All language subtitles for Building.Giants.S05E07.1080p.WEB.h264-CBFM_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
In Switzerland's soaring
Western Alps,

an elite team of engineers is
embarking on an epic mission.

I feel we were writing history
here in Switzerland.

They are constructing a new
state-of-the-art cableway

in the heart
of one of the country's
most celebrated ski resorts.

In this harsh,
rugged environment,

the team must battle
extreme elevation...

[Daniel]
If you're scared of heights,

this is maybe
the wrong job for you.

...to build a mountain cable
car system,

that will scale the heights
like no other.

This super cableway

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.

Nestled in the Swiss Alps

is the Mürren Schilthorn
Ski Resort,

dominated by the majestic
Schilthorn Mountain,

standing nearly
10,000 feet tall.

Every year, it attracts over
400,000 visitors

who come to hike
the mountain trails

and enjoy Schilthorn's famous
ski slopes.

At the summit sits
the iconic top-station

known as Piz Gloria,

from where skiers can reach
the highest runs.

Inside, its celebrated
revolving restaurant

offers 360-degree vistas.

Access up the mountain is via
an aging cable car system.

It's the linchpin of the local
tourist economy

and provides
an essential service

for the neighboring
mountain communities.

But now, the old cableway
is no longer up to the task

and needs a massive upgrade.

Christoph Egger is the CEO
leading the project.

[Christoph]
First of all, the age.

The existing cableway has been
built in 1965,

so it's almost 60 years old now.

Second, the capacity of
the cableway is not enough.

The plan is to build
a brand-new cableway,

a huge sky train
with four all-new stations.

It will have a new route up
the imposing Mürrenfluh cliff,

slash travel time to the summit
to well under 30 minutes,

and more than double capacity
to 800 passengers an hour.

This is how they'll do it.

The first challenge is to climb
nearly 2,000 feet

from the Lauterbrunnen Valley

to the top
of the Mürrenfluh cliffs.

To scale them,
engineers install the steepest

cableway in the world with
an incline of 57 degrees.

Next, two parallel cableways
run over one and a half miles

to where engineers will build
a giant supporting tower.

They must rebuild
two stations to house

the super heavy equipment

that pulls the cable cars
along the route.

At the summit is
the rotating restaurant

called Piz Gloria.

Here, engineers must install

new extra-large
panoramic windows to showcase

the amazing vistas.

Constructing this mega cableway

is a huge engineering
challenge.

Schilthorn can be tough,

and its winters are brutal.

This is really
one of the most challenging

places for construction.

The engineers must haul
everything they need

via a network
of temporary cableways

that connect each site.

They'll need to rely
on helicopters

to deliver equipment
and building materials

to the most inaccessible
places.

The first big challenge
is to connect the two stations

separated by
a gigantic cliff face.

To get the cable car over
the top, engineers need

to build a tower that hangs
right over the cliff edge.

Raphael Reinle
oversees the build.

[Raphael]
This wall is almost vertical,

600 meters high.

We need to place a tower

direct on the cliff with an
angle of 20-25 degrees

to support our track ropes.

It will be the steepest
aerial tramway

ever been built in the world.

To build the tower on
a near-vertical cliff

will be no easy task.

Engineers must first blast
and drill deep into the cliff

to create anchor points in
the solid rock.

A convoy of trucks will
transport big excavators

and crane parts to the closest
village, Mürren.

Temporary cable wires rigged
all along the route will help

carry materials close to
the tower build site.

Engineers will use a crane to
hoist each beam into place.

Then, workers must bolt
the beams together while

they dangle above a sheer
2,000-foot drop.

It's critical that the finished
structure tilts 20 degrees

towards the slope

so that the weight
of the cable and cars

pushes the tower into the rock.

The engineers' first challenge
is to clear away the topsoil

to expose the rock beneath.

The gradient is too steep for
a conventional digger.

So, the team uses this special
spider excavator.

It has a pair of articulated
hydraulic legs in place of

its two front wheels.

This allows it to
climb down the mountain

to the precarious
excavation site.

The next task is for
the engineers to dig

the foundation for the tower.

But sinking them into
the mountain will be difficult.

[Raphael] This is a very hard
alpine rock.

Explosives is the only way to
dig these hard rocks

here in the Alps.

The engineers start by
clearing the loose rock

and debris from the blast area.

They use the special temporary
cableway to ferry equipment in

and loose rock out.

Once the site is clear,
a specialized crew drills

14 boreholes
for the explosives.

