All language subtitles for The.Mightiest.S03E06.Colossal.Construction.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-RAWR_track4_[eng]

Groundbreaking projects.

Massive moves and heavy hoists.

Reshaping landscapes.

These mighty
machines move earth,

pulverize rock,

and control the flow of rivers.

They are brutes built to last,

forever a part of colossal
construction history.

When there's a really big job,

it needs really big equipment,

a machine so powerful,

so specialized,

it books projects
years into the future.

The thing's awesome. It's huge.

It's what you dream of
as a kid growing up.

This is the stuff you
want to work with.

Meet lattice boom
crawler crane...

Beautiful.

...one of the
strongest lifting machines

ever built.

It's the only one that can
really do the job.

It's totally crucial,

and it has to be here.

At almost 400 tonnes,

it can hoist an astonishing
650 tonnes of load.

Not only can it lift

a variety of
huge, oddly-shaped loads.

Its crawler gives it
the mobility,

making it versatile for a
number of job sites.

This gigantic crane
has been a globetrotter,

tackling extreme lifts.

When this machine shows up,

big stuff's going to happen.

We're always heavy, far, high,

where everybody
else can't reach.

And today,
this great big machine

is ready to take on
its latest gargantuan job...

Removing a rusted-out bridge

that has served its
purpose and needs to go.

I believe this bridge has been
here since the early 1900s.

It's been a pedestrian bridge
for the last few years.

So, the scope of our work here--

we need to remove the
main structure of this bridge.

Given the restrictions that
we have on this project,

this is essentially
the only piece of equipment

that can do this lift.

Just want to lift them both?

It doesn't matter to me.
I can lift them both,

and we just come and set
them down on the ground here

and separate them.

The biggest challenge when
we come to site

is usually getting the
real estate to build the crane.

It's so big that
the crane is broken up

into 40 truckloads
to get it to the site...

and then reassembled to fit
the specifications of the job.

This crane is sought after.

It's travelling far and wide

from project to project
throughout the year.

So tearing it down for transport

and building it back up
efficiently is key.

It takes a crew of
assembly technicians five days

to snap, click, and lock the
crane's parts into place.

It's designed with
hydraulic quick couplings

on hoses that
connect without tools

and features like
self-aligning hooks

and pins for attachments.

The crane's components,

the A frame and boom hoist,

can be dismantled as
a single transport unit,

minimizing transport
dimensions and weight,

all of which speeds up
getting to and from job sites.

The base
takes up the same area

as six and a half
parking spaces,

creating a wide foundation

for its
nearly-200-metre-tall boom.

That's taller than
the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Tadano crawls like a tank,

riding on massive tracks
rather than wheels.

Each track is four and
half feet wide,

38 feet long.

They weigh 89,000 pounds.

Cranes with tires

require extendable support
arms called outriggers,

which have to be levelled to
strict specifications

to work properly.

Cranes on tracks
don't need outriggers,

because their wide base
distributes the crane's weight

more evenly,

providing stability
while reducing ground pressure

and preventing the
machine from sinking.

Each segment of
the track is called a shoe,

aptly named, because they work

like an athlete's cleated shoe
in how they grip the ground.

Each one of these shoes here

weighs anywhere from
700 to 800 pounds.

They'll roll over anything.

Wherever we want
to put this crane,

you can take it.

For this lift,
the crane will operate

from a solid base
of reinforced wood pads.

This job's
particularly interesting

because ground-bearing.

We're against a riverbank,

so we had to stack mats,

which are one foot by 20
feet long, three high,

so that we meet
maximum ground-bearing pressure

required by the site.

That's where all the weight
to the machine comes down

through the crane and
through the tracks,

through the pads to the ground.

So, you can't have too much
pressure in one corner,

not enough in the other.
You could break something.

They could snap. It's all about
keeping the crane balanced

and keeping the crane level.

Wide tracks
are just the start.

The breadth between the tracks
is eight and a half metres.

This helps spread the load,

like a weightlifter
taking a wider stance

to brace for an Olympic lift.

