Engineering Ground Breakers
Engineering Ground Breakers
Asia is currently witnessing a feverish pace to build. Each country is trying to build the tallest building in the world. First, it was the Petronas Towers, then it was the Shanghai Financial Centre, followed by Taipei 101, and now it is the Burj Dubai.
Episode 1
The Burj Dubai holds the title as the tallest man-made structure ever built, pushing the technological envelope. Near India's capital Delhi, the Qutub Minar reigns supreme for almost a thousand years as the world's tallest brick minaret.
Episode 2
On an island the size of Singapore, water scarcity is a dire issue. The solution is the construction of an urban reservoir, the first of its kind in the world. Together with cutting-edge technology, Singapore is on its way to water sufficiency.
Episode 3
Tankers are the workhorses of our modern economy and the largest of these are built in Korea. Features like double-hulls and multiple tanks have pushed the cargo and safety capacity of tankers to new heights, making them the mainstay of the oil industry.
Episode 4
For years, the roads of Mumbai were a hotbed of congestion and overcrowding. Now, a dynamic link road promises to ease the city's traffic woes, but the construction of Mumbai's first double-tiered flyover has been anything but easy.
Episode 5
The largest airport terminal in the world in Beijing is an engineering marvel that nonetheless pays strict adherence to the principles of Chinese Feng shui, and marks a new footnote in an age-old tradition of building big.
Episode 6
It is the world's deepest immersed Tunnel, the Marmaray Project promises to ease Istanbul's decades-old traffic woes. Located in an earthquake zone, it is an engineering feat that is only rivaled by the discovery of a nearby ancient port.
Episode 7
Self-declared 8th Wonder of the World, the Palm trilogy is the largest man-made island chain in the world. Employing technology like satellite positioning, the Palm trilogy has broken new records and engineering milestones.
Episode 8
The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. That it is a sheer engineering marvel cannot be denied. Yet questions abound over environmental and social issues, not to mention logistics problems of moving ships up and downriver.