All language subtitles for The.Mightiest.S02E04.Big.Power.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-Kitsune_track4_[eng]

It takes big power and
long reach for wrecking machines

to bring buildings down.

The KTEG is the king.
It is the biggest.

But heavy metal
demolition also requires

an arsenal of versatile tools.

These mutant vehicles
use their outrageous power

to wage fierce contests
for roaring crowds...

I love the horsepower.
It's all I know.

With oversized engines
that are experiments in excess.

We're burning more than

four-and-a-half gallons
of fuel in 310 feet.

Elsewhere, high-tech giants

haul colossal loads of cargo...

Those are the working hands

moving the containers
into the stack.

To keep Europe
supplied with life's necessities

by some of the
largest ships on earth.

We can carry a maximum of
12,000 20-foot containers.

Power is their common trait,

and they're using
it to smash, pull,

and carry our world
into the future.

PullTown USA,

where thousands
of fans gather...

...to feel the power...

...of souped-up
tractors and trucks

competing for the title
of national champion...

I love the horsepower.
It's all I know.

As rubber and diesel burn,

and fearless drivers attempt to
push these outlandish machines

to the brink.

It is all about the run.

When the chain is tight,

when the green lights are on,
and green flags are going,

it's time to pour on
the juice and turn it loose.

These machines produce
ferocious, bone-rattling power,

and their main objective
is to wow the masses.

The crowd at PullTown

is not just here to see
the bruising strength

of these monsters in action.

MAN (ON P.A.:) Welcome,
everybody, to the 57th annual

National Tractor
Pulling Championships,

brought to you by...

They're experiencing
this with all of their senses.

So, that atmosphere is unlike
any other one out there.

The ground is going to be
rumbling underneath you.

The womp, womp, womp
of the big engines.

And the air is
going to be filled

with things that are
going to burn your eyes.

And of course, the run itself,
it gets right into your heart.

MAN
One more time from the crowd!

But how did
simple farm machines

evolve into these
hulking beasts of pure power.

The advent of
competitive pulling

started with horses long before
tractors were invented.

So, it really started as a
grudge match between farmers.

One farmer telling
another farmer,

"My horse is stronger
than your horse."

Tractors began
outnumbering workhorses on farms

in the 1920s,
and tractor pulls emerged

as the obvious
replacement for horse pulls.

The first recorded
tractor pulls were in 1929,

and they really
gained popularity

throughout North America
in the 1950s and the 1960s.

A common tool back in the day,

when farmers were
clearing the land,

they had what they
called a stone boat,

and it was a large,
flat metal tray.

That is the tool, essentially,

that created the
tractor-pulling sled.

The track would be
lined with farmers,

and as the stone boat went by,
you stepped onto it,

and that is how
they added weight

as they moved down the track.

It wasn't long
before stock tractors

gave way to souped-up monsters
and the race to create

the biggest, baddest

pulling machines in
the world truly began.

In the 1960s,

competitors started doing
a lot of modifications.

But it was in 1969

that the National Tractor
Pullers Association

was formed in the US

to give a standard set
of rules across regions.

DR. EL-SAYEGH: These tractors
evolved like race cars,

with similar technology,
but instead of speed,

these machines were being
modified for maximum power.

These pullers
compete at PullTown in classes

ranging from stock tractors
to modified tractors.

This engine is way too
powerful for any farm tractor.

It's a competition engine

that makes approximately
5,000 horsepower.

And then, beyond that,
we have the super unlimited,

multi-engines,

and those are just wild rides
right from start to finish.

Four engines,

12,000 to 13,000 horsepower,
and basically,

I drive to what they call
'the seat of your pants.'

It's like
a rocket ship, driving it.

We can literally feel
every ounce of horsepower.

You can feel it, and you just
kind of lift out of the trolley

you'll pull back,

and take a deep breath and go,

"Holy (Bleep) we made it."

No way to explain it
other than it's a massive

amount of horsepower,

and it's the coolest thing
in the world in my book.

Joe Eder did
his first tractor pull

when he was 16 years old.

He built the
Emax machine from scratch.

Every part of Joe's
super unlimited puller

has had his hands on it.

What 'unlimited means' is any
motor configuration,

any combination of engines;

you can run four, five, six,
whatever you can to make weight.

If you were to
build an unlimited

modified from the ground up

with all new parts, you're at
least a million dollars into it.

It's a big investment,

but there's more than $300,000
up for grabs at PullTown.

