Giant Railway Underpass in 5 Hours! | Giant Pop-Up Constructions - India | Free Documentary

[Music] how is it even possible to gouge from the earth an entire railway underpass in just five hours you'll need 150 workers six excavators two heavy-duty cranes it seems like an impossible project in the middle of india any mistake will quickly mean make sure it doesn't happen again construction workers buried alive and derailed trains get closer get closer go go a spectacular race against time okay we're getting ready giant pop-up constructions [Music] bubbly a community with 60 000 residents this station is the most important interchange in the entire region with more than 200 trains per day a construction project is currently taking place in the east indian town which if successful will change the lives of the people forever the state-owned indian railways is the fourth largest rail network in the world serving 23 million passengers per day but most of the track was laid during the days of british colonialism the trains the tracks the stations everything is urgently in need of renovation the biggest challenge is the railway crossings like this one here in bubbly a pedestrian underpass is about to be constructed here within just five hours the men in charge of this incredible undertaking supervisor srinivasa junior manager rajesh varma and the head of the company everything has to be perfectly planned otherwise we will never make it during the critical phase this construction site is a serious challenge we have a section that goes underneath four tracks then there are 25 kilovolts of power flowing through the power lines which we could easily get stuck on but we still have to work at top speed because the indian rail service will only stop railway traffic for a five-hour window a giant pop-up construction project that is just as fascinating as it is unbelievable it takes a lot of preparation to complete a construction project like this in just five hours the team already has to remove the two outside tracks the previous day otherwise the two cranes could not get close enough to the construction site and all 21 tunnel elements must be in just the right place because tomorrow every single minute counts the white lines mark the future path for the underpass if everything goes according to plan in exactly 27 hours this spectacular construction project will get underway but such a gigantic construction project means that countless permits need to be polled even in india a railway officer just arrived and is making serious trouble for project manager raja gopala raju the officer the railway officer is worried about safety on the tracks and about the traffic on the rails he's especially concerned about the laden trains that will be driving over the tracks during our preparations and tomorrow too this is why he wants us to position our cranes as far away as possible from the tracks but of course we need our equipment to be close to the construction site as close as we can this is exactly what we need to clarify with the officer and we need to coordinate all the steps as precisely as possible tomorrow positioning the construction equipment further away than planned is more than a little risky it could slow down the entire construction process for now our team needs to just keep working while rail traffic continues up to the very last second the planned railway underpass means far more than just a giant pop-up construction site for the residents of the indian town of bubbly tragic accidents happen repeatedly despite railroad crossing gates passers-by ignore the warnings every day they want to go to the doctor bring their children to school or simply get to a store before it closes the train tracks run right through the center of town the sixty thousand residents of bubbly have to cross the tracks every day waiting up to 200 times a day for many people not an option [Music] the people are always in a hurry and just want to quickly slip under the gate since there is no underpass i have already seen two or three accidents here there is so much traffic here for example when children go to school or people go to work they're often late if they have to wait too long at the gates an underpass will be a really big help to a lot of people several people have even died three within just the last two years they cross despite the gate and that is very dangerous an underpass here will save lives one hour later the railway officer is still not convinced and is concerned about the crane's final position the whole pop-up construction project is on the verge of failure the most critical part of the work needs to happen tomorrow in a span of just five hours we won't have any time during that period to reposition machines and equipment that all has to happen today machinery annie on spot pete told us so alot i examined many jobs my competitors were working on so i would be able to tackle this type of project in the first place and i learned from their mistakes a lot of their failures were the result of the equipment so many people died only 24 hours until it begins the team wants to put the cranes into their ideal position now with or without a permit but just as they begin one of the two cranes refuses to budge even one centimeter we do have to take care of the problem immediately and repair it make sure that something like this does not happen tomorrow the problem the hydraulic pump is leaking and doesn't work properly what seems to be one minor detail is a serious threat to the entire pop-up construction project without the second heavy-duty crane the team will have absolutely no chance of moving the tunnels extremely heavy structural elements if something like that happens tomorrow we will have serious timing problems our goal has to be to clear the tracks as quickly as possible for the railway traffic the solution the first unwanted rehearsal for the case of an