Each one is between
three and eight feet deep.

They calculate that this
detonation requires

15 pounds of explosive.

That should blast away over
700 cubic feet of rock.

A worker called a blaster

connects the charges
to a detonator,

positioned a safe
distance away.

The rest of his team lays giant
mats over the blast area.

These protect the workers
from flying debris.

The team retreats
to a safe distance

and prepares for the blast.

[siren wailing]

[muffled explosion]

The detonation is successful.

Now we can make
the foundations of the tower,

and then we can assemble
the tower itself.

The team assembles a lattice

of one-inch-diameter
steel rods.

Workers pour tons of concrete
in this mesh

to form the foundation.

The engineers must haul up all
of the huge beams

that make the tower, a total
weight of over 110 tons.

The only way
to erect this structure

is for workers
to bolt it together.

All the components are lifted
into place.

The largest weigh nearly
two and a half tons.

[Raphael]
If the assembly team drops
some material or some tools,

it's 600 meters deeper in
the valley,

so it's very dangerous.

It takes the team four months
to assemble

the 100-foot-tall tower.

The engineers must now install
the final elements,

the cable shoes
that sit on top.

These hold the cables at
a specific height and angle

to allow the cabins
to pass over the tower

without hitting it.

Both shoes arrive in pieces.

The on-site crane lifts each
component of the shoes

to a team of workers
on the tower.

All 27 tons of the cradle shoes
are slowly assembled

over two weeks.

Tower 1 is now finished,
but it's just the beginning.

Now we take the next step.

The challenge for engineers is
to demolish the old station

and build a super-strong
new one in its place.

Engineers in Switzerland
are building

the world's steepest cableway.

Their next challenge is to
complete the section

from the mighty Tower 1
to Birg station,

three-quarters of the way up
Schilthorn Mountain.

The station here is part of
the existing

60-year-old cableway.

Its foundations and winch
equipment are strong enough to

pull its two small cabins up
and down the mountain.

But the new cableway will
operate larger

and heavier cabins.

They need a pair of cables to
carry them.

The new system must also be
faster to ferry up 800 people

every hour to the top
of the mountain.

The foundations of the old
station are too weak

to withstand the 1,000-ton pull
of the new system.

The challenge for engineers is
to demolish the old station

and build a new one with
a super-strong base.

Sabrina Benkert leads the team

on this crucial part
of the project.

Working on this station is
such a responsibility

because the cable forces
are so big,

and it's difficult to anchor it
in the rock.

This is how Sabrina's team
will do it.

The new Birg station sits on
the edge of an alpine cliff,

8,800 feet above sea level.

The four two-and-a-half-inch
diameter,

high-tension cables it carries

constantly pull downwards
on the structure.

Their huge weight will drag

the station over
the cliff edge.

To prevent this, engineers must
reinforce the foundation of

the new station with 660 tons
of concrete and steel.

They drill through
the concrete slab

and nearly 50 feet
into the rock.

Into these holes,
they install six vertical

and six inclined super-strong
anchors and then attach them

to the pylons that
hold the cables.

The first challenge for
engineers is to tear down

the existing station.

They use
special demolition machines

to speed up the process.

It takes them three months to
complete the job.

The team is now ready to build
the mega foundation

for the new Birg station.

A temporary cableway delivers

about 160 tons of
steel reinforcement.

A team of fabricators turns
these bars into boxes.

The on-site crane places these
into the shuttering.

The new foundation requires
660 tons of concrete.

So engineers build
a special plant on site

to deliver a steady supply.

It takes the team
one and a half months

to complete the concrete pour.

The giant foundation slab
sticks out 10 feet

from the rock face.

The unsupported section is
an obvious weak point.

The engineers' solution
is to make a series

of mega-sized supports

to hold up the front
of the foundation.

Workers create two sets of
steel frames

and fill them with concrete.

These supports
stabilize the overhang,

redirect the load of
the structure above

back into the mountain,

and prevent the foundation
from snapping in two.

The final challenge for
the engineers is to anchor

the cable into the rock.

Workers use a special
remote-controlled drill

to punch 12 holes through
the concrete foundation

and nearly 50 feet
into the bedrock.

They install a super-strong
cable anchor into each hole.

These anchors transfer the load
on the cable

into the mountain itself.

Over the next 16 months,

the team builds
the new Birg station

on top of the foundation.

Workers install the cable car
pylons and machinery.

They wrap the walls and roof in
copper panels to protect

the structure from
the extreme weather.