We're talking
big dollars for big power.

A modified unlimited
puller is so expensive

because it isn't
really a tractor,

not by any normal definition.

It's a mutant combo of
powerful components

from all kinds
of giant machines.

These here are a 16-ply
airplane wheel,

custom-built aluminum rim.

The planetary is off
a 966 Caterpillar loader,

a big industrial loader
for picking gravel.

Both of them have brakes
that are off a big 747 jet,

and the callipers that grab the
brake rotors to stop the vehicle

are from a jet airliner.

DR. EL-SAYEGH: The Emax puller

generates so much power that it
needs the brakes of a jet...

Just to keep it
under control.

So, that's really cool
that we have multiple things

that we brought all together
to create a pulling vehicle.

The horsepower of Eder's Emax

is created in a series
of four engines,

then transmitted
through a gearbox.

The gearbox uses all that
horsepower to spin a driveshaft

that runs down the centre of
the vehicle to the rear wheels.

The driveshaft
pushes that horsepower

through yet another gearbox,

which turns the speed
of the spinning driveshaft

into torque-- the power that
turns these massive wheels

and creates
stupendous pulling force.

All these vehicles
share one goal:

to pull this sled as far as
possible down the clay track.

When the chain is tight,

it's time to grab the skull
and let her rip.

The sled is tricked out

to eventually stop every
single one of these machines.

The farther it's pulled,
the more resistance it creates.

This weight box starts out
as a rolling mass.

It goes forward

and transfers all the weight
as a rolling mass

to drag on the ground
to stop the vehicle

that we're pulling onto.

The pulling
sled is built to be

the perfect opponent
for these machines.

I don't care how much horsepower
you got, we're gonna get you.

At the beginning of the pull,

the weight box is
above the wheels.

When the competitors
pull the sled,

a series of gears move
the weight box forward

until all its weight is
bearing down on that pan.

A series of bars beneath
the sled accumulate dirt,

which quickly
increases friction,

until the tractor
stops in its tracks.

Then, eventually,
they can't drag it anymore.

We come to a stop.

It's a battle between
stopping power and horsepower.

And that horsepower is
created in customized engines

that push the boundaries
of what is possible.

When these Titans start-up,

it sounds like
the end of the world.

Here we go.

It's so loud in the sport
of truck and tractor pulling

because there's no muffler and
a very small exhaust system.

So, what you're
hearing is actually

the true sound of an unmuffled
engine and it's loud.

That right here is the
turbocharger.

This turbo runs at
about 76 to 78,000 rpm,

78,000 times per minute.

If we compare pulling tractors
to stock farm tractors,

there's a lot of
things that we can do

to get more power out of them.

Number one is to
create more usable space

to create power
within the engine.

These engines have
bigger, wider and longer pistons

than a stock tractor, to consume
more fuel with each stroke.

We can also change the intakes.

Most pulling tractors have a
handmade intake and exhaust

to get as much
air in and move the air out

as quickly and
easily as possible.

We customize it
to maximize airflow.

If air can move quicker,
more air can go through.

More air plus more
fuel equals more power.

When this thing starts
sucking the air in,

this air gets
to be about 650 degrees.

This motor is
making tons of power

and it wants to destroy itself.

These engines
are so absurdly overpowered

that they face the constant
threat of overheating...

- MAN (ON P.A.:) Oh!
-Or explosion.

Maximum power means the
potential for maximum danger.

When the horsepower roars,

competitive tractor
pullers always face

the possibility of
catastrophic failure.

Fire can happen.
You've got high horsepower,

you've got highly
flammable fuels.

The tool pullers use

to maintain safe engine
temperatures is simple.

Ice water is pumped
through this thing.

It cools the turbo down.

Otherwise,
the turbo would explode.

So, now we're going
to load the ice cooler.

This is the water that we use
to kill all of our boost air.

We consume 180 pounds
of ice in ten seconds.

The ice water chills
the turbocharger so much...

This is how much air
the engines are sucking in.

That frost
can form on the intakes.

But if the ice water
can't cool the engine

and the vehicle has
a disastrous failure,

there's a last line of
defence to protect the crowd

from an out-of-control bullet.

This is the kill switch.
If anything would ever happen,

this is hooked to the weight
transfer sled with a cable.

The weight transfer guy's
got a button in there,

a dead man button,

he could hit,
and it pulls that out,

it'll shut all four engines off.