absolute nightmare situation we need the right specialist on site for every problem electricians mechanics and so on in a best case scenario everything takes a maximum of 15 minutes at least raja gopala raju and his team received the desired all clear from the railway officer while the team repairs the pump have you directed our character we have the permit we are allowed to place our cranes as close to the tracks as we need to we were that means we can start removing the first tracks within the next 25 minutes and finish the preparations today 14 meters of the outer tracks have to pop off one of the cranes has to be right there to be able to position the tunnel elements tomorrow it's back breaking work made all worse by the extreme weather conditions where the sun is now the enemy the mercury hits nearly 50 degrees celsius as our team toils away in this energy sapping humidity [Music] as they work railway traffic keeps on rolling even if only at 20 kilometers per hour instead of 50 these heavy trains with a limited field of vision can still do serious damage the smallest misstep could be fatal finally the team has repaired the crane's hydraulic pump and everyone prepares to finally remove the outer sections of track this allows our team to bring the six excavating machines and supporting materials into position they now need to do their part and remove as much soil as possible to create a pop-up construction site the likes of which have never been seen before 20 hours before start everything has to happen at the same time first team number one removes all of the gravel under the traps this is certainly stripped back construction but speed is of the essence [Music] the second team works in parallel cutting through both of the outer tracks one of the cranes will only have enough space to take up its hard one ideal position once the tracks are gone if team two damages or deforms even one of the tracks during this balancing act the best case scenario for tomorrow is that railway traffic will come to a standstill in the worst case when that first 3 000 ton train rolls over the tracks the consequences will be terrifying responsibility for all of this rests on the shoulders of project manager rodrigo pala watch out for the bulldozer and remove any obstacles that are in the way we have to remove the tracks as quickly as possible this is very important because we have to place one of our cranes here we can only get close enough if we remove the tracks but everything we remove stays nearby because when we're finished with the tunnel we have to put it all back together very quickly a giant pop-up construction project in which every detail of every single minute follows a highly refined plan it all seems to work in theory but in practice the project which was set up at lightning speed is a fragile house of cards one small breath of wind could be its downfall as evening approaches the soil along both of the center tracks has been removed completely now all they have to do is position the crane with utmost precision or given the challenging circumstances of this pop-up construction as precisely as possible just as dusk breaks everything actually seems to be in place tomorrow these machines and 150 people will gouge an entire railway underpass from out of the ground within just five hours the trains will not wait for them if they take longer the concrete tunnel's structural elements look a little rough but india's pop-up professionals have precisely adjusted their dimensions to fit the project and the material characteristics construction plan and structural analysis were optimized for two months each element is two meters long five and a half meters wide and a good six meters high if nothing goes wrong this simple looking construction will soon be saving lives [Music] just 17 hours until the last train rolls over the tracks then this very audacious project will begin [Music] [Applause] [Music] okay okay good job we can start soon we're ready for tomorrow all ready to work tomorrow time for the first step in this ambitious pop-up project as soon as the last train has left the station the two remaining tracks have to be removed several earth movers work hand in hand to extract a total of 3 600 tons of dirt the teamwork saves time because the machines can stay where they are and don't have to be moved around the big day begins early in the morning everything still seems peaceful and relaxed but the first residents of the indian town of bubbly are already gathering waiting amidst the construction equipment to watch this spectacular race against time eight hours left as a precaution the authorities have set up blockades a seemingly simple task but this construction has challenges for everyone as soon as everything starts at the construction sites no more cars will be allowed to drive over the tracks but we also don't want to limit the residents too much our job is to show them the best way to get where they want to larger vehicles may agree to be redirected this way but motorcyclists bike riders and pedestrians in particular ignore the instructions they don't even want to get to the other side of the tracks instead they simply want to witness this engineering spectacle up close their dream a life where nobody needs to die crossing the tracks ever again police officers try to keep the situation under control while dangerous construction is underway one slip into the excavation and those dreams could quickly become a nightmare twelve o'clock in the afternoon the second to last train passes through the station exactly one hour before work begins electricians get ready to cut the power at the right second the very first second as soon as work goes into the critical phase absolutely no power can flow through those lines it would be much too dangerous which is why we have to shut them off during the entire process and we can't interfere with the last trains coming