Heavy Lift
Season 2
The story of the engineers and mechanics behind some of the largest lifting and moving equipment in the world.
Where to Watch Heavy Lift • Season 2
5 Episodes
- Ships That Carry ShipsE1
Ships That Carry ShipsAsian shipyards are building more ships than ever, but getting them to Western clients in pristine condition, unscratched and ready for action requires a very special kind of logistics vehicle to transport them across the world's oceans. Only a very few companies in the world operate ships that carry ships, as well as a number of other gigantic floating objects. This is the story of one of the heaviest lifters on the high seas today: The Hawk. Hawk is a semi-submersible heavy lift ship, designed to transport heavy loads around the world that conventional ships can't carry. - Mighty Sea CraneE2
Mighty Sea CraneA giant of the sea roams the ocean, a huge ship with a massive crane. This is the Oleg Strashnov, one of the biggest monohull crane ships in the world, its mighty boom is able to lift up to 5000 tonnes of weight. It is not only a huge crane, but also an efficient multi tasker, integrated into a ship system that stays stable in the water whatever the weight, whatever the elevation. This is a true marine monster, a legend of the sea. - Walls of VeniceE3
Walls of VeniceThe full story of the engineering behind the MOSE (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, Experimental Electromechanical Module) the system of rows of mobile gates installed in the lagoon around the city of Venice to protect it from flooding. These gates create a wall that can isolate the Venetian Lagoon temporarily from the Adriatic Sea during acqua alta high tides. - Moving the Chernobyl ArchE4
Moving the Chernobyl ArchThe story of how a massive arched shelter was slid into place over the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site in Ukraine. The inside story of a unique engineering feat at the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, as technicians move an enormous roof over the still irradiated remains of the plant's No 4 reactor. The superstructure is intended to contain radiation from the nuclear waste within the exploded reactor. Chernobyl's reactor No 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, and over the ensuing 10 days, its nuclear fuel continued to burn, issuing clouds of poisonous radiation and contaminating as much as three quarters of the European continent, hitting northern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, especially hard. - Ariane 5E5
Ariane 5The Ariane 5 is the evolution of a family of rocket launchers that started when Europe's space industry was in its infancy. This massive launch vehicle, is built all over Europe but assembled here in the Cathedral at the Arianegroup construction site at Les Mureaux. It is a design that has successfully completed 85 launch missions in the last quarter of a century; it is due to be replaced by the more versatile and competitive Ariane 6 within the next 2 years.