This crane isn't
just a heavy lifter.

It can reach to great heights,

up to 53 storeys,

and then bring things
down to Earth.

The defining feature of
a lattice boom crawler crane

is the lattice.

This ingenious yet simple design

uses a network of
interlocking steel sections

arranged in a W or V pattern.

Essentially, a lattice
boom has much greater strength,

much greater capacity.

Like, it's all about
engineering in the triangles

of the boom itself.

If you have a telescopic boom,

you don't have the same
kind of type of strength.

This heavy iron
bridge requires extra strength.

Our boom booster package boom,

it's a new, expanded boom.

Measures three and a
half metres wide.

From the original,
standard main boom size,

expands out for boom booster
and then reduces down

to increase capacity
and tip heights.

The lattice is
the skeleton of the crane,

but it's the hoists and cables

that turn structure
into strength.

So, these are
our main hoist drums.

Each drum has 1,000
metres of cable on them.

They run up the crane,

through the super lift,

down the super lift,

out to the tip of the boom,

reeved around on the hook block,

which is essentially the
lifting device,

which everything gets hooked to.

If the engine
is the heart of the machine,

its lifeblood is
the hydraulic fluid.

It powers two
massive hydraulic pumps,

which pushes the oil
all throughout this machine

to make it work, run,

make heavy lifts.

The engine
and hoist cables

will work together to
lift the load,

but before the crane
can bear weight,

it needs to find
the right balance.

We hook our super lift
counterweight tray

to the back of our flex frame,

and by lifting and pulling
on that counterweight,

reduces the tension
on these cables.

And it allows the crane to
lift more, further, heavier.

This right here
is the super lift,

and this is the super
lift counterweight tray.

Right now, we're just getting
the crane plumb over the bridge

where we're going to lift.

Swing around the back, and
I'll move it up into position.

Yep. Come on up, Jonny.

The ballast or added weight is
used to offset the weight

of not only the
huge crane itself,

which includes
the height of the boom,

but also the load
that it'll be lifting.

Planning for jobs like this

with these machines is
very important.

We need to know
weights, distances,

so that we can plan
the crane configuration

and bring the proper
boom lengths and counterweight

for the job to make the lifts

and what the customer has
required from us.

The ballast
weight must balance

against the weight
of the machine

and the weight of
the object being lifted.

But operators must
also factor in how far away

the object being lifted is
from the centre of the crane.

If the boom arm is extended,

more weight is needed
in the ballast tray

to balance the load.

If there's not enough weight,

there's the risk of
the crane tipping over.

If the
job requires more reach,

a longer boom will work,

but it increases the
stress on the structure

and requires more counterweight

to prevent the machine
from tipping over.

Ultimately, the
success of the project

relies on these calculations

coming from the
crane's computers

and the experienced team
on the ground.

Okay, Jonny. Set it down.

Swing them round.

Let's just walk back to
the C can, guys.

Come back, Jonny. Come back.

Right now, the rigging crew
are getting ready

to hook up the
counterweight for our tray.

Once we get the
tray loaded, it's all set.

We just hook up the
rigging to the crane,

and we're set.

We're prepped for
the lift. Beautiful.

Okay, Jon. Hold that.

They're coming down. We'll do
one either side of the bar here.

A rigging
system known as a sling

is used to lift the load with
high-strength steel rope,

synthetic fabric, or chain.

The crew prepares the sling.

When it's ready,
the crane will suspend it

over the piece of the
bridge they are lifting.

When I'm
running this crane,

I can feel everything,

all the movement of the machine.

It all comes through,
and I can tell

whether the motors are
struggling for more power

or if we need to slow down.

Or whatever the
crane needs, you can feel.

With the sling
fixed over the bridge section

and the counterweights in place,

the team is almost
ready to hoist.

I got two of
my best guys out there,

checking the rigging, checking
the other workers' work,

just to make sure that
everything's secured to move.

The bridge
is old and heavy,

but it's not necessarily strong.

They want to be sure the
structure doesn't fail

when it's lifted.

