All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S02E07.Amazon.Ghost.Town.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

Narrator: a symbol of
The american dream left rotting

In the amazon jungle.

Hang on. What the heck
Is this doing here?

Narrator:
Concrete structures scattered
Across a forest in europe.

Who needed to build something
So well-protected?

Narrator:
A fortified corridor of death

Stretching for miles
Across germany.

Corum:
To keep the country existing,

They had to turn the entire
Country into a prison.

They had to turn the entire
Country into a prison.

Narrator: once they were some
Of the most advanced structures

And facilities on the planet,

At the cutting edge
Of design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned,
Contaminated,

And sometimes deadly.

But who built them and how,

And why were they abandoned?

*

*

*

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

On the edge of the amazon
Rainforest in brazil,

Down the tapajós river, is
A utopian dream frozen in time.

*

*

2.5 million acres of this hilly,
Rocky, and infertile land

Was once its own sovereign state
Run by a foreign corporation.

Imagine rowing down a brazilian
River and you come to this site

And you see these
Abandoned buildings,

And all of a sudden
You come across

A purely american fire hydrant.

You would be quite surprised
To see cape cod cottages,

You would be quite surprised
To see cape cod cottages,

Swimming pools existing in the
Middle of the brazilian jungle.

It would be
Quite a stark contrast.

Narrator:
Towering above these houses
Is a 164-foot iconic water tower

That dominates the landscape.

Gough:
This is some kind of movie set.

It would really play
With your head

Because you would be
Wondering what the heck

Is this doing here.

Narrator: who built this replica
American midwestern town

Narrator: who built this replica
American midwestern town

In the middle
Of the amazon rainforest,

And why was it deserted?

The roots of this town
Can be traced back

To the technological revolution
At the dawn of the 20th century.

The global expansion
Of the motor industry

Is hampered by
The british monopoly on rubber.

Nowhere is this felt
More than in america.

Henry ford, the father
Of the affordable motor car,

Has a vision for his empire --
To make it self-sufficient.

Has a vision for his empire --
To make it self-sufficient.

But how can ford obtain enough
Rubber at a decent price

To sustain
His automobile company?

Henry ford is
The consummate businessman.

He's producing cars.

Cars require tires,
And rubber is expensive.

So he has this idea,

"I'm not going to pay
High prices for rubber.

I'm going to cut out
The middleman

And create my own
Rubber factory,

Because after all,
It grows on trees

In the brazilian rainforest."

In the brazilian rainforest."

Narrator: the solution lies
Over 3,000 miles away

From the car plants in michigan,

Amongst the rubber trees
Of the brazilian jungle.

This is henry ford's
American dream,

A home away from home --
Fordlandia.

Gough: everyone knew that
Henry ford thought big.

That was his reputation.

So when he sets out
To build a factory,

No one is surprised
When he actually says,

"No, I'm going to build
An entire town."

"No, I'm going to build
An entire town."

Dickrell: the purpose of
Building the town there would be

To create
A rubber tree plantation

In which a large
Concentration of rubber trees

Could be cultivated

And farmed as a cheap source
Of rubber for tires.

Narrator: in 1929, ford starts
His ambitious plan

To build the largest
Rubber plantation in the world

That will meet the growing
Demands of his automobiles.

But will ford's desire for
An exclusive source of rubber

But will ford's desire for
An exclusive source of rubber

From the amazon actually work?

Will fordlandia be a success?

Fordlandia was actually
Quite large for its location.

It housed over 2,000 people,
Had a dance hall, a hospital,

Almost as if you took
An american city

And plopped it down in the
Middle of the brazilian jungle.

It was quite a vision.

Narrator:
Ramundo de souza lisboa
Lives here in fordlandia

And is familiar with
The mechanical beating heart

And is familiar with
The mechanical beating heart

Around which the town
Used to revolve.

[ speaking portuguese ]

Interpreter:
This was a factory warehouse,
A saw mill, a workshop.

They also generated
Electricity here for the town.

It was the center
Of the whole thing.

Narrator:
This sprawling plantation,

The size of connecticut,

Boasts many
Of the benefits enjoyed

By ford's workers
Back in america.

By ford's workers
Back in america.

But can this outpost
Of american engineering

Take root in the middle
Of the rainforest?

Can american values and work
Ethics succeed so far from home?

To make sure it works, ford does
More than build a city,

He creates an independent state

Geared towards
Rubber extraction.