There's many different ways
that an engine can fail

or the other components
down the line,

all the way to
the wheels and tires.

We're pushing these
machines to their limit,

and everything has its limit.

The main thing
the pullers need

to push the limits
of power is fuel.

Every one of these unique
vehicles

has an insatiable
hunger for raw power

and an unquenchable
thirst for fuel.

The two types of fuel
most commonly used in the sport

of truck and tractor pulling
are number one, diesel,

and this is a high-strength,
low-combustion fuel

that gets a ton
of power out of it.

These machines aren't
aiming for fuel efficiency.

They're generating massive
horsepower by pumping

huge volumes of fuel
into their engines

with oversized injectors.

We are pushing as much fuel

into the engine as possible,
and it's an incomplete burn.

So, the smoke that
you see coming out

is a combination of
air and unburnt fuel.

Here is our diesel fuel
injection pump.

And if you would put it on,
like, a farm tractor or a car,

it wouldn't even
be able to run it

because it takes
almost 200 horsepower

to actually drive it and run it.

The second type of fuel
is an alcohol-based fuel

or a high-octane fuel.

This is also used in race cars

and in airplanes.

You get high combustion
and a ton of power.

Stock fuel pumps
aren't up to the demands

of a pulling tractor,
so the pullers are customized

with components
from much bigger machines.

This is a fuel pump off
of one of those big off-road

dump haul trucks.

So, in order to create
this kind of horsepower,

these pumps are
creating over 30,000 psi,

and we're burning more than
four-and-a-half gallons of fuel

in 310 feet.

It's not real good
on fuel mileage,

but that's what it takes
to make 12-13,000 horsepower.

Once the
fuel starts pumping,

it's a short, intense battle
to control that power.

I have a point 345 feet

down the end of the track
I'm gonna run at.

The leader cones coming, it's
coming, it's coming right there,

it's going, and you can just
feel it go right on by you,

and there's no parts on the
ground, the motors ran good,

you might have beat
the guy by a foot,

you might have fell short a
foot, win, lose, or draw,

it's how you end up,
so that's how it works.

During the short run,

the driver has
to keep the vehicle

going in the right direction,
straight ahead.

Any drifting to the side
is just wasted energy

that could shorten the pull.

And as you're going
down the track,

the vehicle will
go left to right.

The steering wheel does nothing.

We can take the
steering wheel off it

and literally drive down the
track without the steering wheel

because everything's
controlled with the rear brakes.

So, if we're going
to need to go right,

we're gonna hit this brake.
If we're gonna go left,

we're gonna hit hit this brake.

Front ends up in the air,

back wheels will slow down
when we hit the brake,

and that'll get us going
in the right direction.

The monstrous
engines of these machines

create unbelievable
amounts of energy.

But it has to be harnessed
properly by transmitting

that power from the engine

into the tires for
maximum pulling capacity.

We spin these tires

approximately
130 to 145 miles per hour.

They actually shear the ground.

The tire not only
bites the dirt,

but the friction is
in the face of the tire.

And that's what will
actually grab a hold

of the hard clay surface

and get traction
and move forward.

In the hours before a pull,

final adjustments are made

to optimize the
machine's capabilities.

But ultimately, you have to face
the conditions in the moment.

So we leave the gear out...

We put the shaft back on.

Yup.

Alright, Let's do that.

Did you break it??

That one, yeah.

Oh, wow.

The perfect storm.

The weather throws a horseshoe
in this game all the time.

When you put
12-13,000 horsepower

down on a clay track,

and when it's raining out,
it makes you nervous.

So, we're going
to be on edge tonight.

An experienced driver is alert

to every aspect of
the weather, humidity,

and even oxygen levels.

You notice how many trees
there is around here?

Yeah.

It means there's going
to be good oxygen.

We're hoping the
moisture holds up.

Temperature's coming down,
so it should be good air.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

I can smell it.

You can smell the air right now.

Yeah.

Air that's rich with oxygen

improves the efficiency
of fuel combustion.

It's good air.
There's a lot of water drains

right now with the moisture,
but, you know, again,

we can adjust for that and
get all the power we need.

When drivers test
the power of their machines

against the fierce
stopping power of the earth,

every centimetre gained
is a step toward victory.

Power smells great,
and if it's spelled out right,

it makes dollar signs and
it makes for great finishes.