Until everyone is satisfied,

a lift can't happen.

You guys are
the same down there too.

This side's way higher
than you guys.

We're experienced
right now with the rigging

on the old bridges.

The chokers are coming
tight at different points.

A choker sling is
a specific sling configuration

where one of the ends
passes through the other,

tightening it around the
load like a knot

for a secure grip.

So, the condition of the metal,

it's not in the
greatest of shape,

so we have to be very careful.

So it's all been analyzed,

and there's a thought
process behind all of this.

We're probably six feet now.

With the 30s, you're going
to lose a foot going underneath.

Yep.

We're not quite happy
with our rigging

on the bottom of the bridge. We
don't want to have a failure.

We won't do it until the gear is
right and everybody's happy

and everybody feels good
about what we're doing here.

When it comes to
lifting extreme weights,

the Tadano crane is
one of the strongest,

but even the most experienced
heavyweight lifter

takes precautions.

So, we got five feet there now.

We're going to
travel another 10.

Going up another 10.

We're having a
discussion just to make sure

that bridge is safely lifted off
there and to the ground.

We're going to change up
our rigging design

to make sure every choker
takes equal weight

and the bridge
is supported properly

and use a simple basket.

That's going to grab
the whole weight,

and it'll be just perfect.

With
the solution in place,

it's time to get lifting.

The counterweight is calculated,

and the boom arm is extended.

They found the right
balance for the hoist.

Alright. Let's work
up nice and easy.

The bridge section is
separated from its mounts.

Let the lifting begin.

Underneath her.

Keep coming up.

Right now, I'm lifting the
325 tonne of weight behind me.

Got a couple
of inches under her now.

Keep coming up.
You got her all, Jonny.

As the cables tense,

the steel structure of
the crane absorbs the weight,

drawing the bridge
up into the air.

When I'm hoisting
or doing anything,

I'm always watching my cables.

I trust the computer,

but I trust my eyes more.

The crane holds firm

as the old bridge threatens
to sway over the river.

That's it, my brother.
That's all we got.

You want to walk back and swing?

Yeah.

Lifting giant
structures has to be done

in a slow, methodical way.

With that much weight
hanging there,

the smallest unexpected movement
can cause big time harm.

Now, we're
finalizing the position

where the bridge is going to sit
and the tray is going to sit.

We want them both to be
just in a nice spot.

Good
job, buddy. Keep coming down.

Six inches off the ground here
on the far side now.

Yep.

One inch. Keep coming down here.

Drive that right
into the ground here.

Right now, we have a
crowd of people applauding.

That's a new one for me.

We're going to
take our big shackles off here,

- Jonny.
- Coming down.

From setup to lift day,

every time we hit the key with
this big machine is a great day.

The team that we have
behind us that made this happen

is just , like, incredible.
Like, we're so very proud

of everybody that
worked on this project.

This kind of muscle

makes the biggest
jobs look easy.

When this bridge is gone,

the city will be able
to move forward,

and the Tadano will move on
to its next colossal conquest.

Deep beneath the
traffic-clogged streets

of Canada's busiest city

is a hard-grinding,

earth-moving,

cavern-carving rock star...

This is the roadheader,

the most powerful
machine underground.

...one that
chews through 1,000 tonnes

of rock and soil
every single day as it bores

into the future of the city's
public transit system.

Roadheaders excavate rock and
ore with a rotating cutting drum

attached to the tip
of a retractable boom

mounted in front of the
machine's hefty body

and can freely swing from
side to side or up and down,

excavating everything
in its path.

And it pushes the headings

and make the job finish faster.

As their name implies,

a roadheader is the sole machine
responsible for the headings,

the area at the front of the
tunnel or cavern construction.

It alone pushes the
project forward,

while every other machine down
here is supporting that machine.

I'm cutting this top half,

and then later on,
we'll work our way down.

So, we're in shale
at the moment.

Shale's nice and easy to cut,

which is fantastic.

This machine is a beast.

It's one of the biggest
roadheaders in the world.