So, the extraction of latex
And rubber trees

Is very interesting.

Is very interesting.

Over the course of the day,

The latex will rise up
Into the tree,

So the workers would have to
Go out early in the morning

When the latex was very low,
Tap the tree, and extract it.

Narrator: the liquid latex is
Then mixed with diluted acid

Which coagulates
To form rubber slabs

That are pressed through rollers

Removing excess water.

Today, the traces
Are all but gone,

But once, these factories
Were set up

To process thousands
Of tons of rubber a year.

To process thousands
Of tons of rubber a year.

So, what happened
To this strange place?

Dickrell: the achievement
That henry ford reached

With the brazilian government

Would be that fordlandia
Was almost a sovereign state

Within a sovereign state,

That no intervention
Would occur,

And they would have
Almost carte blanche

To run the town as he saw fit.

This might be a classic case
Study in cultural insensitivity.

Henry ford looks and sees
What is working in america

Henry ford looks and sees
What is working in america

And I'm going to
Superimpose that in brazil.

Narrator: exporting mainstream
America to the brazilian jungle

Starts to cause problems.

Interpreter: the discipline
Was military style.

Everything was very strict,
Very disciplined.

They weren't allowed
To drink alcohol.

They were expected to garden,
Attend regular square dances,

Eat specific food,

Eat specific food,

Clearly alien to the people
That were living in fordlandia.

And guess what,
It doesn't turn out so well.

Narrator: trouble is brewing
Deep in the amazon rainforest,

Could an uprising
Amongst the workers

End henry ford's utopian dream?

*

Narrator: in the middle
Of the brazilian rainforest,

On the banks
Of the tapajós river

Are the remains of henry ford's
Rubber town, fordlandia.

Equipped with
All-american mod cons,

This should have been
A working man's paradise.

But ford's dream soon becomes
A repressive nightmare

For the town's residents.

Things reach
Boiling point in 1930.

Things reach
Boiling point in 1930.

There is complete mutiny.

They go out and they cut
The telegraph wires.

They chase the managers
And the cook into the jungle.

The brazilian army has to
Come in and sort things out.

They had simply had enough.

So, these strict guidelines
Ultimately backfired

Because the people of fordlandia
Just refused to live

In such a fashion that was
So strict and draconian.

In such a fashion that was
So strict and draconian.

No one wanted to be
In that place for any longer

Than they could.

Narrator:
It's not just fordlandia's town

That is doomed to destruction,

Its plantation
Is not far behind.

Interpreter: they cut down the
Forest and didn't plant

Rubber trees
At the same time.

Rubber trees are
Susceptible to disease,

And that is what happened.

And that is what happened.

Narrator: ford knows
Automobiles, but not biology.

His team in the amazon consists
Of top ford factory-trained men,

But lacks rubber specialists,
And his bid to industrialize

The biological world
Ends in catastrophe.

Henry ford failed
In his attempt to manufacture

An alternative rubber source.

They planted the trees
Side by side.

That's not how you do it.

They're prone to disease
And there's a domino effect.

When they're too close
Together, they all die.

When they're too close
Together, they all die.

The whole thing just wasn't
Very well thought out.

Narrator: already teetering,
Ford's high hopes for fordlandia

Finally come crashing down

As synthetic rubber
Floods the market.

For all of his
$20 million investment,

Virtually no rubber is produced.

Fordlandia ultimately failed,

Not only due to
The lifestyle restrictions,

But also economic reasons.

Synthetic rubber came about,
Such that the economic advantage

Synthetic rubber came about,
Such that the economic advantage

Of growing your
Own rubber trees,

That advantage
No longer existed.

In 1945, fordlandia is sold back
To the brazilian government

For only a little
Over $200,000.

Its saw mill, hospital, houses,
And streets are abandoned.

For 60 years,
It laid eerily derelict,

A ghost town
Of enormous proportions.

A ghost town
Of enormous proportions.

But today, fordlandia has been
Partially reclaimed

By the local population
As a ready-made place to live.

American culture has been
Exported to the entire world,

But that was done by choice.

People chose little bits of it

Because it was
Intriguing to them.

But we have forgotten
The era where we attempted

To superimpose what we thought
Was best on other cultures.

We did do that, and fordlandia
Might be the best example

We did do that, and fordlandia
Might be the best example

Of that cultural insensitivity,

And I don't think
We should forget that.