The overwhelming power
of these machines is a testament

to the ingenuity of the farmers,
mechanics and engineers

who originally built them
to harvest our food,

make transportation possible
and fuel our world.

MAN (ON P.A.:) Our last pull of
the class, Joe Eder on the Emax.

Every year,
it gets more exciting.

MAN
We got him chained tight.

They keep building more
horsepower for us

and we keep putting it on

and we got to keep
putting it to the ground.

MAN (ON P.A.:) 320 feet to beat!

Let's go PullTown!

Give him a hand, folks!

He got the job done!

Global trade routes
are the circulatory system

of the world economy.

For more than 800 years,

the Port of Rotterdam has
been its beating heart.

This is the largest
seaport in Europe.

We have about
118,000 ships per year.

It's about 15 per hour,
so it's 360 per day.

Across 12,500
hectares of land and water,

this port handles more

than 438 million tons
of freight each year.

The port is like a machine
that powers trade.

It's just this big,
giant sorting station.

Rotterdam has been
designed around the use

of semi and
autonomous machinery.

This ship-to-shore crane
is the largest in the world.

There's no operator
on the crane.

This is the gateway to Europe,

where some of the biggest
vessels in existence

connect the continent
to the rest of the world.

So, much of the world's commerce
passes through this port

and it provides easy access

to the North Sea
oil and gas industry.

This port helps to
fuel international trade,

feed millions,

and it is the biggest hub
on the continent

for oil and sustainable energy.

It takes a lot of power
to do something like this,

but they're using
a lot of green energy--

wind power, solar power.

That's all part of our journey
all the way to zero-emission.

This sprawling port

marshals thousands of companies,
people, and vehicles

to form one of the most powerful
operations on the planet.

There are more than

3,000 companies doing business
at the Port of Rotterdam.

Hundreds of ships
from all over the world

enter the port each day,

and tugboats
are their guardians.

Tugs are small but mighty.

They have the power to
manoeuvre much larger ships

through tight spots,

avoid hazards in the harbour,

and keep the machinery
of the port running.

They work to ensure
these giant vessels

make it in and
out of the port safely.

FAIRPLAY-92 pull at 10 percent

Now, we start pulling.

Copy that, 10 percent.

Ten percent.

So, ten percent pulling,
it's already,

you can see, 15-14 tonnes.

This 28-meter tug is
powered by an oversized engine

to give it the propulsion it
needs to wrestle larger ships

through the harbour.

This is a caterpillar engine,
3,500 horsepower.

Very good.

We are quite pleased
with this engine.

Tugs work in tandem
with pilots-- port employees,

who board every vessel
entering or departing.

They advise ship captains
on harbour procedures,

and they communicate with
the tugs that are assisting.

The reason why
we are taking pilot

is they have a local
knowledge of the weather,

the currents in the port,
and it's also a big advantage

that they are speaking
the local language,

so they can communicate
with the tugboats.

Pilot, the FAIRPLAY-92
is tied on.

As the port's traffic
has grown, it has expanded,

but there's only one direction
for the port to go-- out,

into the deep coastal waters.

Where we are right now,
it used to be the North Sea,

and it was a big project to
reclaim all this land.

So, we actually
built the Netherlands

out into the North Sea.

The first expansion
began in the 1960s,

with the construction
of a huge extension

made with sand dredged
from the North Sea.

We call this the Maasvlakte--

that surface, the area on
the end of the river Maas.

The second
expansion began in 2008,

a five-year construction project

that created 2,000
hectares of new land.

And this is the latest expansion
area of the Port of Rotterdam.

The Dutch were
once the most successful

traders in the world,
with a globe-spanning empire.

That started here.

So, if you go back
in time to the year 1270,

that is actually where
the origin can be found

for what we call
the Port of Rotterdam.

So, it's a junction
of two rivers there,

the Rotter River
and the Maas River.

And where they meet,
there was a group of fishermen

that were trading
and swapping fish.

The fish trading spot
became a local trade hub

that grew and grew.

Established in 1602,
the Dutch East India Company

was the world's first
multinational corporation

with the power to issue currency
and wage wars.

Dutch ships travelled
the world in search of spices.

In 1962, the Port of Rotterdam

became the biggest
port in the world,

and we were that for 42 years.

The Port of Rotterdam
now extends into the deep water

of the North Sea,

so it can welcome the largest
vessels in the world.

It is one of the few ports
with berths big enough

to accommodate the Sleipnir.