Tunnel-boring machines
often get the glory

in underground construction.

But a tunnel-boring machine
is limited

to a fixed diameter and a
circular cross-section,

resulting in the tunnels
like the ones used

for subways and trains.

The roadheader is a maverick

responsible for
creating tight curves,

cross passages, and
expansive caverns

while handling extremely
complex ground conditions.

The roadheader
is taking on

450-million-year-old
shale bedrock

buried beneath the city.

Its hardness varies,

but even when
it puts up a fight,

the roadheader is ready.

This machine will cut rock.

It cuts rock really well.

Cutting is just the
first step in the process.

Rock gets chipped
off by the picks,

falls down to the bottom.

There's a pile of dirt in front
of me, in front of the apron.

It'll hit that,
hit the spinners.

The spinners will then spin it
onto the chain conveyor,

and then the chain conveyor will
shoot it out the back,

down the chute, so that
the digger can pick it up

and chuck it in the truck.

The roadheader
is leading the charge

at ground zero
of the Ontario Line,

an over-15-kilometre
subway project,

carving a new path through
Toronto's downtown core.

This project's going
to be about as long

as 30 CN Towers laid end
to end in a row.

When the line opens,
there'll be 15 new stations.

The cavern is
divided into small sections

and excavated according
to a predetermined order.

The crews work from the
top of the outlined cavern

down to the base.

Over days and weeks,

the roadheader chips
away to grow the opening

from a tiny cave to
a huge, echoing chamber.

The Ontario Line
will help take

nearly 30,000 car trips off
the road each day.

Nearly 230,000 more people

will be within walking
distance of a subway station.

Subways provide
economic opportunities,

enhance community connectivity,

and offer environmental relief

to the regions
where they're built.

The line will connect

to over 40
other transit options,

including buses, LRT,

and railway lines.

A project of this scale

needs to work around
existing infrastructure.

When digging this deep
in an active city centre,

workers have to be very careful.

There are electrical
and gas lines.

Then as they get deeper,

there's the
possibility of hitting

water mains and sewer mains.

As the roadheader
digs farther down,

the job becomes more complex,

so the team works the
cavern one layer at a time.

I need to cut this profile over,

because we've got a
mesh layer to put on.

I'll cut the top here. That's
as high as I can reach,

so I've got to use my
telescope to get up there.

So, now, I'm
just starting the head.

This cylinder pushes
the boom out,

pushes it into the rock,

and as I'm cutting, it'll come
up, down, left, and right,

wherever I want it to go.

I control it from the cab.

The nine-metre-long
telescopic hydraulic boom

is powered by a
300-kilowatt motor,

enough power to run
a dozen average homes.

The boom is pushing out
tonnes and tonnes of power

to get through the face.

These are the
hydraulic cylinders

that push up into the rock.

Armed
with a rock-ripping,

rotating steel head,

it pulverizes rock at a rate

of two to three standard dump
truck loads an hour.

This here, this is the
head of the machine.

This is the big piece.

This is what cuts the rock.

The cone-shaped
head is studded

with 48 hardened metal picks

that resemble the
threads of a screw.

This type of pattern distributes
the cutting forces evenly

and minimizes vibration
as it carves out rock

equal to the weight of
600 cars a day.

So, the head weighs
two to three tonnes.

When it gets spinning,
it's got a lot of momentum.

It's something that you've got
to be very careful of

when you're around it.

When you're cutting
at a heading,

you cut hard, and
you fricking rip it out.

The roadheader
makes a big mess,

but it's also designed
to clean up after itself.

So, when the dirt
comes up the apron,

they hit the spinners.

The spinners
move around like this.

And they act as gathering
arms to gather up the rock,

and they push it up
onto the chain conveyor.

The chain conveyor will move
tonnes and tonnes of rock

every minute, push
it out the back.

Right now, you're
feeling that rumbling.

We're making money, baby.

Making money.

When the
roadheader is grinding,

the rocks are flying.

Huge quantities of rock dust

are a hazard to
humans and machines.