*

Narrator: over 5,000 miles away
In the german countryside

Lies the remnants
Of an epic structure.

Surrounding the town
Of hotensleben are strips

Of plowed earth,

Knotted metal,
And crumbling concrete.

Knotted metal,
And crumbling concrete.

A very unique
And specialized structure.

Narrator: nine feet high
Concrete fortified walls

Topped with barbed wire
Enclose swathes of open land

All watched over
By menacing towers.

What are all these
Deadly elements used for

And why are they still here?

Their purpose can be traced back

To the demise
Of the third reich.

To the demise
Of the third reich.

To stop nazi germany
Rising again,

The country is divided amongst
The conquering powers,

Split down the middle,
Democratic western germany

Is ruled by the allies

And communist eastern germany
By the soviets.

The borders are open
And there are no walls.

How, then, does the soviet union
Protect their border

And their ideology in the shadow

Of their greatest
Western rivals?

Of their greatest
Western rivals?

At first, the west germans
Did not recognize the existence

Of east germany
And would openly defy the border

In terms of provocative visits,

As well as things that
It would do to intentionally do

To irritate east germans.

Narrator:
With the cold war in full swing,

The openness of the border
Dramatically changes

On may 26, 1952.

To protect the eastern zone,

The soviets build
A true manifestation

The soviets build
A true manifestation

Of the iron curtain,
The inner german border defense,

One of the deadliest
Borders in history.

When winston churchill said

"An iron curtain has
Descended across europe,"

This is what
He was talking about.

32 times longer
Than the berlin wall,

It runs for 866 miles,

It runs for 866 miles,

Cutting through
The whole country.

Dickrell: the scale of the
Border defense was enormous.

It went from the baltic
All the way south

To the center of germany.

Some places kilometers wide
With stretches of land

That were completely
Devoid of trees

To prevent people
From gaining any cover.

Man: from somewhere
behind this steel barrier
that attack

would come should the
communists employ armed force

to press their dream
of world domination.

to press their dream
of world domination.

Narrator: but this defense wall
Isn't what it seems.

It serves an altogether
More sinister purpose.

But was it keeping the people
Of eastern germany out

Or was it stopping
Foreigners from coming in?

*

Narrator:
Still standing long after
The fall of the soviet union,

The largest preserved stretch
Of the real iron curtain

Borders the town
Of hotensleben in east germany.

This is the inner german
Border defense.

But is defense
Really its purpose?

This had nothing to do
With a military defense line,

Whatever the east german
Government said.

Whatever the east german
Government said.

This was totally oriented,
As the berlin wall was,

Against their own people.

Narrator: the communist regime
Dictates every aspect of life

In east germany,

Enforced by the stasi,
The repressive secret police.

Many people want to escape
To the democratic west,

But a mass exodus

Will destabilize
The east german economy.

East germany was
A pretty vicious place.

East germany was
A pretty vicious place.

To keep their country going,
Existing,

They had to essentially turn the
Entire country into a prison.

man: this is where
the free world ends

and the communist dominion
begins,

for this is the frontier
of freedom.

Narrator: to stop escapees, the
Soviets start construction

In 1952 of what they called
The anti-imperialist wall,

But will this alone be enough?

But will this alone be enough?

The construction of the border
Defenses came in phases.

Early on, it was very small
And modest,

But then as tensions grew
Between the east and west,

Significant effort was
Put into making the border

Defenses larger
And more fearsome.

Dr. Susan baumgartl and
Her family lived in east germany

Behind this very wall.

Baumgartl: the fortification
Consisted of two fences,

One to the western side
Was called enemy watts

One to the western side
Was called enemy watts

And was a metal grid fence.

Next to this outer fence
Was an anti-vehicle barrier,

And the front of this
Was a six meter plowed strip

To see footprints of refugees.

Narrator:
Citizens fleeing across the
Border are treated as criminals,

And if caught are heavily fined

And imprisoned
For up to three years,

But none of this discourages
People from attempting

This dangerous crossing.

*

*

In addition to a wall, you had
Watchtowers, command posts,

Electronic sensors.

They cleared brush, trees,
Villages, everything

So that they had
A clear line of sight,

And, sadly,
A clear line of fire.

Narrator:
Now a manicured stretch of land,

It is hard to imagine
That this was once a death strip

It is hard to imagine
That this was once a death strip

That was indiscriminate.

Running through farms,
Coal mines, towns,

And even houses,
Nothing could stand in its way.

