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The Best Episodes of Extreme Engineering

Every episode of Extreme Engineering ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Extreme Engineering!

The Best Episodes of Extreme Engineering

Extreme Engineering covers major construction projects from all around the world. Some are futuristic projects that may never be done, others are projects that are...

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  1. Background image for Building Hong Kong's Airport
    8.6/10(35 votes)

    #1 - Building Hong Kong's Airport

    S1:E7

    Hong Kong has outgrown its small airport and quickly needed a new one in order to maintain its high traffic flow. The only place to put this new world class airport... 16 miles out in the ocean. This would require 22 miles of new super highway. It was predicted to take decades, but engineers were only given 7 years to build it.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for JFK: JetBlue Terminal
    8.6/10(8 votes)

    #2 - JFK: JetBlue Terminal

    S5:E3

    The original 1962 TWA Terminal (Terminal 5) at New York's JFK International Airport is remodeled for JetBlue Airlines. The 26 gates of the new low-profile structure will be able to handle 20 million passengers a year.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for World's Biggest Arch Bridge
    8.5/10(7 votes)

    #3 - World's Biggest Arch Bridge

    S5:E2

    The Hoover Dam Bypass Project aims to remove traffic congestion along U.S. Highway 93 at the Colorado River crossing. A new arch bridge will span the river near Hoover Dam.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for Hallandsas Ridge Tunnel: Sweden
    8.2/10(9 votes)

    #4 - Hallandsas Ridge Tunnel: Sweden

    S5:E6

    The Hallandsas Ridge Tunnel Project, the world's most complicated tunneling project, is designed to remove a major bottleneck on the Gothenburg (Göteborg)-Malmo West Coast Line in Sweden. The project began in 1992 but stopped in 1997 because of technical difficulties. Construction resumed in 2004. The project is scheduled for completion in 2012.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for Widening the Panama Canal
    8.1/10(25 votes)

    #5 - Widening the Panama Canal

    S1:E10

    A documentary looking at plans to update the Panama Canal. This magnificent waterway cuts through 50 miles of tropical jungle, allowing ships to travel easily from the Atlantic to the Pacific. However, time has passed this engineering marvel by - many modern supercargo ships are three times the size the canal can safely accommodate, so plans are in motion to widen the structure. The project faces all manner of environmental challenges, as well as leaving the canal closed to…

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for South Ferry Subway Station
    8.1/10(8 votes)

    #6 - South Ferry Subway Station

    S5:E1

    The South Ferry Terminal subway station is the first new subway station in New York City since the early 1900s.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Extreme Engineering

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  8. Background image for California Academy of Sciences
    8.0/10(7 votes)

    #7 - California Academy of Sciences

    S5:E5

    The California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, has won acclaim for an environmentally friendly design that features the use of recycled and renewable materials. Construction began in September 2005.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for Holland's Barriers to the Sea
    7.8/10(31 votes)

    #8 - Holland's Barriers to the Sea

    S1:E8

    Dutch engineers must overcome rising waters in the North Sea to protect their land.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Tokyo's Sky City
    7.7/10(26 votes)

    #9 - Tokyo's Sky City

    S1:E1

    It examines the concept of constructing a giant tower in Japan that wouldn't be a just a building, but a public city in the sky. At the end it talks about what a fire in the building would be like and how the fire department would handle it.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for Boston's Big Dig
    7.7/10(24 votes)

    #10 - Boston's Big Dig

    S1:E9

    Boston's new transport system, which features a multi-lane underground highway and the world's widest cable-stayed bridge

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for Subways in America
    7.5/10(23 votes)

    #11 - Subways in America

    S1:E2

    This episode explores the current New York City subway and the plans for renovation. Also the World Trade Center Station post 9/11 and its hasty repair.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Tunneling Under the Alps
    7.5/10(26 votes)

    #12 - Tunneling Under the Alps

    S1:E6

    A tunnel over 35 miles long is to be dug under the Swiss Alps to redirect Europe's traffic. This $7 billion project will take 6 years to complete with man and machine fighting the mountains 24/7.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Transatlantic Tunnel
    7.4/10(28 votes)