So it calls for a mighty
air-filtration system.

So this machine here is called
the DeDuster.

This is one of the most
critical machines in the tunnel.

So all the dust
is being sucked in

this big hole of
1.5 meter diameter

and it can suck almost
40 cubic meters per second.

24/7,

this gigantic
80-kilowatt purifier

pumps fresh air for
the crew and the equipment.

If the
de-duster isn't running,

then neither is the roadheader

or any other machine down here.

It's that important.

Not only is it removing dust

that impacts air
quality for workers,

it also removes
any trapped gases

that may be released from the
earth by moving of rocks.

We cannot work underground
without this critical machine

because it's here
to remove all the dust

and all the dangerous gas.

So we can work safely
for the workers

but also for the people
at the surface.

All that
freshly purified air

can't be mucked up by
engine exhaust,

so the roadheader is running on
the power of the gods...

Electricity.

The Mitsui H300 Roadheader is
a fully electrical machine.

You can see that the Roadheader
is plugged in

through this cable,
and then

we have this big extension cord
in this cable reel

that we can unroll when
the machine is moving.

Running fully
electric machines

is the best solution for
underground mines

and civil projects
like this one.

They have comparable high power
output to diesel machines

but without any of
the toxic emissions,

so workers can breathe easier

no matter how deep below
the surface they are.

Electrical power
keeps things running smoothly,

but when you're battling rock
in the bowels of the Earth,

anything can happen.

You can see now, see all
the rocks coming down the boom.

This is why these cabs
are so important.

The machine keeps me safe,

keeps me safe from the dust

and keeps me safe from the
rocks falling down.

Cabs are designed for
heavy-duty protection

with reinforced steel,

multiple exits,

360-degree windows,

and thick shatterproof glass.

The most dangerous
part about this job

is the unsupported ground,

and that's why
we're very careful

about who goes up to the face
and who goes close to it.

In the
tunneling business,

the face is where the action is,

fresh excavation,

the place where
the work is advancing.

This rock that we're cutting
is millions of years old,

so when you expose it to the
atmosphere, water, air,

what happens is that
it starts to move

and it starts to shift.

It'll pull apart, separate,

and it will fall.

And that's not just this rock.

That's any rock
around the world.

No matter how
experienced the operator is

or how well designed and
powerful the machine,

rock is unpredictable.

Oh!

I just blew a hose.

A rock just come down,

knocked the hydraulic hose off,

so I'll just have to get
the fellas to come and join it.

Otherwise I'm going to
lose a full tank of oil.

In an extreme
work environment,

equipment failures
are inevitable.

Dedicated repair and
maintenance crews are on standby

at all times.

This is one of the
telescopic part of the gearbox.

They're in a high-impact area,

so we're unable to have
automatic grease lines to them.

So we also grease
those manually.

It's got to be lubed up, because
it's a moving component.

Let's go. We're
ready to cut some rock.

It's a
monumental project,

and the roadheader
is spearheading the path

for the trains and passengers

that will eventually
roll through here.

So, we're here in the
first underground station.

The volume total is around
50,000 metre cubed to excavate.

It's a project
of epic proportions.

The space is one and a
half times longer

than a football field,

and its height is nearly
five storeys tall.

And it's all happening

under one of the biggest
intersections in the city.

This method
of rock removal

is called sequential excavation.

It uses mining techniques

to remove small areas
of earth at a time,

taking advantage

of the natural strength

of the surrounding rock

to maintain stability

as the rock removal advances.

As the roadheader
roars underground,

the constant flow
of crushed rock

must be shipped to
the world above.

Well, right now,
I am just reversing.

Okay. So, I'm going to
take this load,

load it into our bin.

I probably do this about
40 to 50 times a day.

Load them up. Haul them out.

That's how stuff gets built.

When I finish dumping,

it's going to be
floated out by the crane

and dropped into a dump
truck on the surface level.

The team working
on this subway line

must navigate the distance

between the worksite below
and life above ground,

a balance that has
been maintained

since Canada's very
first subway was built.