With the major components in
place, it's time for engineers

to construct the next part of
this mega alpine endeavor,

a massive tower
on the route's longest stretch.

In Switzerland,
engineers are building

an ambitious new
alpine cableway.

Their next mission
is to construct

a single massive tower

on the route's longest
nearly two-mile stretch.

The tower must be 180 feet high
to lift the full weight

of the cabins
clear of the slope.

But building a super-sized
tower at this location presents

Daniel Hunziker and his team
with a big problem.

The challenge here is that
we are on a slope

with muddy ground,

and this is moving slowly
a little bit over the years.

The tower's architects design
a structure

with an innovative
three-legged system

to counteract ground movement.

To anchor the tower to
the mountain, first the teams

must use excavators to dig
three shafts.

The shaft that points up
the mountain must be 10 feet

in diameter and 36 feet deep.

The two shafts that point down
the mountain

must be 20 feet wide
and 20 feet deep.

All three shafts will be filled
with concrete to create

firm foundations and then
connected to each other

to help hold the legs in place.

The team will use a helicopter
to lift a giant crane

up to the build site.

The crane will then raise
200 tons of steel

to assemble the tower's legs.

Engineers will then adjust each
of the legs to fine-tune

the tower's position and ensure
that it can carry the huge load

of the cable
without collapsing.

The first task is to dig
the foundation for the tower.

Excavators remove over 175,000
cubic feet of earth

to dig all three shafts.

But digging deep holes here
presents a dangerous problem

for the engineers.

The muddy, fractured rock could
collapse in on them.

To prevent this, workers line
the shaft wall

with a mesh of steel rebar.

It takes the team eight weeks
to dig and reinforce

all three foundation holes.

The next step is to fill them
with concrete.

The site is inaccessible to
cement trucks,

so engineers use
the temporary cableway

to haul in over 35,000
cubic feet of concrete,

nearly nine tons
at a time.

It takes the team
six and a half months

to fill the foundation holes

and complete the concrete base.

Now the teams face their next
big challenge,

building a huge
215-foot-high crane.

We need a crane which is
higher than the tower itself.

The only way to do this
is by helicopter.

If you're scared of heights,

this is maybe the wrong job
for you.

The helicopter has to bring up
the crane in sections.

The workers must quickly bolt
the sections

of the crane together before
the next one arrives.

The helicopter has to get
precariously close to dangle

the crane parts within reach.

Now the workers must
attach the cabin.

Next, they need to attach
the beams that hold

the counterweights
and lifting mechanism.

Finally, the last
counterweight arrives.

The workers must grab hold
and quickly detach it

while working 215 feet
off the ground.

With the crane assembled,

the team can begin work
on the tower itself.

The engineers use the temporary
cableway to bring in

all 3,600 pieces of steel that
make up the tower.

The crane lifts each one up,

and workers use hand tools
to fit them together.

Four weeks
into the tower build,

and the workers
are ready to install

its critical rope shoes.

These will ensure the cabin
and cables

run smoothly over the tower.

[Daniel]
Today it's windy

and we have snowfall

and cold temperatures.

As an engineer,
you can plan everything

except for the weather.

The team assembles all four
shoes on the ground.

They then start the difficult
task of mounting them

onto the giant structure.

Because the rope shoes are too
heavy for the crane,

we have to pull them up with
this chain hoist construction.

The assembled shoe weighs
almost 15 tons

and is over 80 feet long.

The most difficult thing is to
keep your fingers warm.

With cold fingers,
it's really difficult

to tighten bolts.

It takes two months to
complete the tower build.

Now the engineers must take on
their next challenge,

installing the cables
which support

this entire colossal project.

Engineers in Switzerland
are building

a state-of-the-art cableway.

It links the village
of Stechelberg

in the Lauterbrunnen Valley

to Piz Gloria
on the summit

of the mighty Schilthorn.

Their next challenge is to
install the cables

that will carry the cable cars
up and down the mountain.

The new cableway uses
two types of cable.

Track cables are static.

They bear the weight of
the cabins and help to keep

them upright and stable.

Haul cables are moving
steel loops.

Huge bull wheels at
the stations drive them around

like a conveyor belt.

Each cable car attaches to this
super-strong wire.

The workers must install
a total of 770 tons

of haul and track cable
from the valley floor

to the summit of Schilthorn.

Overseeing this massive job

is rope technician
Werner Lengacher.

The volume of this project is
very challenging

because of the size itself.