So, similar to the berlin wall

That split berlin
Basically in half,

The defense border split
Communities along the border,

In some ways
Completely destroying homes,

And the economic activity was
Completely destroyed, as well.

By 1961, east germans, a country
Of 17 million people,

By 1961, east germans, a country
Of 17 million people,

They're leaving east germany
At the rate of a million a year.

Narrator:
Over time, the border develops
From a protected frontier

Into an elaborate
Fortification system,

Which reduces the number
Of escapees by 75%.

So, as the border defenses
Were increased in size,

The buffer zone between
The border itself

The buffer zone between
The border itself

And almost like
A no-man's land was increased.

More guard towers were added.

Mine fields were introduced.

Tremendous amount of resources
Were put into creating

An effectively iron curtain

In between east
And west germany.

Narrator: in the 1970s and '80s,
It reaches its peak,

With 30 guards patrolling
Each 3œ-mile stretch.

This is the inner metal
Grid fence facing the east.

This is the inner metal
Grid fence facing the east.

It has on the inside there
Are thin layers of wire

That were electrified.

People were trying
To climb over the fence.

They would touch these wires
And an alarm would go off.

Narrator: the development
Of 60,000 antipersonnel mines

Specifically
To deter border crossings

Reduces escape success
To less than 1%.

Over its life,
Hundreds of people were killed

Trying to cross over from
East germany to west germany.

Trying to cross over from
East germany to west germany.

They were shot, stepped on land
Mines, attacked by guard dogs.

Narrator: but it isn't just
Civilians who try to flee.

Even the east german
Border guards desert their posts

In the hope of making it
Into west germany.

Will the east german people

Rise up against
Their soviet overlords,

And why was this wall abandoned?

*

Narrator:
These remains were once part
Of the inner german border,

An elaborate fortification
System built during the cold war

By the soviets to imprison
The citizens of east germany

For over 30 years,
But on november 9, 1989,

A series of revolutions
In the satellite states

Of the u.S.S.R. Cause
A chain reaction

Of the u.S.S.R. Cause
A chain reaction

That results in the demise
Of this iron curtain,

Immortalized by the fall
Of the berlin wall.

Anchorman: the beginning of
The end of the soviet empire.

Within two years, east and west
Germany were reunited,

In many ways coming full circle

And ending what
World war ii had produced.

Everybody remembers the images
Of the berlin wall coming down.

The inner defenses,
It wasn't quite so dramatic.

Dickrell: with the reunification
Of germany,

Many of the fences
In this border zone

Many of the fences
In this border zone

Just fell into disuse.

Many were dismantled trying
To encourage economic activity

Between east and west germany.

Narrator: most of the inner
German defense is dismantled,

Creating 1.7 million tons
Of debris.

45 years after its construction,

The wall is officially
Abandoned.

Today, this section is
A memorial to its dark past,

As well as a unique
Nature reserve.

Once a notorious death strip,

It is now home to a wealth
Of diverse habitats and species.

The preservation
Of the border defense

Structures with the barbed wire
And the towers

I think are helpful reminders
For future people about

What the history of east and
West german relations were like.

What the history of east and
West german relations were like.

Today, it doesn't necessarily
Look all that impressive

Or all that scary.

It's just a strip of greenery
With a little road

Running through it.

But you have to remember
That when it was active

It was a death zone
For anyone who tried to escape.

Narrator: over 1,000 miles away
In east poland

Is a secret forest complex.

*

*

Hidden under the canopy,

Camouflaged amongst
The pine trees,

Mammoth structures sprawl
Across 1,500 square miles.

You're in the middle of a polish
Forest and you're hiking along,

The last thing you expect
To find is a concrete jungle.

What's this doing here?

Meigs: these just suddenly
Appear from amidst the trees.

Who needed to build something
So well protected?

Who needed to build something
So well protected?

Narrator:
These immense windowless giants

Grow in size to 43 feet high
And 69 feet wide,

With no hints
To their true purpose.

Gough: the walls are so thick

It's as though they've been
Built to withstand

Some sort of apocalypse,
But what?

Narrator: why build this
Foreboding complex

In the middle of nowhere,

And why has it been
Abandoned to nature?

And why has it been
Abandoned to nature?

The answer lies back at
The beginning of world war ii.

By 1940, hitler's expansion
Of the third reich westwards

Is well underway,
But within a year, his attention

Turns to conquering
The eastern front.

