| Extreme Engineering (Build It Bigger) |
|
|---|---|
| Also known as | Build It Bigger Kings of Construction |
| Genre | Documentary / Engineering / Architecture / Science |
| Directed by | Peter Frumkin Olympia Stone |
| Presented by | Danny Forster |
| Starring | Danny Forster |
| Narrated by | Danny Forster |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 66 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | HD Theater Science Channel Discovery Channel |
| Original run | April 1, 2003 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Engineering the Impossible (2002) TV |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Extreme Engineering is a documentary television series that airs on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel. The program features futuristic and ongoing engineering projects. As of April 2011, the show is airing its ninth season. Danny Forster first hosted the series in season 4 and has been the host since season 6.[1] The show was renamed Build It Bigger in the United States but retains its name when broadcast in Europe.
Contents |
Engineering the Impossible was a 2-hour special, created and written by Alan Lindgren and produced by Powderhouse Productions for the Discovery Channel. It focused on three incredible, yet physically possible, engineering projects: the nine mile (14 km)-long Gibraltar Bridge, the 170-story Millennium Tower and the 4000+-foot-long Freedom Ship. This program won the Beijing International Science Film Festival Silver Award, and earned Discovery's second-highest, weeknight rating for 2002. After the success of this program, Discovery commissioned Powderhouse to produce the first season of the 10-part series, Extreme Engineering, whose episodes were written by Alan Lindgren, Ed Fields and several other Powderhouse writer-producers. Like Engineering the Impossible, the first season of Extreme Engineering focused on extreme projects of the future. Season 2 (and all seasons since) featured projects already in construction around the world.
WAGtv Ltd. produced 6 episodes for Discovery that were also broadcast in the United States as part of the 4th season of Extreme Engineering.
| Seasons | Episodes | First Air date | Last Air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | April 13, 2003 | June 4, 2003 |
| 2 | 9 | July 7, 2004 | November 22, 2004 |
| 3 | 6 | October 19, 2005 | January 21, 2006 |
| 4 | 6 | February 19, 2006 | July 12, 2006 |
| 5 | 6 | October 11, 2006 | November 15, 2006 |
| 6 | 14 | July 10, 2007 | October 17, 2007 |
| 7 | 7 | April 20, 2009 | June 26, 2009 |
| 8 | 10 | April 8, 2010 | July 1, 2010 |
| 9 | 8 | April 8, 2011 | July 9, 2011 |
Reference:[2]
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at Production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | Tokyo's Sky City | April 13, 2003 | Tokyo's Sky City | Proposed | Proposed |
| 102 | Subways In America | April 15, 2003 | East Side Access | Proposed | Under construction (Estimated completion 2016) |
| 103 | Transatlantic Tunnel | April 16, 2003 | The Transatlantic tunnel | Proposed | Proposed |
| 104 | City in a Pyramid | April 23, 2003 | The Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid | Proposed | Proposed |
| 105 | Bridging the Bering Strait | April 30, 2003 | The Bering Strait crossing | Proposed | Proposed |
| 106 | Tunneling Under the Alps | May 7, 2003 | Gotthard Base Tunnel | Under construction | Tunnelling Complete (Estimated completion 2016) |
| 107 | Building Hong Kong's Airport | May 14, 2003 | Hong Kong International Airport | Completed | Completed |
| 108 | Holland's Barriers to the Sea | May 21, 2003 | Maeslantkering and Oosterscheldekering storm surge barriers | Completed | Completed |
| 109 | Boston's Big Dig | May 28, 2003 | Boston's Big Dig | Under Construction | Completed |
| 110 | Widening the Panama Canal | June 4, 2003 | Panama Canal expansion project | Proposed | Under construction (Estimated completion 2014) |
Nine episodes were produced for season 2. It is also the first season produced in HDTV for HD Theater.
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | Turning Torso | July 7, 2004 | Turning Torso | Under construction | Completed |
| 202 | Venice Flood Gates | July 14, 2004 | Venice Tide Barrier Project (MOSE Project) | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated Completion 2012) |
| 203 | Container Ships | July 28, 2004 | Adrian Mærsk (Maersk Line) | Completed | Completed |
| 204 | Oakland Bay Bridge | August 4, 2004 | Eastern span replacement of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2013) |
| 205 | Iceland Tunnels | September 1, 2004 | Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project | Under construction | Completed |
| 206 | Off-shore Oil Platforms | September 25, 2004 | Tarzan Class oil rigs | Under construction | Completed |
| 207 | Cooper River Bridge | October 5, 2004 | Cooper River Bridge | Under construction | Completed |
| 208 | Millau Viaduct | November 15, 2004 | Millau Viaduct | Under construction | Completed |
| 209 | Excavators | November 22, 2004 | Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine | Completed | Completed |
WagTV produced six episodes that were acquired by Discovery for season 3.