It's not just one section,
it's three sections.

So when we're pulling rope
here, that is also tool-wise

or machine-wise,
a very big challenge,

how to coordinate everything.

The first challenge for
Werner's team is to drag

the track and haul cables

from the station at
Stechelberg to Mürren.

The distance is
over half a mile

with a massive
2,500-foot vertical rise.

This is how they'll do it.

A low loader delivers
drums of steel cable

to the station at Stechelberg.

Next, engineers tie
a lightweight pilot line

to a helicopter.

The helicopter takes this line
up and over the edge of

the cliff and pulls it through
the towers and stations.

Workers on the ground tie
a slightly thicker rope

to the end of the pilot line,

which workers then winch up
to Mürren.

They repeat the method with
progressively thicker ropes

until they have a rope that's
strong enough

to haul up the steel cables.

The final stage
is to splice together

the ends
of the steel haul cable

to create a loop.

A convoy of giant low loaders

delivers the spools of cable
to Stechelberg.

A team at the top of Tower 1
installs a set

of temporary rollers
to guide the pilot line

over the tower
and across the mountain.

The distance from the valley
floor to Tower 1

is about 2,000 feet.

The only way to take the pilot
line up there is by helicopter.

An engineer attaches the nearly
half-inch-thick pilot line

to the helicopter.

And it climbs up to the workers
waiting on Tower 1.

The helicopter must keep
a safe distance.

Venture too close,
and its rotor blades

could strike the cliff face.

The workers successfully thread
the rope

through the rollers
on Tower 1.

On Tower 2, team members
ready themselves

for their turn.

The helicopter now advances up
the mountain and delivers

the end of the pilot line to
Mürren station,

where it is attached to
a powerful winch.

The first stage of
the operation is complete.

[Werner]
The first rope pull is
always the hardest.

The 12-millimeter
has gone up well.

After the 12-millimeter,

we'll put
a 16-millimeter rope in

and then a 32.

And once that one's up,
then we can hook onto

the track rope
and pull that up.

Engineers attach the giant
track cable.

The winch at Mürren pulls it
up the mountain

and anchors it
into the station.

When all the cables
are in position,

the team's next challenge
is to turn

the one-and-a-half-mile-long
haul cable into a loop.

To do this, workers first
thread both ends through

a suspended platform that's
nearly 200 feet up in the air.

Next, they unwind 200 feet
of cable.

[Werner]
Every five to six meters,
we have a person lifting

the rope up and pulling
the strand underneath it.

Everybody is in the same
rhythm,

and it sounds --
it's like a beat.

Dum-dum.
Sounds pretty cool.

Next, the team carefully
intertwines the strands

from both ends of the cable.

Workers use hammers
and clamping plates

to bind them tightly together.

It takes a whole day to splice
the cable

into a super-strong loop that
can lift cable cars

from the valley floor
up the mountain.

The team threads the track
cable and installs loops

of haul cable

all the way to Piz Gloria at
the summit of Schilthorn.

We're all very excited.
It's time to go have a beer.

This mighty new cableway

is ready for the next phase
of construction,

building an entirely
new station

around their world-famous
restaurant.

Engineers in Switzerland are
building a brand-new cableway

up Schilthorn Mountain.

At its summit sits
Piz Gloria station.

The 1969 James Bond movie,

"On Her Majesty's
Secret Service,"

made it world famous.

It houses a revolving
restaurant

with panoramic views
of the mountains.

But this iconic structure
is incompatible

with the new cableway system

that will ferry
double the number of visitors

to the top of the mountain.

The engineers' plan is to keep
the famous restaurant intact

while they build a whole new
station around it.

Chief architect Jürg Beutler
oversees construction.

[Jürg] We have to make new
foundations, new reservoirs,

new electrical stairways
and the big windows

to have a big view.

Here we see the view from
Piz Gloria, the old museum.

At the middle, we make the new
station here and this octagon

just around a new basement.

Biggest risk here will be
the construction

under the restaurant.

The team's challenge is to
enlarge and strengthen

Piz Gloria's foundations

without destroying the iconic
structure above.

Building the new station is no
easy task.

The team has only five months
to complete the construction,

and it must do it between
October and March,

when the weather is
at its worst.

Within these five months,
everything has to be done.

It's cold, minus 20, 25 degree.

The team's first task is to
demolish the existing basement

and clear away the rubble.

Next, workers install steel
girders to support

the existing structure

and make the frame for
the enlarged foundation.