    #13 - Transatlantic Tunnel

    S1:E3

    The concept of building a tunnel across the Atlantic Ocean is talked about. It talks about the problems involved, and how it might someday be possible. At the end it examines the concept of a submarine hitting the tunnel, and how hopefully this wouldn't ruin it.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for City in a Pyramid
    7.3/10(25 votes)

    #14 - City in a Pyramid

    S1:E4

    This episode features Shimizu's Pyramid City, which would include dozens of 100-story skyscrapers with more than a million workers as part of a giant pyramid on the sea to provide more living space in Japan. Concepts such as construction robots, electricity issues, and building materials are examined. The pyramid could withstand a tidal wave, and perhaps protect the city as well.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for Bridging the Bering Strait
    7.2/10(26 votes)

    #15 - Bridging the Bering Strait

    S1:E5

    Imagine driving across a bridge near the North Pole, or going from New York to London in just an hour through a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean. These are just some of the awe-inspiring projects of today's builders and engineers. Jaw-dropping computer animation illustrates the largest, most outrageous projects ever conceived. As students learn about stretching the boundaries of modern engineering, they also gain understanding of the technological design process and come to understand how physics and chemistry are utilized to solve modern human engineering challenges.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for Stonecutters Bridge: Hong Kong
    6.9/10(9 votes)

    #16 - Stonecutters Bridge: Hong Kong

    S5:E4

    Suspended above one of the world's busiest waterways, the Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong will set a new record for the longest cable-stayed span, over a kilometer in length.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Turning Torso
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Turning Torso

    S2:E1

    The Turning Torso is the world's largest residential structure, rising 190 meters above Malmö, Sweden.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Venice Flood Gates
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #18 - Venice Flood Gates

    S2:E2

    Global warming is causing sea levels around the world to rise and environmental experts believe Venice may well go the same way as Atlantis. The new flood gates should prevent the city’s 45km of canals from cannibalising its ancient architecture.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Container Ships
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #19 - Container Ships

    S2:E3

    Covers the docking of a container ship at Long Beach (California) and the operation of the water front docks, where several thousand containers need to be unloaded and loaded in 48 hours. Also covered is the building of the Adrian Maersk, the world's largest container ship. While the scale of these gigantic ships has to be seen to be believed, the construction must be precise to millimeters.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Oakland Bay Bridge
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Oakland Bay Bridge

    S2:E4

    The New Bay Bridge is the biggest construction project in California history. This two-mile, earthquake-proof road will replace the most heavily trafficked bridge in the country-the span linking San Francisco to Oakland and the East Bay.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Iceland Tunnels
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Iceland Tunnels

    S2:E5

    Around 200 miles northeast of the capital, Reykjavik, engineers are hard at work drilling 72km of tunnels deep in the mountains. Three full-face boring machines have been specially shipped from the US to this remote site, 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The tunnel’s purpose is to guide water to the valley floor from reservoirs that are also currently under construction. The cascading water will drive six turbines, each with a rated output of 115 megawatts. With a total capacity of 690 megawatts, it will be the biggest hydropower plant in Europe.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for Off-shore Oil Platforms
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Off-shore Oil Platforms

    S2:E6

    Engineers redesign oil platforms to withstand the harsh weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for Cooper River Bridge
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Cooper River Bridge

    S2:E7

    Connecting the bustling port city of Charleston and Mount Pleasant in South Carolina, the Cooper River Bridge will be the longest cable-stay bridge in America. The structure stands on one of the most seismic spots on the East Coast, it also faces the frequent threat of 300kmph hurricanes.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for Millau Viaduct
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #24 - Millau Viaduct

    S2:E8

    In a remote corner of France, traffic between the south of France and Paris and the north have run into huge bottlenecks. Designers and engineers are working to open the region by building a bridge to leap across the 1.3-mile wide gorge.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for Excavators
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Excavators

    S2:E9

    In northern Minnesota, the operators of the world's largest open-pit iron mine commission the construction of a $10 million custom-built super-shovel in the hopes of making excavation more efficient.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"Building Hong Kong's Airport" is the best rated episode of "Extreme Engineering". It scored 8.6/10 based on 35 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 5/14/2003. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "JFK: JetBlue Terminal".