He needs a fully functioning
Base of operations

Near this new front line.

His top-secret solution
Lies in the mamerki forest.

His top-secret solution
Lies in the mamerki forest.

Nusbacher: hitler knows
That he is going to be fighting

Modern industrial warfare.

And when his people create
Command and control facilities,

They make the most
Technologically-enabled

Facilities that you see anywhere
In the second world war.

Narrator:
The largest and most impressive

Of these fortified
Command centers is this --

Of these fortified
Command centers is this --

Mauerwald, the german army hq

That will control the war
On the eastern front.

It was a fully functional
Military town

And had to be defended,

So it had barbed wire,
A mine field,

A post for gunners.

What they built
In the forest of poland

Is a mirror image of berlin.

Hitler himself has got his own
Bunker and staff facilities,

Hitler himself has got his own
Bunker and staff facilities,

And that ensures that
When hitler is away from berlin,

Running the war,

Hitler is still able
To retain his tight grip

On power over the nazi empire.

Narrator:
11 miles from hitler's bunker,

Nicknamed the wolf's lair,

Top secret construction
Of mauerwald

Starts in the fall of 1940.

To prepare the site,

The military engineers
Must drain marshland

The military engineers
Must drain marshland

And cut down swathes of trees in
This mosquito-infested forest.

But why did they spread out
The location of these bunkers?

It was to reduce the risk.

If you had an attack
Of paratroopers or a bomb,

It could have decimated
The entire thing at once,

So they spread them out
To reduce that chance.

Narrator: will this nazi complex
Be discovered by the enemy?

Could this be why
It was abandoned?

*

Narrator: amongst the trees
Of mamerki forest in poland

Lies the scattered remains
Of what was once

A sprawling nazi military city.

This is mauerwald.

The compound is made up
Of three sections,

Code-named fritz,
Brigitt-anna, and quelle,

Each dedicated to operations,
Logistics, and communications.

Each dedicated to operations,
Logistics, and communications.

It was all very orderly
And laid out as if it was

Some kind of
Bureaucratic operation

And not a central hub
Of brutal warfare.

Narrator: items of most
Importance were housed

Inside the reinforced
Concrete bunkers.

While staff and personnel were
Billeted in more temporary

Accommodation
Made of brick or wood.

Born and raised
In the local area,

Born and raised
In the local area,

Bartek plebanczyk
Manages the site.

Real thought goes into
The camouflage of this complex.

There are artificial trees for
Different months of the year

To coincide
With changes in season.

To coincide
With changes in season.

Gough: the bunkers were
Extremely well-fortified.

But what was really unique about
These monolithic structures,

The rooms themselves
Were very tiny.

It's as though they anticipated
Some sort of military cataclysm

And they were built
To withstand it.

Narrator:
To reduce the chance of russian
And allied aerial bombardment,

Narrator:
To reduce the chance of russian
And allied aerial bombardment,

The engineers add seagrass
To the concrete mix,

Will accelerates
The growth of moss,

Providing the bunkers with
A natural and fast camouflage.

But it also has an unexpected
Engineering benefit.

Seagrass was able to incorporate
Into the outer surfaces

Of the buildings in order
To stop the concrete chipping.

Narrator: in the summer of 1941,
40 generals and 1,500 officers

Narrator: in the summer of 1941,
40 generals and 1,500 officers

And personnel
Move into mauerwald

And work in secrecy
Both day and night,

Managing the ever-expanding
Nazi army.

German traditions
Of command and control mean

That the general
Goes off in a car

Or a tank
And commands in the field,

But that he's backed up
By a chief of staff

And a huge number
Of staff officers

Who stay back in a headquarters,
In radio contact,

Who stay back in a headquarters,
In radio contact,

And run the army while
The general runs the battle.

Narrator: to keep up morale
Deep in this polish forest,

Hitler insists
That this concrete fortress

Is made a home away from home.

Meigs: one thing that's striking
Is just how big it was.

200 buildings, bunkers,
Air-raid shelters,

But also a lot of things
You would associate

With a small resort city.

With a small resort city.

They had a movie theater.

They had a casino
Close to the front lines

On the eastern front.

Narrator:
Hidden in this remote location

Away from important towns
And transport routes,

This complex needs
To be fully independent.

As a military headquarters,
It had to be self-sufficient.

So they had
Their own power plant.

They had their own
Heating plant.