So, the Sleipnir is a
semi-submersible crane vessel

capable to lift heavy
offshore structures worldwide.

Rotterdam is the
Sleipnir's home away from home.

Because the vessel,
the Sleipnir is so large,

we cannot go in many ports.

We have our own berth here
in the Port of Rotterdam,

where we do maintenance periods,

but also where we
prepare for longer voyages.

The vessels
that berth in the port

stock up on food and fuel--

the power that keeps the ships
and their crews moving.

Everything you see here
on the Sleipnir is big.

So, the fuel tanks,

we can take around 10,000 cubic
metres of marine gas oil,

and around 11,000 cubic metres
of liquid natural gas, LNG.

With that amount, we can sail
to the other end of the world.

Here, you can see over the deck,
where we have two cranes,

which we use to install
the structures offshore.

Both cranes have
a capacity of 10,000 tons.

Each crane on itself can lift
the weight of one Eiffel Tower.

A ship this size has to generate
an immense amount of power

just to propel itself.

And in the case
of a crane vessel,

they also need
a huge amount of power

to operate their cranes.

Lifting 10,000 tons
needs a lot of energy.

Of course, as you can see,
she's very, very big.

So, you need a lot of power.

This Sleipnir has enough power

to power up
the city of Rotterdam,

everything will work over there.

So, if we put
power onto the grid.

A few hundred meters
away, the San Lorenzo Maersk

has arrived from Brazil

and is moored at the
A.P. Moller Maersk terminal.

We are discharging
the Lorenzo vessel

and we have all kinds of
products in a container.

It can be a refurb container,
which is a cooled container,

with bananas,
meat, fruit, avocados.

But it could also be parts
of cars or washing machines,

anything that you
move all over the world.

The San Lorenzo Maersk

is 333 meters long
and 48 meters wide.

These enormous cargo vessels are
lifelines of the global economy.

The Lorenzo has 16 hours
to get unloaded,

so it can make it to its
next port of call on time.

The ship-to-shore
cranes at the Port of Rotterdam

move containers on and off
the San Lorenzo Maersk.

Right now, we are
loading and discharging.

We are coming from South America
and we have a lot of foodstuff,

vegetables and fruit,
but also meat,

and carry a maximum of 12,000

20-foot containers.

In the 1960s and
1970s, international shipping

became oriented around

standardized
shipping containers.

The Port of Rotterdam
embraced this change

and is now the busiest
container port in Europe.

When unloading
a vessel this big,

planning is essential.

So, it's kind of like
loading your trunk, you know?

You want to make sure that you
put things on one side first,

the next side, and alternate,
and it's called load balancing.

These are ships,
they need to be balanced.

You can't have all
the weight on one side,

otherwise, we're going
to be tilting and (Unclear).

Without the expansion
into the deep North Sea water,

the port couldn't service
ships as big as the Lorenzo.

They have good facilities, and
they also have good tug boats,

and they have good pilots,

and a combination of that
is always nice as a captain

because you feel you are safe.

The port continues to grow

and pursue the newest
technological advances

in the industry,
levelling up its machinery.

A.P. Moller Maersk is one

of the world's
largest shipping companies,

named for its founder,
Arnold Peter Moller.

Its terminal on Maasvlakte 2

is an almost fully automated
shipping station,

the centrepiece of the port.

We have ten ship-to-shore
cranes and we are right now

at the middle one
of the whole quay.

This generation of
ship-to-shore cranes

is the largest in the world.

These semi-automated
cranes have a maximum height

of 145 meters when
the boom is raised,

and they can
lift up to 105 tons.

All that power comes
from a mechanical room

near the base of each crane.

What this room does
is it's actually holding

all the mechanical
parts to hoist--

the hoist brakes,
the hoist motor, the gearbox.

The unique part of this crane,
as well, is it's fully electric.

So, there's a 20KV cable coming
in and there's no fuel at all.

This is all full
electrically driven equipment.

The electrification of it means
that they're using clean energy

and therefore, they're
reducing the carbon footprint

of the overall operation.

Each crane has
two lifting mechanisms.

The first raises the container
boxes from the ship.

Once on the platform,
the second part of the crane

loads the boxes
onto automated vehicles,

which take the boxes
to the storage stack.

The unique part of this crane,
it's a remote-controlled crane.

So, there's
no operator on the crane.

The operator is sitting there

in that building
two kilometres away,

operating the crane with the
help of a lot of cameras.