All of our existing subways
are much shallower.

We're not building in the rock,

so different types of
construction were needed.

Even as far back as 1910,

traffic congestion was a
problem in Toronto.

After consultation,

the city council approved

the first subway
construction project,

joining the ranks of London,
Boston, and New York,

cities with established subways.

Toronto's
first subway line

broke ground on
September 8, 1949.

The subway was built directly
beneath a busy street

using the cut-and-cover method,

a technique used for
constructing shallow tunnels

by excavating a trench,

building the
tunnel structure within it,

and then covering
the tunnel with backfill

to restore the surface.

It required massive equipment
such as piledrivers,

power shovels, cranes,

and the labour of
hundreds of workers.

It was difficult and dirty work,

but by 1954,

the subway had
its inaugural opening.

This project's going
to be transformational

for the city and for all the
neighbourhoods that it touches.

It's a good
accomplishment, you know?

It's something that you
can share with everybody,

that you were on a project that
now is going to help

millions of people get
to where they want to get to,

whether it's shopping, whether
it's to work,

whether it's to see
their families,

just everyday living.

This is the joy of
my life, other than my family.

This is what I want to
do for the rest of my days,

I'll tell you.

These machines are a lot of fun.

You get addicted, and
you just want to keep going.

As the city
goes about its business,

deep beneath those streets,

the king of caverns will
keep grinding,

carving new paths
for urban transportation.

In the middle
of Washington State,

the Grand Coulee Dam,

one of the greatest
engineering achievements

in American history,

commands the landscape.

It's the biggest hydroelectric
dam in North America...

Built to supply irrigation
to 11,000 farms

and power to eight
western states

and parts of Canada.

The Grand Coulee
Dam supplies 35 percent

of the Pacific
Northwest's power supply.

That means it's generating

up to 21 billion kilowatt-hours
of electricity annually.

The dam is incredibly important
to the surrounding community.

All the energy it produces
means it can supply

two million households with
power for a year.

Everything
about Grand Coulee is colossal.

It's the length of
four Empire State Buildings

laid end to end

and stands 50 storeys high.

This was once the largest
concrete structure ever built.

It's as tall as two
Washington Monuments.

Pretty impressive. This
is a lot of engineering,

a lot of really great
civil engineering.

The Grand Coulee
Dam is a powerhouse.

It features 33 turbines,

an enormous pumping plant

providing irrigation
to the region,

and three power
generation plants

cranking out energy.

We have North America's largest
machines in our power plant.

So, those big generators are

the biggest rotating
machines in North America

with a rotating mass of
about eight million pounds.

Dams are enormous systems

developed primarily
for power generation,

but they're also used
for flood control,

navigation, water quality,

and sediment control.

They are absolutely essential to
our everyday way of life.

Harnessing water
and directing its flow

was key to the rise
of civilization.

The first dams, built in
the Middle East and China,

date back to 3000 BCE.

Built from earth and gravel,

they held back water
for irrigation.

Dams started as small,
simple structures

built primarily for
the purpose of irrigation,

to supply water for
farming and growing crops.

As time went on, though,

engineers, especially
Roman engineers,

developed advanced techniques
incorporating things

like concrete, stone, and
brick structures

that diverted water not only for
irrigation and industry

but also for things like
drinking and bathing.

During the Industrial
Revolution,

bigger and bigger
dams were built

to provide power
to big factory machines

and provide electricity to
ever-growing cities and towns.

Construction of
the Grand Coulee Dam

began in 1933 at the height
of the Great Depression.

It was part of President
Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal...

You can invest your way

into a sounder future.

...a public works
project aimed at providing jobs,

power, and irrigation
to regions in need.

The Grand Coulee was one of the
largest construction projects

ever undertaken.

Over nine years,

10,000 workers
battled the elements

to carve this concrete
colossus from the bedrock.

There is a
solid connection to bedrock

from end to end and all
the way across the bottom.

They played hell getting that
granite shaved down

and trimmed down and shaped so
that they could build it.

