All language subtitles for Building.Giants.S05E08.1080p.WEB.h264-CBFM_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
In Poland, an elite team of
engineers is embarking on

a mega construction project.

They are building a new super
railway to open up the south of

the country like never before.

The team must build hundreds of
complex structures,

tunnel through some of the most
challenging terrain in Europe,

and battle treacherous
geology...

...to establish this critical
transportation line.

[speaking Polish]

This mountain railway...

ranks in a league of ambitious
new engineering wonders that

are bigger,
faster, taller,

and more advanced
than anything

ever constructed before.

This is the inside story of
the extraordinary challenge

of building these giants.

Southern Poland is a region of
natural wonders,

but it is one of
the hardest regions

in the country to cross.

Between Krakow and the towns of
the Carpathian foothills,

railways follow routes laid
more than a century ago.

[train whistle blows]

Many operate as heritage
attractions that run

out-of-date locomotives.

They wind around the mountains.

The result is slow travel.

The 60-mile journey
from Krakow to Nowy Sacz

can take almost three hours.

Reaching the mountain resort of
Zakopane takes just as long.

Now, engineers are building
a brand-new railway

through these mountains.

When complete,
Podleze-Piekielko Railway Line

will cut journey times to
around one hour to Nowy Sacz

and 90 minutes to Zakopane,

opening the region to faster
travel, daily commuting,

and millions of tourists.

To complete the route,
engineers must use

giant machines to build over
80 supersized embankments to

hold back the unstable ground.

Workers must lay over 35 miles
of new track

and build 142 switches with
millimeter precision to guide

trains along the route.

Huge boring machines will punch
20 tunnels beneath

the mountains, one of which
will be the longest in Poland.

To keep on schedule,

they will build a one-of-a-kind
factory to make

the thousands of segments
that line each tunnel.

When complete,
the line will connect

the cities of
Southern Poland

and open the region
to faster travel,

easier daily journeys

and a huge increase
in visitors.

Construction of the railway is
projected to take seven years.

Meeting this deadline
won't be easy.

The route must cross multiple
rivers, valleys, and roads.

And long sections must be as
straight as possible to

accommodate trains traveling up

to speeds of
nearly 100 miles an hour.

[Lukasz speaking Polish]

The first challenge for
the engineers lies beneath

the surface
in the geology of

the Carpathian Mountains.

This region is built from
layers of rock known as

flysch, alternating bands of
hard stone and weak clay.

When water seeps into these
layers, they can begin to

slide, making the slopes
inherently unstable.

[speaking Polish]

Landslides are frequent
in this region.

They destroy property.

[cracking, rumbling]

Crush roads.

They can also cut off railways.

Now, engineers must carve
a new railway corridor

through steep mountain slopes

in the town of
Limanowa.

Limanowa is densely built up,

with homes and roads running
close to the construction site.

If engineers cut into
these hillsides

without reinforcement,
the consequences

could be catastrophic.

[Rafal speaking Polish]

Rafal Sitek is responsible
for making sure the ground

around the railway is rock
solid and finding a way to hold

these hillsides in place.

On the gentler slopes,
they use special ground nails

to stabilize the earth.

A drilling rig positions itself
against the cut slope.

It bores deep holes at precise
angles into the ground.

Workers feed a steel bar into
each hole.

Then they pump in grout
to fill the spaces

and lock the steel into place.

Each nail reinforces the soil
from within,

increasing its strength

and helping prevent it
from slipping.

On this site alone,
workers install thousands of

these anchors to create over
18 miles of reinforcement.

Yet some sections of
the railway

are far more demanding.

In the center of Limanowa,
the line cuts deep

into the slope.

The loads are greater,

and the excavation runs close
to homes,

roads, and the railway itself.

Here, engineers need to take
a different approach to

stabilize the ground.

A supersized rig drills
a 35-inch wide hole

up to 65 feet into the ground.