What I'm doing now is I'm
discharging containers

from a vessel.

These cranes
are semi-autonomous.

Once a container is picked up,
they can manoeuvre them

up and off the ship,

but the operator must
apply their skilled hand

to any actions
on board the vessel.

So, now, I make sure
to get a smooth transition

from auto... to manual,

to get the containers
from the vessel.

And now, I press a button
and I can lower my spreader.

Everything on the
vessel is done by hand.

Let's take a look
inside, outside it was
6 wide, right Rene?

Yes, they are both 6 wide and
the other stack is 5 wide.

Yes, it's ok.

The crane's automation

does most of the work
without any intervention.

But picking up each
container from the vessel

requires a human touch.

Too much variables.

You have hard wind,
you have the water rising,

lowering, and stuff like that.

Many operational things
that can go wrong.

So that's why
it's done by hand.

Humans and machines
each do what they do best

to power the engine of the port.

The crane is semi-automatic, but
you also need to work together.

The biggest difference
is you don't feel the wind,

but you see the wind's blowing

because it blows
the spreader to the sides.

There's definitely disadvantages
to remote operation.

It's more difficult
for the operator to detect

environmental conditions,
like wind,

or to have a sense

of the weight of the load
that they're working with.

But remote operation
allows this terminal

to handle the globe's
biggest ships.

I saw the transition
of the smaller ship,

and a little bit
bigger and bigger,

till they are too big like this.

I was on the crane and
it was really hard to see

the sides of the container,

so I was looking
underneath my legs

to see the side
of the container.

And now, we have the
camera, so... yeah.

For a really good day and
every circumstance are good,

I have seen numbers
like 58 containers per hour.

The crane operators
get the containers off the ships

and onto the automated vehicles,

which then move the containers
to precise locations,

where they'll be ready to travel
to their final destinations.

We basically look down

from the crane right now
into the automated area,

which is completely
man-machine separated.

So, what you see all
the way down is the AGVs,

the automated guided vehicles,

and those are
the working hands, basically,

moving the boxes, the containers

from the ship-to-shore
crane into the stack.

So, they have
transponders in the ground,

so each time the car
passes over a transponder,

it can send a signal,
so the car knows where it is,

the base knows where it is, the
other vehicles know where it is.

The antenna is sending a signal

and receiving the response

from the transponder
in the subsurface.

The AGVs navigate

the sprawling terminal to bring
containers from the quay cranes

to the automated
stacking cranes,

which then place the containers
in precisely the right position.

So, when you talk about
autonomy, that consistency,

that trip is going to be the
exact same every single time.

It's always going
to go to the right spot.

Each AGV can
carry one 12-meter

or two six-meter
containers at a time,

with a maximum
capacity of 63 tons.

These vehicles are powered

by large batteries that are
recharged through automation.

The average driving time
of an AGV is about eight hours.

Then, it gets a signal to get
to our battery exchange station.

So, there's actually a robot

inside our
battery exchange station

that is picking the
battery from the AGV,

exchanging it for
a fully charged battery,

and putting it back
into the AGV.

And then, within four minutes,

the AGV is running with
a fully charged battery.

The AGVs

keep the goods moving
through the terminal

24 hours a day because
global trade never stops.

This is a 24-7 operation.

We do have one day per year

which we are not operating
and that's Christmas Day.

Every element in the
port works together tirelessly

to make this one of the biggest
operations in the world,

helping to power the
engine of global trade.

Every building project

is an act of creation that
comes with a flip side:

demolition.

In modern cities,

these twin drives of creation

and destruction have become
intertwined because

building something new means
destroying something old.

Demolition industry
is definitely part

of the construction industry.

We come in and take things down,
so they can build things up.

But modern demolition

has more weapons in its
arsenal than just explosives.

So, what makes the KTEG 500 an
unparalleled tool of power...

More power means more punch.

Strength, and
absolutely gargantuan size?

KTEG is huge, it's powerful,

and it does the biggest
demo jobs in the world.

Yeah, okay, we're rolling.

Before this beast

can feed its appetite
for destruction...

We are moving Priestley's
KTEG 500 high-reach machine.

It has to battle
traffic to get to the job site.

This machine is
120,000 pounds with no boom.

The KTEG is a
high-reach demolition excavator

that's moved in parts.

The KTEG is so big,
it has to be transported

on three different
flatbed trucks.