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 301 | The Snøhvit Arctic Gas Processing Platform | October 19, 2005 | Snøhvit platform / MV Blue Marlin | Completed | Completed |
| 302 | The El Cajon Dam | November 10, 2005 | El Cajon Dam | Under construction | Completed |
| 303 | Hong Kong's Cable Car | December 2, 2005 (?) | Ngong Ping 360 | Under construction | Completed |
| 304 | Woodrow Wilson Bridge | December 9, 2005 (?) | Woodrow Wilson Bridge | Under construction | Completed |
| 305 | Gotthard Tunnel | January 1, 2006 | Gotthard Base Tunnel | Under construction | Tunnelling Complete (Estimated completion 2016) |
| 306 | Dubai's Ski Resort | January 21, 2006 | Ski Dubai | Under construction | Completed |
Powderhouse Productions produced six episodes for season 4 with host Danny Forster. It currently airs under the Build It Bigger name on HD Theater, The Science Channel, and Discovery Channel.
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 401 | SuperStadium | February 19, 2006 | University of Phoenix Stadium | Under construction | Completed |
| 402 | MegaTunnel | March 8, 2006 | Storm Management And Road Tunnel (SMART) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Under construction | Completed |
| 403 | Biggest Warship | May 31, 2006 | USS George H.W. Bush | Under construction | Completed |
| 404 | Sakhalin Oil & Ice | June 28, 2006 | Sakhalin-II | Under construction | Completed |
| 405 | Big Easy Rebuild | July 5, 2006 | Reconstruction of New Orleans | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated Completion N/A) |
| 406 | Space Tower | July 12, 2006 | Madrid's Torre Espacio | Under construction | Complete |
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 501 | South Ferry Subway Station | October 11, 2006 | The New York City Subway's new South Ferry station | Under construction | Completed |
| 502 | World's Biggest Arch Bridge | October 18, 2006 | Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (the Hoover Dam Bypass) | Under construction | Completed |
| 503 | JFK: JetBlue Terminal | October 25, 2006 | Reconstruction of John F. Kennedy International Airport's Terminal 5 | Under construction | Completed |
| 504 | Stonecutters Bridge: Hong Kong | November 1, 2006 | Hong Kong's Stonecutters Bridge | Under construction | Completed |
| 505 | California Academy of Sciences | November 8, 2006 | The rebuilding of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California | Under construction | Completed |
| 506 | Hallandsås Ridge Tunnel: Sweden | November 15, 2006 | Sweden's Hallandsas railway tunnel | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2015) |
Reference:[3]
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 601 | Coaster Build Off | July 10, 2007 | Griffon a steel rollercoaster in Busch Gardens Europe and the Renegade in Valleyfair | Under construction | Completed |
| 602 | Battle Machines | July 17, 2007 | An M1 Abrams tank undergoing maintenance at Anniston Army Depot, Alabama | Completed | Completed |
| 603 | World's Tallest Skyscraper | July 24, 2007 | Shanghai World Financial Centre | Under construction | Completed |
| 604 | Super Fast Warship | August 7, 2007 | Building an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer | Under construction | Completed |
| 605 | Boot Camp | August 14, 2007 | Training to use construction equipment in Boston, Massachusetts. | Completed | Completed |
| 606 | Fault Zone Tunnel | August 21, 2007 | Freshwater pipeline to support Southern California, Inland Feeder project | Under construction | Completed |
| 607 | Hurricane-Proof Homes | August 28, 2007 | Building a heavy duty modular homes | Completed | Completed |
| 608 | Floating City | September 4, 2007 | MS Independence of the Seas | Under construction | Completed |
| 609 | Biggest Casino | September 11, 2007 | Construction of hotel casino The Palazzo in Las Vegas | Under construction | Completed |
| 610 | High Risk Tower | September 18, 2007 | Building a Trump's Tower in Chicago | Under construction | Completed |
| 611 | Turbo-Charged Boats | September 25, 2007 | Rebuilding and practice test of an offshore racing boat | Completed | Completed |
| 612 | Mountain of Steel | October 3, 2007 | City of Culture of Galicia | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2012) |
| 613 | Deepest Tunnel | October 10, 2007 | Construction of Marmaray underwater tunnel in Istanbul, Turkey | Under construction | Tunnelling Completed (Estimated completion 2013) |
| 614 | Major League Stadium | October 17, 2007 | Construction of Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. | Under construction | Completed |
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 701 | Dallas Cowboys Stadium | April 20, 2009 | Building the new Cowboys Stadium | Under construction | Completed |
| 702 | CityCenter, Las Vegas | April 21, 2009 | The CityCenter development in Las Vegas aspires to change the desert vacationland into a continental metropolis | Under construction | Completed |
| 703 | Hong Kong Bridge | April 27, 2009 | Building the Stonecutters Bridge. | Under construction | Completed |
| 704 | Navy Amphibious Warship | May 4, 2009 | The LPD17 is a new class of warship. | Completed | Completed |
| 705 | Panama Canal | May 11, 2009 | New $5.25 billion expansion projects. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2014) |
| 706 | Peru Dam & Tunnel | May 18, 2009 | Construction of the Limon Dam and one of the deepest tunnels ever attempted. | Under construction | Completed |
| 707 | Abu Dhabi | June 1, 2009 | Al Raha Beach Development in Abu Dhabi | Under construction | Completed |