Then, they pour concrete into
frames to make a solid floor.

Once dry, a steel crew moves in

to build the new
cableway station.

The weather is good
and progress is fast.

The team is on track to
complete the new structure

before the deadline.

Piz Gloria offers
an unrivaled panoramic view

of the Swiss Alps.

The designers of the cableway
want to increase the size of

the windows so that more people
can enjoy the spectacular sight

from the summit.

The new glass must be super
strong to keep out

the worst alpine weather.

[Jürg] These windows,
they are thicker

because of the wind.

Here, up in 3,000 meters is
very hard wind.

Today, the team must install
two supersized windows.

Each one measures
16 feet by 16 feet.

The only way to get something
this large up to the summit

is by helicopter.

Installing it is a challenge
for the pilot

and crew on the ground.

The most dangerous thing when
the helicopters come up here is

when he's near the building
and he has to put the glass

between the scaffolding
and the wall.

If unexpected wind comes up,
it can be smashing the window

into the wall, and it would be
very dangerous.

The helicopter delivers
the frame without a scratch.

The team's next challenge
is to install

the three super-sized pieces
of glass into the frame.

Workers attach a bracket with
special suction pads

to a 1,000-pound pane.

The mighty on-site crane then
lifts the glass

to where it's needed.

The team can then install it
precisely into the frame.

Jürg inspects the window
for defects.

You have a spectacular
view here.

It's wonderful.

This whole project
was a challenge,

and the result we are proud of.

We get good feedbacks
from everywhere.

Piz Gloria's modern facelift

and new cable car station

completes the cableway's
ground-based infrastructure.

Next, engineers will need to
find a way to attach the cabins

that will carry up to 800
passengers an hour

to visit this stunning summit.

On Schilthorn Mountain,
cableway engineers

are getting ready for the final
phase of construction.

They must now attach the cabins
that will carry

up to 800 passengers an hour
to the summit.

All six cabins have
a lightweight aluminum frame.

Each is coated with layers of
protective paint,

complete with
panoramic windows,

and weighs
five and a half tons.

The next challenge for
the engineers is to secure

the first two
onto the cableway.

Every cabin on a cableway

attaches to a special
metal frame called a hanger.

The hanger attaches to
a carriage unit.

This rolls along the cable

to move cabins up
and down the mountain.

A team
at Mürren station installs

a four-and-a-half-ton carriage
unit to the pair of cables.

The workers attach the hanger

to the bottom of
the carriage unit.

Next, they run the carriage
unit and hanger down the cable

to Stechelberg in
the valley below.

Workers tie ropes from
the hanger to a waiting cabin.

And a winch hauls it
into the air.

When we lift up the cabin to
the running gear,

we are normally a little bit
nervous because everything

has to fit very precisely.

The team installs two cabins
wrapped in protective covers

onto the first section
of cableway.

Next, they must fit the cabins
to the second section

between Mürren
and Birg stations.

Now we have the cabins here
in the valley.

That was the easy part
on the highway.

Now we have to go up with
the material ropeways

to the top.

And that will be
a big challenge.

The team uses the temporary
cableway to transport

each cabin to Mürren.

These cabins are larger,
so they must run on a pair of

cables called a funifor system.

This is the first funifor
we built in Switzerland,

and it's because
of the wide rope gauge.

This system is going to be very
stable in alpine winds

and can take winds till
80 or 85 kilometers per hour.

When the two cabins arrive at
Mürren, workers lift and attach

them to cables that will ferry

passengers along the second
section of the route.

Now, it's time to install
the cabins

to the third section,

from Birg station
to Piz Gloria at the summit.

This will be the biggest
challenge yet.

[Raphael]
It's a very dangerous transport.

We have to bring them across
the snow fields

to the installation place.

Special snow-tracked vehicles
haul the cabins

along tight ski runs.

The engineers begin
at daybreak.

They mount the cabin to
the temporary cableway

and ride it up the last mile
run from Birg

to the very top
of Schilthorn Mountain.

It's to attach the funifor
carriage and hanger.

The team makes
their final adjustments,

raises the cabin,

and bolts it on.

The epic cableway is
finally complete.

To build this
spectacular sky train,

this team of skilled engineers
has worked at dizzying heights

to construct mighty
steel towers,

haul hundreds of
tons of steel cable

to the top of a mountain,

and secure new stations
deep into the bedrock.

Now, this revolutionary
cableway is ready to shuttle

visitors to the top of
Schilthorn Mountain

for decades to come.