With the
machine on one truck

and its boom arms
traveling separately.

So, just getting it
to the worksite

is a dizzying act of logistics.

So, there's
lots to watch out for,

but that's why we have
an escort behind us.

Every move has to
have its own permit,

and our particular permit
today requires one escort.

You wouldn't think it,
but engineering something

as simple as driving a truck

must be at
the forefront of planning.

If we could haul it at midnight,
we'd haul it at midnight,

but we've got to
haul it during the day.

All the streets are full.
It's really a daunting task.

Because of where we are now

and where we're going,
he's going to be behind me

to block the traffic
when I make my corners.

You don't want
to be stuck somewhere

with this giant load on because
there's no going backwards.

We got to keep going forwards.

Yeah, we're here.

Oh.

The KTEG has
to drive into the worksite

on massive treads
that can chew up the road.

The situation with
offloading on the road

is that we're going to
have to protect the asphalt,

so we like to use
plywood on the road.

Once unloaded,

it's time for this destroyer
to get ready for work.

Changing from travel mode to
demo mode is the machine's

first act of transformation.

The undercarriage
is squeezed in,

so it'll fit
on the floor nice and easily.

We're going to push one of the
tracks out about two feet,

and then we're going to flip
over and do the other side.

This bruiser has the
capability to get skinnier

or wider as
the situation demands.

So, I'll go from
ten-foot to about 14.6.

That way, the machine will
have a much more stable base

when we start work.

Long before it was
an industry in its own right,

the earliest acts of
demolition were military.

Villages or castles were
destroyed to weaken an enemy.

Before the
Industrial Revolution,

both construction and demo
were much more labour intensive,

so buildings were built
to last for generations.

When demolition was necessary,

a team of people took
buildings apart piece by piece,

and precious materials were
preserved at all costs.

It was like a
gang of guys, all in a line,

taking down the building
floor by floor by floor,

guys with shovels
into a wheelbarrow.

There was like maybe
40-50 guys on a job site.

The wrecking ball
came along in the 1890s

and became the most
enduring icon of demolition.

Hundreds of
old tenements are demolished

by an ingenious iron ball
weighing 3,000 pounds.

When wrecking balls
came in the industry,

they were much
cheaper and faster

than employing
a large crew of labourers.

You do feel powerful
swinging a wrecking ball.

They were easy enough to use.

Just aim them at a building
and knock a hole in it.

In the 20th century,

hydraulic machines took
a lead role in demolition.

They got bigger and badder,

evolving into
the mighty KTEG KMC 500P.

This is a high-reach
machine with a difference.

It is uniquely adaptable to
the demands of any demo job.

The KTEG,
here on site, is the king.

It is the biggest.

It's basically
two machines in one.

The KTEG is versatile.

It reaches high.
You can do different booms.

You can do
different attachments.

The sky is the limit
with the KTEG.

The KTEG is
outfitted with the ability

to change its boom arms
with the Oilquick system.

It has a quick coupler
on the boom,

has quick coupler
on the end of the boom,

so you can couple and uncouple
the boom or an attachment.

When the KTEG
latches onto a boom,

the operator lifts it up to take
the weight onto the machine.

This aligns the hydraulic
couplers inside the Oilquick,

mating the boom with the KTEG.

Previous to that, it took two
people, maybe even three--

one guy on the machine,

two guys at the
end of the machine,

trying to line things up.

Instead of spending
half a day with mechanics

knocking pins in with
sledgehammers,

I can just pick it up
with the machine.

And the coupler system
automatically recognizes

which boom and tools
have been attached.

So, I lift
a small bit off the ground,

just work the hydraulics.

Once the hydraulics are working,

we know we have
a full connection

with the Oilquick system.
And then, I'm just watching

to get my green light on there,
and we are good to go.

Within five to ten minutes,
you're inside the site.

The KTEG is
built for tall structures.

Its high-reach boom
has the power and height

to pull down buildings that are
more than eight stories tall.

So, we're gonna
get our mid-stick out,

boom up, put it all the way.

We got about 85 feet to the pin,

plus whatever you gain with your
attachment but that depends.

So, we can get up
there quite quite a ways.

Fully extended,
the high-reach boom

goes well beyond the
roof of its next target,

but it's just as useful on
shorter structures like this.

So, the KTEG machine will start
with his rotating grapple,

peeling off all the insulation,

all the siding
on the side of the building.

