8.6/1034 votesLoading...#1 - Building Hong Kong's Airport
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 5/14/2003
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.6/108 votesLoading...#2 - JFK: JetBlue Terminal
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/25/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.5/107 votesLoading...#3 - World's Biggest Arch Bridge
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 10/18/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1019 votesLoading...
#4 - Biggest Warship
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 5/31/2006
The series looks at the construction of the supercarrier USS George H.W. Bush.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/109 votesLoading...#5 - Hallandsas Ridge Tunnel: Sweden
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 11/15/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/1026 votesLoading...#6 - Widening the Panama Canal
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 6/4/2003
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…
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/108 votesLoading...
#7 - South Ferry Subway Station
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 10/11/2006
The South Ferry Terminal subway station is the first new subway station in New York City since the early 1900s.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/107 votesLoading...#8 - California Academy of Sciences
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 11/8/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1031 votesLoading...#9 - Holland's Barriers to the Sea
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 5/21/2003
Dutch engineers must overcome rising waters in the North Sea to protect their land.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1013 votesLoading...#10 - Space Tower
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 7/12/2006
The 700-ft.-high Torre del Espacio (Space Tower) will be the tallest skyscraper in Spain upon completion. In this episode, the cameras film the week-long struggle to repair one level of the building.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1026 votesLoading...#11 - Tokyo's Sky City
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 4/13/2003
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1024 votesLoading...#12 - Boston's Big Dig
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 5/28/2003
Boston's new transport system, which features a multi-lane underground highway and the world's widest cable-stayed bridge
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1017 votesLoading...#13 - Super Stadium
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 2/19/2006
The series takes a look at the construction of the new stadium for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. The state-of-the-art structure is scheduled to be completed in August 2006. It will feature North America's first slide-out tray field, a "pie-slice" construction method and a unique steel-ribbon outer shell.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1010 votesLoading...#14 - Mega Tunnel
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 3/8/2006
A 3-mile toll road is built on a 20-foot-high storm drain in Kuala Lumpur.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1015 votesLoading...#15 - Big Easy Rebuild
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 7/5/2006
This episode takes a look at the emergency repairs implemented in order to help the city of New Orleans recover from the disastrous flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina in late August 2005. Katrina was one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history and New Orleans bore the brunt of its fierce attack.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1024 votesLoading...#16 - Subways in America
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 4/15/2003
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1026 votesLoading...#17 - Tunneling Under the Alps
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 5/7/2003
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1028 votesLoading...#18 - Transatlantic Tunnel
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 4/16/2003
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1025 votesLoading...#19 - City in a Pyramid
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 4/23/2003
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1027 votesLoading...#20 - Bridging the Bering Strait
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 4/30/2003
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/109 votesLoading...#21 - Stonecutters Bridge: Hong Kong
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 11/1/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1014 votesLoading...#22 - Sakhalin Oil & Ice
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 6/28/2006
One of the world's largest construction projects is located on a remote island off the eastern coast of Russia where the Russians are spending billions of dollars to construct the Sakhalin oil and gas complex. The city-sized operation will draw fossil fuels from an inhospitable location in the Pacific Ocean. The hope is that the complex will provide a boost to the area's economy.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#23 - Turning Torso
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 7/7/2004
The Turning Torso is the world's largest residential structure, rising 190 meters above Malmö, Sweden.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#24 - Venice Flood Gates
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 7/14/2004
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#25 - Container Ships
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 7/28/2004
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
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!
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...
Genre:Documentary
Network:Discovery
Best Episodes Summary
"Building Hong Kong's Airport" is the best rated episode of "Extreme Engineering". It scored 8.6/10 based on 34 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 5/14/2003. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "JFK: JetBlue Terminal".