It then fills the hole with
concrete as it lifts up.

Engineers drill a series of
these holes

with 50-inch gaps
in between.

Next, they drill secondary
piles in these gaps.

Before the concrete begins
to harden,

they insert reinforcement
baskets into the shafts.

The result is a solid
underground wall

that can hold back
thousands of tons of earth.

To build these walls,
Rafal's team must drill piles

deep into the unpredictable
ground here.

So the engineers bring in
a powerful machine,

standing nearly 100 feet tall,

a beast that can drill deep
into the toughest ground.

Engineers start with drilling
the primary piles.

A steel casing rotates
into the ground.

Inside it, an auger spins in
the opposite direction to cut

into the soil and bring
the material up to the surface.

The deepest piles reach
65 feet into the ground,

deeper than
a six-story building.

Once the hole reaches
the required depth,

workers withdraw the auger

and pump concrete
into the hole.

The casing slowly lifts
out of the hole

as the concrete rises
to fill the shaft.

The machine then moves on,
and the process begins again.

Once the primary piles are dry,

the team drills the secondary
piles in between.

The auger pumps concrete into
the holes, and workers sink

cylindrical reinforcement
baskets made from steel

into each one.

These baskets run the full
depth of the pile and make them

strong enough to hold
back the hillside.

The team then removes thousands
of tons of earth to reveal

a megaterrace that eliminates
the threat of landslides,

to safeguard the railway

and protect the passengers
that will use it.

Now that the ground is stable
enough to build on,

next, engineers must begin
building the new railway.

Engineers in Poland are
building the ambitious

new Podleze-Piekielko
Railway Line

that will slash journey times
to the south of the country.

The designers of the railway
plan to build 22 stations

and stops along the route.

One of them is here
in Limanowa.

The station needs switches,
precision track systems that

guide trains from one track
to another.

Each switch is made from
interlocking rails

and moving blades
that are engineered

to millimeter precision.

Get it wrong
and the train could derail.

Many switches for modern
railways are made in factories

and delivered
pre-assembled to site.

Here, they must bring in
100-foot lengths of track

and assemble the switch piece
by piece on site.

First, workers lay down
two steel assembly rails.

Next, they lay the numbered
concrete switch bearers on top

in a precise sequence.

Above these,
they position the steel rails

so they align with pre-cast
fixing points in the bearers.

They fix the rails
and switch elements in place.

Fastening systems lock
everything together.

After inspection, workers can
remove the assembly rails,

and the switch will rest
exactly where it was built.

This week, engineers must build
a complete railway switch

for Limanowa Station.

Overseeing this task is railway
engineer Marcin Iwanow.

[speaking Polish]

First, Marcin's team lays out
124 concrete slabs

called switch bearers.

Each one is numbered
and placed in

a precise sequence to form

the exact geometry
of the switch.

The switch bearers hold
the steel rails in place.

The team must position
them precisely.

Otherwise, the rails won't fit.

Now for the heavy lift.

The switch has two arms.

These are the tapered
steel rails that

move back and forth
to switch the track.

Each one weighs about
three tons.

The team must use
a crane to place

both precisely into position.

But the unstable ground of
Carpathian flysch

adds another challenge.

[speaking Polish]

The crane moves into position.

The ground gives way.

And one side
of the crane sinks.

If the crane isn't level,

the entire machine could tip
over during the lift.

The engineers must
find a solution.

An excavator cuts into the soft
ground to create a stable base.

Workers lay old sleepers

beneath the crane's
support leg

to spread the machine's load.

[Marcin speaking Polish]

The crane extends
its outriggers and workers

attach them to metal feet
placed on top of the sleepers.

Slowly, the machine levels out.

The crane is ready to
make the lift.

It lowers the first arm
into place.

Followed by the second.

Final alignment can only be
done by hand,

but it is not an easy task.

[speaking Polish]

Workers use bars and levers to
make small controlled

adjustments until
everything fits.