through so we have to get everything ready now for a quick shutdown the schedule is very tight 25 000 volts over a hundred times more than a typical power outlet site manager archicopalaraju seems relaxed despite the challenge of 42 meters of underpass we've already completed over 150 projects we are so successful because we always plan and organize everything meticulously in advance every member of the team knows exactly what to do everyone follows the rules and takes instructions only from me preparation in the first place it's important for us that we didn't make any mistakes during each of the steps yesterday that the cranes are in the right places and that we perfectly calculated all distances between the tracks and the machines now things just need to go as planned finally the big moment 1pm both of the last trains pass through the station at the same time out of the way those are the last two trains in a few seconds all railway traffic will be paralyzed for exactly five hours and not one minute longer work begins on a five hour giant pop-up construction project like no other and even from the very first moment everything needs to run with the highest efficiency you can imagine otherwise we will fail i have the very best equipment on site to make sure we succeed that's the only way we can do this at all the schedule is extremely tight 150 workers 6 excavators and 2 cranes all now start to work in unison removing the center tracks without damaging them [Music] the tracks are hardly in the air as the excavators break into the remaining soil fast brutal efficient [Music] go go go start already go the man responsible supervisor srinivasa a rookie one year ago he worked at a bank then he heard about the pop-up constructions and decided to spend his life transforming india's railway network his most difficult task coordinating the excavators because they can't just randomly shovel the soil away the width and angle of the side walls have to be nearly perfect dangerous now things are getting riskier for all the workers around the excavators the deep execution of work sediment and of course we have to avoid accidents at all costs otherwise we will never the hole has to be exactly 42 meters long and six meters wide vitally crucial the proper angle for the newly created side walls if they are too steep everything could collapse before the team can even place the most critical structural elements for the tunnel only one and a half hours into the project and nearly a third of the time has already passed in three and a half hours the first train will come through again [Music] right now it's the excavator drivers who bear the greatest responsibility one of them is he is satisfied with his pay worth the equivalent of 500 euros nearly four times as much as the average in india but he is happy sitting at the controls since 2014 for another reason i can earn money anywhere [Music] even though there is a lot of stress and pressure with this kind of work we are truly helping the town with projects like this underpass they often arrive late wherever they are going i heard that even pregnant women sometimes haven't made it to the other side in time see far more than just a simple railway underpass in this pop-up construction first and foremost they want to give the people hope make life at least a little bit easier for mothers fathers and children same goes for the head of the company i even traveled to germany to learn how other countries approach this kind of construction work tony's even it taught me that theoretical knowledge isn't enough you also have to have practical experiences we've all gained this experience together piece by piece to perfect our work every time experience has taught us we definitely should not dig up too much soil now otherwise a severe accident is pretty much inevitable one is to one slope at least maintenance after two hours the breakthrough almost there but even if the side walls hold other dangers still lurk it is impossible to sufficiently close off and secure the trench in this short window of time if a worker takes one wrong step there could be broken bones or worse everything is now riding on this fine line between safety and the pressure of time this is a balancing act our team leaders have prepared for yeah we now have just one hour to position the tunnel's concrete structural elements that's why we have to begin as quickly as possible otherwise [Music] that means just three hours left right this second the excavators are heaving the last chunks of earth out of the hole and the structural calculations that were made have proven to be solid the first critical step to success a 42 meter long and six meter wide stable trench but the workers still have a while to go before they can breathe easy now the 7.5 ton base plates need to be put in they create the foundation for the actual tunnel the difficulty the plates need to fit exactly into the trench if the gap is too narrow they will tilt at the edge if it is too wide the team will have to add soil both mean extra work lost time and the worst case failure two hours and 45 minutes over half the time has already passed but the construction managers doubt if the plates will really fit so they measure everything one more time throughout all this the trench is completely unsecured the hole is over seven meters deep a huge safety risk not just for workers but also for the curious spectators who keep pushing forward the police and supervisor try to intervene before anything worse happens [Applause] the people just don't listening while the safety officers try to keep the curious masses in check the crane drivers go full speed ahead bringing the seven and a half ton floor plates toward the underpass directly over the heads of the workers they continue shoveling below while this happens up to the last second this step is particularly dangerous for those who are standing below in