They had their own
Supply of water.

They could live,
They could survive cut off

They could live,
They could survive cut off

From their supplies
For a long period of time.

Narrator: it is here at
Mauerwald that a large number

Of eastern front
Decisions are made.

When hitler made
His intent clear

In the briefing rooms
Of the wolfsschanze,

The senior officers would then
Get into their cars,

Drive over to mauerwald, and
They would put it into practice.

Narrator: for three years, these
Structures successfully hide

The nazi army personnel
Through bitter polish winters

The nazi army personnel
Through bitter polish winters

And scorching summers,

But the turning tide of
World war ii changes everything.

Nusbacher: no matter how good
The german officers are

Who worked in the mauerwald,

They could not fulfill
The twisted,

Unrealistic ambitions of hitler.

Narrator: by fall 1944,

The nazis are fighting
Losing battles on two fronts,

And with the advancing red army
Hot on their heels,

And with the advancing red army
Hot on their heels,

There is only one option left

For hitler's forces
At mauerwald.

The germans had no choice
But to retreat, and quickly.

So, mauerwald was just
Left intact, a ghost town.

Narrator: hitler's retreating
Army has only 48 hours

To escape stalin's forces,

Leaving no time to sabotage
Their concrete city.

Mauerwald is abandoned
To the wilds of the forest.

Mauerwald is abandoned
To the wilds of the forest.

Today, these concrete monoliths
Are virtually forgotten,

But survive as the most
Complete example

Of hitler's forest
Command centers.

What we see today is just
The scale of the ambition

Of the nazis to dominate europe.

And the time they were willing
To put into building

Infrastructure
And everything else they needed

To extend their military reach

Is impressive and horrifying
At the same time.

Is impressive and horrifying
At the same time.

Narrator: across europe
In southwest france,

Lying in the region of montech,
Is a bizarre structure.

*

Cutting through
This deceptively flat land

Is a 20-feet wide
Concrete channel

That is over 400 feet long
And partially filled with water.

That is over 400 feet long
And partially filled with water.

Bell: engineers come from all
Around the world to see this,

Because there's something
Quite maybe hypnotic,

Mesmerizing about it.

Narrator:
As you travel up its length,

The water drops off to reveal
A ramp that ascends 43 feet.

It sort of defies
Logical explanation,

But yet they built it.

Flanking this channel
Are two eight-wheeled vehicles

Connected by a metal frame
And wedge

Connected by a metal frame
And wedge

Weighing 200 tons
Suspended over water.

This might be
A terribly impractical design

But it's also
Kind of inspiring.

Interpreter #2: it's a unique
And exceptional system.

Bell:
It's so heath robinson.

We're all used to seeing water
Cascading down under gravity,

Whereas suddenly we're using
A very simple mechanism

To get water uphill.

Narrator: what is this bizarre
Structure in the middle

Narrator: what is this bizarre
Structure in the middle

Of the french countryside,
And why was it abandoned?

The surprising answer stems
From the sea trade

Between the atlantic and the
Mediterranean during the 1600s.

To avoid the treacherous
Month-long passage

Around the coast of spain,

The 270-mile two seas canal

Is cut through france
To speed up commerce.

But on the canal at montech
Is a flight of five locks

But on the canal at montech
Is a flight of five locks

Across a distance

Of over one-and-a-half miles
That creates congestion.

How can they overcome this?

The canal lock,
The ability to take a boat

And raise it or lower it

So it can travel by water
Up and over hills

Is one of the great advances
In technological history.

The problem is each one needs
To be filled or emptied

As you go through the process,
And it's time consuming.

As you go through the process,
And it's time consuming.

Interpreter #2: an experimental
System was built that's allowed

Commercial barges
To bypass a series of five locks

Using a unique system.

Narrator: it takes nearly
300 years before french engineer

Professor jean aubert comes up

With this revolutionary
Contraption

To speed up the process
At montech,

The pente d'eau or water
slope.

The french water slope

Was an absolutely
Revolutionary alternative

Was an absolutely
Revolutionary alternative

To the traditional way
Of using locks.

They brought the boat into this
Section, bottom of the slope,

Enclosed basically a very large
Puddle of water around the boat

And then move the puddle up the
Slope with powerful locomotives.

In a way, it's absolutely crazy,
But it's also kind of brilliant.