By opening up the
exterior of the building,

the crew can see the
construction of it

and determine the
best way to take it down.

Since it's the first
bites into this building,

try nice and gently,
to peel what we can,

see what the
building wants to do.

We don't make
it too much of a mess.

The KTEG's muscle and reach

are all in service of a careful,

deliberate
deconstruction process.

It doesn't simply
punch through walls.

It's nimble enough

to pull materials out
and sort them carefully.

Modern demolition
focuses on recycling.

We want to divert as much as
possible from the landfills.

We'll save anything
that we can for reuse.

We'll save steel beams,
we'll save rooftop units,

you know, we'll
save entire buildings.

Everything you see,
except for the garbage,

will be recycled.

All this metal has value.

With metal prices increasing,
some scrap materials are worth

more now than when the building
was originally constructed.

There's lots
of ways to skin the cat,

and we are in the cat
skinning business.

Getting it
all out is another chance

for the KTEG to
show off its versatility.

Until you get into high reach,

there's no real practice for it.

You start with
a regular excavator,

and my dad put me in a machine
when I was three years old

around the farm
and stuff like that.

Making a big mess
is all I was really doing,

but you learn the controls.

I kind of never progressed
on from being a child,

messing around
with toy machines.

This is much the same thing,

except it costs
a bit more money

and it's quite a bit heavier.

With the high reach
boom on, the KTEG weighs more

than 65,000 kilograms,
and it can handle

a tool attachment that
weighs up to 3000 kilograms.

It's a big toy
and this is our play pit.

Knocking down the stuff
can be straightforward.

Doing it such a way

that everything is
clean can be tricky.

A nimble machine like
the KTEG becomes an extension

of the operator.

Its controls give
haptic feedback,

so its operator can
feel the work it's doing.

Having really smooth
controls that offer

good feedback is important,

but demolition is mostly making
a big mess as clean as possible.

No matter
how much power it has,

the KTEG is only as good
as its tool attachment.

As for attachments,

the one I'm currently using is
called the rotating grapple.

The grapple's used
for sorting materials.

So, it's kind of like a claw,

so you can use it to
kind of move materials

around the jobsite
and clean up purposes.

For each step
of the demolition,

the KTEG can change
its configuration

to exactly what is needed.

The KTEG's superpower
is its versatility

and ability to
change configuration

to meet the demands of any job.

It has an arsenal
of tool attachments

to take down
any structure, big or small.

Choose your weapon wisely.

With the exterior
of the building removed,

it's time to start cutting up
the structural steel.

This job calls for power.

We're going
to put on the short boom.

With the short boom,

the KTEG can use
an even larger tool,

up to 6,000 kilograms.

So, the grapple gets
swapped out for the shear,

a cutting tool that can snap
through the strongest materials.

When we need more power,
we switch to the shear,

and that gives you
a lot more bite force.

Before we had Oilquick,
used to send more machines

to do the same amount of work.

The whole concept
of the Oilquick is to have

less machines, but always using
the right tool for the job.

It's a quick operation,

and the tools get
switched out in minutes.

The shear cuts steel primarily,
but can also cut concrete.

And the shear will rotate,
so you can actually reach up

and cut steel in different ways,

to make it come down
the way you want it to.

The shear is what we use

for cutting all the structural
steel, all this red stuff,

and anything else that
kind of comes in your way.

That's half the reason
I went into demolition.

It's you don't see
attachments like these.

In other heavy
equipment jobs, really.

So, we're just gonna do
a little bit of knock-knock

on the old door here.

In this configuration,

the KTEG can slice through
structural steel

like it's soft butter.

Honestly,
with a machine this size

and attachment this big,
it's almost nothing.

You're just letting the weight
of the machine push down.

There's no-- there's no
pressure at all, really.

When you can just get in and out

of those tight spaces
with the sharp boom,

it could definitely
knock, you know,

15, 20% of the timeline
off of it.

Yeah, that's fine,
and we can cut this out

with this shear anyway, and we
can do the rest of it later,

when we put
the high-reach boom back on.

Yeah, it's quite strong in
there, doesn't want to come out.

Sometimes, it's pretty amazing
how well it's all in there.

And then, other times,
you're shocked

at how poorly it's built
and it just falls apart.

No building stands a chance
when the KTEG rolls in.

When this behemoth is
done flattening the building,

there will be no time to rest;

its next target awaits.

When I look at
a city skyline, I think,

"Which one of you is next?"