They guide each element onto
precast fixing points.

These transfer the load of
passing trains into

the concrete foundation to
ensure the switch's stability.

Workers move along the switch
to tighten each connection.

It takes the team 20 hours to
complete the first of

nine switches at the station.

Once finished, these will form
a precision system to

guide trains safely from
one track to another.

But for their next challenge,

the team will be forced to
go underground.

In Poland,
engineers are building

the new Podleze-Piekielko
Railway Line

to access the spectacular
Carpathian Mountains

in the south
of the country.

Slashing journey times is
a priority for

the railway's designers.

[speaking Polish]

The undulating topography of
the Carpathian foothills makes

a straight route above ground
almost impossible.

So engineers are punching
13 tunnels,

totaling nearly 20 miles
through these mountains.

The engineers digging
the tunnel at Mecina must

bring in two special tunneling
machines to get the job done.

The two mega tunnel boring
machines arrive in pieces at

the ports of Gdansk and Gdynia
in northern Poland.

The construction site is
435 miles south.

It's mid-December.

Heavy transportation will soon
shut down for

the Christmas holiday.

Engineers are in a race against
time to move thousands of tons

of machinery across
the country...

before the window closes.

Their first challenge is to

unload everything
from the ship,

in winter
and against the clock.

Jaroslaw Joniec and Maciej Stec
are in charge of

the mammoth operation.

[Jaroslaw speaking Polish]

Deep inside the hold,

the components sit wrapped
in tarps.

Workers climb down to rig
the lifting straps.

[Maciej speaking Polish]

Then, the cranes take the load.

One by one,
the components emerge.

The smaller parts go on to
standard trucks,

but the largest elements need
specialized low loaders.

The heaviest elements weigh
over 110 tons,

too heavy for a single crane.

So for the most
demanding lifts,

two cranes work together.

Finally, after three days of
around-the-clock work...

the last component
touches the quayside.

And as night falls,

the convoy sets off through
the streets of Gdynia,

and it begins its
435-mile journey south.

But not every road
can take the weight,

and not every bridge
is strong enough.

So heavy loads move slowly on
pre-approved routes.

The final stretch along steep,
narrow mountain roads

is the most challenging.

[speaking Polish]

[Maciej speaking Polish]

Drivers can't rely on
visibility alone.

Pilots walk ahead,
guiding every move by radio.

Finally, the convoy reaches
the construction site.

The engineer's next challenge
is to assemble

the 172 components,

weighing 3,400 tons,

into a pair of
tunneling machines.

[Maciej speaking Polish]

They named the larger
machine Jadwiga,

and the smaller one Kinga,
honoring two of Poland's most

revered medieval royal saints.

Space in front of
the rock face is tight.

The team must build
the 330-foot-long tunnel

drilling machines
within a space

that measures nearly 400 feet.

After seven weeks,
Kinga is ready.

The crew fires up
her cutterhead,

and the machine prepares to
tear into the rock.

To build the Podleze-Piekielko
Railway Line, engineers must

drive tunnels deep beneath
the Carpathian Mountains.

[speaking Polish]

The first two tunnels were run
beneath the village

of Pisarzowa.

One will carry the railway.

The other will serve as
an excavation tunnel.

They will run for nearly
two and a half miles,

the longest railway tunnels
in Poland.

But the ground here is made
from highly unstable layers of

rock and clay that can shift.

There is a danger that
a collapse could trap

the tunneling machine
beneath the surface

and endanger its crew.

To prevent this,
Jadwiga and Kinga

are a special type of
tunnel boring machine

called an Earth Pressure
Balance, or EPB-TBM.

This is how it works.

A rotating cutterhead breaks
through the ground.

The excavated material enters
a sealed chamber behind it.

Here, it mixes with water,
air, and foaming agent to

create a sludge
that is held

under pressure
inside the chamber.