Narrator: did this crazy
Invention ever serve its purpose

Narrator: did this crazy
Invention ever serve its purpose

And why is this pioneering
Contraption left

To rust on the banks
Of the canal?

*

Narrator:
In the southwest of france
Is the pioneering water slope

That draws engineers from all
Over the world to its banks.

Built in 1974,
This revolutionary water lift

Can carry fully loaded barges
To its peak at 43 feet.

The principle of the water slope
Is actually very simple.

The principle of the water slope
Is actually very simple.

If you were trying to bail water
Out of your sink for example,

You would just use your hand and
Basically push the water out.

And what you're doing is
You're raising the level

Of the water at some depth

And then it kind of
Goes over the side.

With the water slope, you're
Starting from a level plane

And you're going up
An inclined slope.

So the principle is the same.

You use a mechanism
To shunt the water up

And create a body of water
That's deep enough for a boat

Or a barge to actually
Float through.

Or a barge to actually
Float through.

To push 52,972 cubic feet
Of water up a slope along

With a loaded barge
Takes masses of power.

Christian moretto, who works
For french waterways,

Has an insight into the workings
Of this mechanical beast.

Interpreter #2: it is powered
By a v-12 engine here,

So it produces
A thousand horsepower.

So it produces
A thousand horsepower.

And this engine runs a generator

That provides the energy
To move the machine.

What I love about
the pente d'eau

Is that you can see
Exactly how it works.

It's all there in front of you.

It's a channel that a barge
Will come into

And a gate shuts behind it.

Narrator: once the gate
Shuts behind the barge,

The wedge comes down
To create a water-tight seal,

The wedge comes down
To create a water-tight seal,

Trapping water in
The now-enclosed canal.

Bell: and then, powered
By two great locomotives

On either side of that canal,

They slowly roll forward
On tracks,

Bringing the gate with it.

And as that gate pushes up
Along the canal,

It pushes water with it.

The engine units travel at
1œ miles per hour,

Using a pushing effect
Of 63 tons,

Equivalent to a whopping
127,000 pound-foot of torque.

Equivalent to a whopping
127,000 pound-foot of torque.

But how do you control
This much raw power?

Interpreter #2: the pilot stands
Here to operate it.

He needs to have a panoramic
View of everything.

He particularly needs to keep
An eye on the speed dial

That we can see here,

And he also controls
Mechanically the movement

Of the machine
Using this lever here.

That's it.

Narrator: moving over a thousand
Feet on a concrete monorail,

These enormous wheels take six
Minutes to complete the journey.

These enormous wheels take six
Minutes to complete the journey.

Two locomotives on either side
Of this trench start dragging

This dam up the hillside
Until you get to the top,

Then you open the gates there

And the boat sails
Happily on its merry way.

Narrator: thousands of boats
Pass through the water slope,

Creating more trade,

But will it last and become
The new way to bypass

Canal locks around the world?

I mean, I love this thing.

I mean, I love this thing.

I love the simplicity
Of the engineering behind it.

But it's 1970s technology,
These two whopping,

Great big diesel engines

Slowly pushing
Canal boats uphill.

It just isn't
21st century technology.

Dickrell:
Between the locomotives,

The construction of the slope,

The water seal
To prevent the water

That's carrying the both
From just running away,

All of these things put together

Make the reproduction
Of this extremely difficult.

Make the reproduction
Of this extremely difficult.

Narrator:
For 35 years, the water slope

Serves the two seas canal,
Lifting over 10,000 boats,

Travelling a distance
Of over 13 million feet.

But in 2009, engine failure
Seals its fate.

Being the only one in the world,
Its unique design

And parts are
Too expensive to reproduce.

Not every cool engineering idea

Really turns out to work
In the real world.

Really turns out to work
In the real world.

I think the water slope
Is an example of that.

Agrawal:
Really, it was out of its time.

So, had it come at the time
When canals were really the life

Vein of the industrial world
That we lived in,

Perhaps we would have seen
Hundreds of examples.

Narrator: with lack of demand
And repair costs

Amounting to over $5.5 million,

The water slope,
While a brilliant concept,

Gathers dust in the middle
Of this waterway.

Today, it lies disused
On this canal,

A symbol of daring engineering
That was sadly behind the times.

Agrawal: even if it
Wasn't a particularly

Successful invention,

I think engineers need to be
Reminded every so often

That they need to break out
Of the tunnel vision of this

Is how things have been done
For a long time

And actually create something
Really extraordinary.