The Grand Coulee Dam

straddles the mighty
Columbia River.

To prepare the site,

enormous amounts of sand,
gravel, clay, and stone

were removed to uncover
the granite bedrock

that is the foundation
of the dam.

In total, 50 million tonnes

of rock and earth were moved,

an amount equal to the weight

of 46 Empire State Buildings.

Giant conveyor belts were used
to carry all the material

several kilometres
away to a canyon

on the west side of the river.

Sheets of steel were then
driven into the bedrock

to build temporary dams
in order to reroute the water

so construction could begin.

It was a herculean effort by
the original engineers

who designed
and built this place

with the technology they had,

the tools they had.

The work was grueling,

relentless, and often deadly.

We did have 77 people
pass away during construction.

77 is always too many,

because one person lost
is a tragedy.

After nine years
of nonstop construction,

the Grand Coulee Dam
was completed in 1941.

The amount of material needed
to complete the project

was astronomical.

This is the
largest concrete structure

in North America.

Approximately 12 million cubic
yards of concrete

was used in building this dam.

The concrete it took
to construct Grand Coulee Dam

would be enough to wrap a
sidewalk twice around the world.

That's enough concrete to build
a four-lane highway

from Seattle, Washington, all
the way to Miami, Florida.

When the United States
joined the Second World War,

the dam shifted into overdrive,

generating even more electricity

for the demand of
wartime production.

The dam provided massive
amounts of electricity

that were needed in order to
produce aluminum for aircrafts

but also to power other
defense industries.

The Grand Coulee was so vital
that President Truman said

it would have
been almost impossible

to win the war without it.

The fact that the Grand Coulee
Dam is still working so well

and is so vital is a testament

to how far dam
technology had evolved

at the time of its construction.

From the outside,

the dam appears to be
a solid structure.

But step inside,

and you'll discover a vast
labyrinth of walkways,

corridors, and tunnels
weaving through its core.

There is roughly 14 miles' worth
of tunnels inside the facility

between the left powerhouse,

the pump generation plant,

the right powerhouse,
and then...

Because Grand Coulee is such
critical infrastructure--

it's necessary to
the daily operations

of the whole country--

the dam maintains a
high level of security.

There aren't any maps or
blueprints of the structure

available to the public,

and access is highly restricted.

So, the Ground Coulee Dam is
very much like a large anthill.

Intricate tunnels.

All designed to
work like an ant colony,

moving the equipment around
and the workers around.

It's really just a huge,
massive marvel of engineering.

The Grand Coulee
Dam draws its power

from the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Lake,

a manmade reservoir
fed by the Columbia River,

33,000 hectares of
power potential.

That's almost 100 times bigger

than New York's Central Park.

This is the water storage.

This is the fuel tank for
Grand Coulee Dam.

The value of this is that it is

North America's largest battery.

We stop the flow
of water at this dam,

and then everything from
Grand Coulee on down

is all coordinated water flows.

A dam's water reservoir acts
as a water battery,

because every litre of water

stored behind the dam's wall

with the built-up
pressure of gravity

has a potential
to create electricity

when it passes through the dam.

And to understand how
this massive structure

generates all that electricity,

you have to follow the water.

From the Roosevelt
Lake reservoir,

it travels down
enormous concrete pipes

big enough to drive
a car through.

The water rushes past
one of 33 turbines.

The force of the water spins the
blades and gets them turning.

That rapid movement is
carried up the turbine shaft

to the generator.

As it spins, it creates
an electromagnetic field,

which produces
an electric current.

The generated electricity
is then transmitted

through the regional grid
to power businesses and homes.

The dam's generators
have been the workhorses

of this region for generations.

Some of the original units
from the 1940s

are still running today,

which is a testament

to the engineering
brilliance of that era.

They built
these machines to last.

There
are three power plants

and a pump generating plant.

When the pump generating plant

is not moving water
for irrigation,

it can also generate
electricity,

and the Nathaniel Washington

is the largest
of the power plants.

It houses six of the
dam's generators.