It pushes back against the rock
to keep the tunnel stable

and prevent collapse.

A screw conveyor controls
the amount of material that

leaves the chamber to maintain
the pressure balance.

Next, the spoil is transferred
onto a conveyor belt

and carried out of the tunnel.

As the TBM advances,
it installs

precast concrete
segments behind it.

Hydraulic jacks push on them
to move forward

and help form
a sealed tunnel lining.

Two TBMs build the railway
tunnel and excavation tunnel

at the same time.

But cutting through
the Carpathian flysch

is no simple task.

It's the responsibility
of TBM manager Veysel Dalmis

to keep the machines on track.

And the tunneling machine's
crew faces an even more

dangerous invisible threat.

Pockets of methane gas can be
trapped inside the rock.

Methane is deadly for humans,

and in a high enough
concentration,

it can become explosive.

Even a small spark from metal
contact from machinery

could ignite it.

An explosion underground
would be catastrophic for

both the tunnel

and the village above.

So the EPB-TBM has sensors
throughout the machine that

constantly measure the amount
of methane in the tunnel.

The engineers' next challenge
is to stop the immense pressure

of the ground from crushing
the newly excavated tunnel.

The TBM's solution is to line
the interior of the tunnel

with precast concrete segments.

As the cutterhead advances,
a motorized arm

swings into
action behind it.

It picks up each segment using
a powerful vacuum grip.

Rotates it into position.

And locks it into place against
the tunnel wall.

Seven segments form
a complete ring,

each one bolted to the next.

Rubber seals between them help

keep groundwater out
of the tunnel.

Each ring is strong enough
to resist

the crush of the earth above

and maintain the tunnel's
35-foot diameter.

But digging the tunnel is only
half the job,

because everything the machine
cuts must go somewhere.

A continuous conveyor belt

carries tons of earth and rock
out of the tunnel.

The TBM is constantly
moving forward.

As it advances,
the conveyor system

must grow with it.

The machine stops at regular
intervals for maintenance.

And in this limited window,
crews must bond a new length of

belt to make
the conveyor longer.

To extend the belt,
they use vulcanization,

a process that fuses the belt
together using heat,

pressure, and layered
bonding materials.

After several hours,
the belt becomes

one continuous length.

With the new section installed,

the team now needs to keep
the mountain above

from caving in on them.

Engineers in Poland are
punching two tunnels through

challenging geology as part of
a brand new railway line in

the south of the country.

As it advances,
the tunneling machine builds

behind it a concrete lining
made from precast segments.

[speaking Polish]

These rings hold back
the weight of the ground above.

The pair of tunnels beneath
Pisarzowa require

more than 28,700 segments.

The tunnel-digging machine
needs a steady supply of these

to keep working
around the clock.

To solve this problem,
engineers build a dedicated

segment factory
beside the tunnel.

At its heart is a carousel
production line.

First, workers clean
a segment mold and spray it

with a release agent to stop
the concrete from sticking.

Next, they fit a ceiling gasket

and lower a steel reinforcement
cage inside.

Then, they close the mold
and fill it with concrete.

Vibrators shake the mix into
every corner of the form.

The mold then moves into
a heated curing chamber.

Several hours later,
workers open the mold

and lift out
the finished segment.

Soon after,
crews transport it underground

for the tunnel-digging machine
to install inside the tunnel.

The molds are designed
to produce

millimeter-accurate segments.

Workers clean each mold
and then spray it with

an anti-adhesive coating...

and fit a sealing gasket

to help waterproof
the finished tunnel.

Then, they lower a steel
reinforcement cage inside.

By the end of production,
the factory will use around

5,200 tons of reinforcing steel
to build the cages

for every segment.

Once workers close the mold,
they pour in the concrete.

Mixer trucks deliver each batch
from a local supplier.

Engineers use
a high-strength mix

designed for extreme
underground conditions.

