustainable living.

♪ ♪

Designers in the Netherlands have a long history

of building extraordinary architectural wonders,

that work in harmony with water.

Medieval castle engineers harnessed water

as a defensive barrier.

Muiderslot Castle is surrounded by land

that was purposefully flooded to hold back invaders.

And Heeswijk Castle was built in swampy wetlands

that act as a natural defensive barrier.

One castle, on the outskirts of Utrecht, surpasses them all.

This is Castle De Haar.

It's the largest and most opulent castle

in the Netherlands, and a medieval engineering wonder.

Castle De Haar covers more than 1,300 square meters

and dwarfs other castles across the nation.

It features three huge towers.

The largest, called the Knights' Tower,

soars 48 meters into the sky.

Inside, the castle's three stories

house 200 elegantly decorated rooms.

And hidden behind its drawbridge entrance

is a breathtaking 18-meters-tall main hall.

The castle was originally built in 1391,

but subtle changes in the exterior brickwork

reveals a surprising truth.

Its imposing features are relatively recent additions.

The original medieval castle

was a much more modest structure that fell into ruin.

But a wealthy new owner with grand ambitions

reconstructed it at the end of the 19th century.

They wanted to wow their high-society guests

with a much larger, more lavish structure.

But the ambitious scale of their design

triggered colossal problems for today’s engineers.

[Narrator] The extensive alterations to Castle De Haar

were too heavy

for the structure’s medieval foundations.

And for over six decades, the castle was slowly collapsing.

Castle director Anetta De Jong has been overseeing a drastic,

near 40 million-euro project to rescue the structure,

and preserve it as the pride of the Netherlands.

[Anetta de Jong] Several cracks were appearing in the walls

and everywhere.

So, the only solution was to make a new foundation

underneath the castle.

[Narrator] The team built 400 concrete and steel pillars

to support the foundations,

sealed the cracks,

replaced the roof,

and installed steel-strengthening beams

in the Knights’ Tower.

[Anetta] The tower was really like the Tower of Pisa.

[Narrator] The aim was to complete the work

without affecting the castle’s 19th century grandeur.

[Anetta] The castle itself is still the same,

but we have touched everything

during the last major renovation.

[Narrator] The castle is now a thriving tourist attraction,

with over 280,000 people making the trip each year,

to wonder at its opulent dining hall

and entertaining spaces.

♪ ♪

Castle De Haar should stand proud for centuries to come,

thanks to its remarkable hidden engineering operation.

♪ ♪

A lack of space on land has forced Dutch engineers

to invent unusual architectural wonders

to revolutionize farming.

The DakAkker roof farm is the largest of its kind

in the country.

And across the nation, high-tech farms lead the world

in producing colorful flowers, sweet peppers,

and juicy cucumbers.

Sandwiched between The Hague and Rotterdam

lies a patchwork of dazzling glass roofs.

♪ ♪

At the heart of this glistening city

is one of the world’s leading tomato growers.

Their 25 hectares of greenhouses are filled

with 250,000 tomato plants,

enough to fill 35 football pitches.

Inside, each greenhouse looks

more like a sci-fi set than a farm.

Here, automated trolleys transport crates

of freshly picked tomatoes,

while computers precisely control

bespoke irrigation systems.

This is the farming of the future in action.

Workers here are also undertaking

a massive engineering project

to upgrade their greenhouses,

to increase the efficiency and sustainability of operations.

Running these gargantuan greenhouses

is an expensive business,

so technical innovation is the key to success.

[truck beeping]

New air processing units should cut costs

and give them an edge over competitors.

[Kim Oosterom] Every day, you want to make it more efficient,

you want to make it more sustainable.

And every day, we want to do it a better way than yesterday.

[Narrator] The new system automatically monitors

and controls the temperature, moisture, and flow of air

inside the greenhouse,

to create optimum growing conditions.

This upgrade is just one of many innovations here...

...including a powerful geothermal well,

to heat the greenhouse and its new systems.

Four weeks later, the work is finally complete.

♪ ♪

This enormous greenhouse is now packed with tomato plants

stretching to the horizon.

The new plants sit in beds,

where the computer-controlled irrigation system

drips precisely the right amount of water onto the roots.

Supporting twine stretches to the ceiling,

to guide each plant's growth

and to ensure they receive the right amount of sunlight.

[Kim] I'm really happy that everything is working to grow

the new tomato plants on a sustainable way.

We have planted over here 29,000 tomato plants.

[Narrator] Once fully grown, workers collect

the new tomatoes by hand and transport them

to the packaging facility, where they're checked, weighed,

and packaged, ready to make their way to supermarkets

across the globe.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

The Netherlands is a nation of pioneers,

who mastered control of the water

with epic engineering innovations.

Today, its engineers continue to excel in building bigger,

smarter, and greener,

placing this tiny nation at the forefront

of European innovation.