The Nathaniel
Washington Power Plant

was completed in 1974

and is really the beating heart
of the Grand Coulee.

Its six generators
are responsible

for 65 percent of the
dam's power output.

We have six of the
largest machines

in North America.

They're like the sports cars.

They're high-performance
machines.

These heavy-duty
generators are driven by water

flowing in from individual
steel pipes known as penstocks.

The largest penstock is
over 12 metres in diameter.

That's big enough to
fit in four school buses.

You're looking at a
805-megawatt machine,

which is all the power used

from Seattle to
Vancouver, Washington,

on the west side of the state,

with surplus.

Six massive generators inside
this power plant

produce such enormous amount
of electricity

that the Grand Coulee Dam ranks

as the sixth largest power
producer in the entire world.

The original engineers
were amazing.

They built it to
harness the power.

Hydro power has really been the
heart of economic development

of the Pacific Northwest.

It's been plentiful.

It is relatively inexpensive.

Every time it rains, we refuel.

It is the original green energy.

Long before wind
turbines and solar collectors,

dams like the Grand Coulee have
kept the skies clear.

Where's the smoke?

Where's the pollution?

There isn't any.

This is us doing our job

and in the same way
being quite respectful

of nature and of the planet
while we're doing it.

But the Grand
Coulee's contribution

goes beyond electricity.

It's a giant well.

The water from the dam flows

to over 275,000 hectares
of farmland every year.

The water helps
contribute to growing

over 60 different types
of crops to feed America.

That is a bigger picture
of Grand Coulee.

It's not just power.

We're water, irrigation.

We keep the lights on,

plus we keep you fed.

The water moves from
pumps housed inside the dam.

What you
have here is 12 units

inside this
pump generating plant.

The first six that you
see are pump units,

each capable of pumping
a billion gallons of water

into Banks Lake per day.

The 12 pumps
inside the plant

suck the water
from Lake Roosevelt

and move it uphill
into Banks Lake,

which is a huge
natural reservoir.

From there, the water flows
into a large network of canals

to be delivered to farms
in central Washington.

This pump,
along with the other pumps

here in the pumping plant,

is properly one of the farmer's
best friends, right?

This pump by itself will deliver

over 1,600 cubic feet
per second.

That's a hell of
a lot of water. Yep.

This gigantic fortress

delivers power and irrigation
across the region,

so keeping it in top
shape is critical.

Maintenance is everything.

The dam has an
onsite machine shop

operated by a full-time
crew of mechanics.

If you want to think of Grand
Coulee as a big machine,

you have to have a machine shop

to keep that
big machine running.

We deal everything
from plumbing, pumps,

motors, welding,
fabrication, tin shop.

We support everything
that we need.

This is a critical
piece of infrastructure.

You don't send out for parts.

The machine shop at Grand Coulee

was built to support the
Grand Coulee Dam,

so everything here is big.

You're not going to just
go find those parts

on a shelf somewhere
in Spokane or Seattle.

Without the
machine shop,

even a minor breakdown

could turn into
a major shutdown,

which in turn would
disrupt power generation

and interrupt irrigation.

All of that could lead
to economic, environmental,

and other kinds of damage,

so the machine shop is vital.

This machine shop is like an
onsite emergency room

filled with doctors and
nurses at the ready.

The skilled machinists
working around the clock

are not only
doing routine maintenance

but are prepared for any major
issues should the duty call.

This is probably
the ultimate workshop. Yes.

If you can dream it,
we can build it.

The Grand Coulee Dam
is a colossal combination

of concrete and steel,

staggering in its
size and scope.

I really do enjoy this facility,

the engineering of it
and everything.

It's just amazing what
the human mind is capable of,

what brilliant people can
do when they try.

The Grand Coulee never sleeps.

It's a living
monument to progress,

constantly evolving and
upgrading to meet demands.

It's truly a mighty structure

that will ensure
clean, renewable power

for future generations.

Born in the darkest
days of the Depression,

the dam continues to power and
water the Pacific Northwest

and will do so for as
long as the water flows.