| 708 | NASA | June 26, 2009 | Transition from the Space Shuttle program to the Constellation program. | Under construction | Partially Canceled |
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 801 | Singapore Sky Park | April 8, 2010 | Singapore Sky Park Now Marina Bay Sands will hang 650 feet in the air on top of 3 skyscrapers. | Under construction | Completed |
| 802 | Rio de Janeiro's Power Island Project | April 15, 2010 | Rio de Janeiro has frequent widespread blackouts. So Brazil is building one of the largest hydroelectric projects in the world, the Simplício Hydroelectric Complex. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion Late August 2011) |
| 803 | Kuwait Tower | April 29, 2010 | The world's tallest twisting structure, Kuwait's Al Hamra Tower, is looked at. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2011) |
| 804 | New Orleans Surge Barrier | May 9, 2010 | In an attempt to save the city from another disaster, New Orleans is building the world's strongest hurricane protection system, including the largest storm surge barrier ever built and radical hurricane resistant homes. | Under construction | Completed |
| 805 | South Africa's Mponeng Gold Mine | May 13, 2010 | Travel to the deepest place on Earth, Johannesburg, South Africa's Mponeng Gold Mine. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion N/A) |
| 806 | Overhauling the Bay Bridge | May 20, 2010 | Overhauling the San Francisco Bay Bridge is one of the biggest construction projects in the US. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2013) |
| 807 | Melbourne Stadium | May 27, 2010 | Melbourne, Australia is building one of the most innovative stadiums ever built. With its unprecedented geodesic roof and advanced cladding, it will be the ultimate fan experience, and an icon for a city known as the sporting capital of the world. | Under construction | Completed |
| 808 | Gotthard Base Tunnel | May 30, 2010 | The Swiss government is spending 18 billion dollars to create the Gotthard Base Tunnel - the longest tunnel in the world, getting people and goods through the Alps up to 3 times faster and ultimately changing European transit forever. | Under construction | Tunnelling Completed (Estimated completion December 2016) |
| 809 | Abu Dhabi Central Market | June 17, 2010 | Abu Dhabi's $15 billion Central Market will be a new cultural hub for an emerging world destination, complete with offices, parks, luxurious shops, and hotels - and all centered around the world's tallest residential tower, over 1250 feet high. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2014) |
| 810 | Port of Rotterdam | July 1, 2010 | Danny Forster goes behind the scenes at the Port of Rotterdam, where crews are in the middle of the largest Earth-moving project in history - all to triple the port's capacity, and help it serve the biggest ships on the planet. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2013) |
Reference:[4]
| No. | Episode name | Premiere | Project | Status at production | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 901 | Rebuilding New York City's Subway | April 8, 2011 | Examining subway work under New York City, where crews are expanding the transit system as part of a large public works project. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion 2013) |
| 902 | Drought-Proofing Australia | April 15, 2011 | After 13 years of record-breaking droughts Melbourne looks to secure its future with a $3.5 billion Wonthaggi desalination plant that will turn saltwater into freshwater. Danny joins crews as they build two undersea tunnels, 29 buildings and 52 miles of pipeline. | Under construction | Under construction (Estimated completion late 2011) |
| 903 | Azerbaijan's Amazing Transformation | April 22, 2011 | After decades of Soviet occupation, Azerbaijan is reinventing itself. With a $6 billion a year renovation and over 500 new developments, Danny Forster goes behind the scenes of Baku's construction projects: the Flame Towers and Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center. | Under construction | Under construction |
| 904 | London's Olympic Aquatic Stadium | April 29, 2011 | The London Aquatics Centre will host 44 swimming & diving events during the 2012 Summer Olympics and live on as a new addition to the London landscape. Danny Forster goes with crews as they construct one of the most advanced swimming facilities ever built. | Under construction | Completed |
| 905 | Constructing Serbia's Largest Bridge | June 18, 2011 | Danny Forster joins crews as they construct Serbia's newest national icon. The Sava River Bridge in Belgrade is the world's largest single pylon cable stayed bridge which improves a critical freight corridor connecting central Europe to the East. | Under construction | Completed |
| 906 | Amsterdam's Futuristic Floating City | June 25, 2011 | The Netherlands is running out of land. Nearly 70% of its land, which comprises half its population lies beneath sea level. Rather than fight back the sea, engineers are radically making it an ally, The new city of IJburg is to create real estate where none exists. | Under construction | Under construction |
| 907 | Building Mumbai's Modern Airport | July 2, 2011 | The $2 billion Mumbai Airport Expansion project is one of India's most ambitious undertakings ever. If they succeed, it could completely change the way airports are designed. | Under construction | Under construction |
| 908 | Turkey's Mammoth Hydropower Dam | July 9, 2011 | Crews are now carving out Turkey's largest construction site in the country's most challenging terrain by building one of the tallest and strongest dams ever made, the Deriner Dam. | Under construction | Under construction |