Steel fibers reinforce
the concrete and help it

withstand temperatures of over
2,100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Vibrators shake the mix into
every corner of the form.

Then, crews remove
the excess concrete

and smooth the outer surface.

This closes the pores in
the concrete and improves

its resistance to water.

Now, workers move the segment
into a curing chamber.

Here, engineers control
the heat and humidity.

Temperatures reach
130 degrees Fahrenheit,

and humidity approaches 100%.

These conditions help
the concrete

harden and gain strength.

After roughly eight hours,
the segment is ready.

These rings must withstand
enormous pressure from

the weight of
the mountain above.

If the concrete is too weak,
the lining could fail,

so engineers must test every
completed batch before

they're installed
inside the tunnel.

Workers take samples from
the concrete mix and pour them

into small cubes.

After curing,
engineers place the cubes

inside a compression
testing machine.

The machine increases
the pressure until

the concrete fails.

The result shows whether
the mix is strong enough

for the tunnel lining.

If the segment passes
inspection, a scissor grab

lifts it from the mold...

and rotates it into
its storage position.

The concrete continues to
harden for three more days in

covered storage
beside the factory.

After that,
workers move the segment

into the storage yard.

This innovative factory
supplies the TBM with

a constant stream of super
strong concrete segments

to keep the tunneling machine
advancing through the mountain

24 hours a day.

Now, engineers prepare for
the final step

of the tunnel-building --
the breakthrough.

Engineers in Southern Poland
are close to completing

the country's longest
railway tunnels.

Today, they prepare the smaller
tunnel-boring machine to cut

through the final feet of rock,

a critical stage known
as the breakthrough.

Worn cutting tools can stop
the TBM from excavating safely.

The tunnel face could collapse
during breakthrough.

Chief engineer Veysel uses
a special train to travel

the two and a half miles from
the tunnel's entrance to

the TBM at the other end.

The buildup of methane
inside the tunnel

could still pose a risk.

So Veysel
carries a self-rescuer,

an emergency breathing device
that gives him

enough time to escape.

Veysel arrives at the rear of
the tunneling machine.

Getting from here to the rock
face is a journey in itself.

The tunnel-digging machine is
now nearly two and a half miles

inside the mountain,

the furthest it has ever been
from the exit.

If something goes wrong here,
getting out is

not straightforward,
and a self-rescuer alone

might not be enough.

So designers equipped
Kinga and Jadwiga

with rescue chambers.

They are airtight and fully
self-contained with

emergency power and provisions.

Even if the machines come to
a standstill, safety systems

continuously pump in fresh air
and regulate the temperature.

The rescue chambers can keep
workers alive for up to

24 hours, long enough for help
to reach them.

Just behind the tunnel face,

Veysel opens the maintenance
hatch and climbs inside

the cutterhead.

He checks each cutting tool
for wear and damage.

Veysel signals to the operator
to rotate the cutterhead.

The machine is ready.

Veysel exits the tunnel

and goes to the place
where engineers

and officials have gathered to
witness the breakthrough.

From here, he coordinates
the final push.

There is one more obstacle in
the way, a thick concrete wall

reinforced with steel piles.

The tunnel drilling machine
must break through it cleanly.

If the machine is misaligned,
it could strike the circular

mouth of the tunnel,
which could collapse.

At last, the cutterhead
reaches the final barrier.

The piles give way,

and the tunnelling machine
breaks through.

[crowd cheering]

[indistinct chatter]

Now, the team can turn
its attention to

the 12 remaining tunnels along
the route to complete

the full railroad.

To build Poland's extreme
railway, this team of engineers

stabilized dangerous slopes,

transported giant machines
435 miles across the country,

and drove record-breaking
railway tunnels deep beneath

the Carpathian Mountains.

Now, Podleze-Piekielko Railway
Line will open the region to

quicker journeys,
better connections,

and a new era of rail travel
through the Carpathians.