the trench it's a major challenge for us to perfectly coordinate all the people involved in such a large project everyone needs to do their tasks responsibly and ensure their own safety the safety standards are extremely low if an excavator would hit the stone plate or a small piece simply crumbles off and falls several meters onto the workers below this construction project would almost surely prove fatal [Music] then the first plate fits nearly perfectly all the calculations are correct now the only thing missing 20 more and it needs to happen quickly now we only need about 5 to 10 minutes until everything is in place ambitious motivated and prepared for anything but right now even 10 minutes are more than the team really has because they are behind on their ambitious schedule and the pop-up project could fail everything is working but we are still about 10 to 15 minutes behind schedule at the moment it just took a little longer than we thought to perfect the hole for the tunnel now we have to hurry to make up the time to then quickly begin with the actual tunnel time until the first train comes thundering across the tracks less than two hours like all good teams our team begins to improvise whether worker crane or excavator driver everyone works together in their own special way [Music] unlike other indian construction projects the pop-up team only consists of permanent employees everyone knows their jobs and knows who they can rely on in difficult situations especially when things get dangerous to ensure the best structural characteristics the team places the tunnel's individual elements from the inside to the outside boxes and we have to work from both sides with two cranes at the same time that way the structural elements can support each other and everything stands securely and quickly this is one of the critical steps now we will see if we measured everything correctly the position of the crane the distance between the tunnel elements and everything until all the concrete elements are in their final position the danger of collapse remains high the plan install the central tunnel structure first this creates the stability essential for the other elements to follow the team works from the inside to the outside if even one of the 62.5 ton concrete component strikes the tunnel wall or one of the other elements it will all come tumbling down like a house of cards and just staying within the schedule is not enough the team needs to make up time three hours and 20 minutes are up which is 20 minutes too many the giant pop-up construction project is behind schedule in just one and a half hours the next trains will barrel through bad news is they're already on the way crane operator satish p is under pressure and this intense heat any slip any mistake will put the entire project at risk but his belief in their success drives him forward it is great working in a company that handles such fascinating projects the feeling is indescribable when we ultimately accomplish the job and are successful the workers don't just trust their team they also trust their machines these specialist workhorses come from germany japan and south korea and they are state-of-the-art especially when compared to other indian construction sites [Music] state subsidies cheaper rented equipment all that would be too much hassle prone to error unreliable or more precisely an absolute no-go situation for this type of giant pop-up construction project but even the best equipment doesn't help if something goes wrong with the implementation the cranes are now extended to 34 meters and that position they are at their load limit despite the optimum position [Music] no wonder when each of them is holding a concrete block that weighs 62.5 tons the danger in making a mistake during these short few minutes is higher than ever in the worst case the entire load would tip over [Music] in only one more hour trains will be riding over the exact spot where there is currently a giant gaping hole at this point unthinkable because just placing the central underpass elements perfectly is not enough the aim is to minimize the distance between all tunnel elements otherwise vibrations caused by the passing trains create room for soil to interfere with the structure penetrating the tunnel and destabilizing the construction until ultimately it collapses each part must fit together perfectly that's my responsibility [Music] any mistake means that while this pop-up may initially be successful a little while later it could also cause a catastrophic pop down and whoever happens to be in the underpass at that time would be buried alive the team tries to make up time while maintaining precision and it looks like it's working after 20 minutes the first section is in place as soon as the middle sections are set within the markings to create the base the risk of anything going wrong as soon as a few more are in place showing how important this project is for the indian town of buble our railway crossing causes so many problems [Music] anyone living in our town or the surrounding area has to cross the tracks 20 or 30 times a week school children need to arrive at school on time fathers and sometimes mothers need to be at work on time but they often arrive late and until now there was absolutely nothing they could do this underpass means great hope for us it will significantly improve our quality of life and all of our daily routines it is simply a special day for us no much more than that a day that the town residents will remember for a very long time a real life changer if everything goes as planned only a cool 60 minutes left and up until now there is no trace of an underpass never mind train tracks that still have to be welded back together now we are trying to finish even earlier than we planned four hours at full speed and then not as far along as planned according to the schedule the first of 200 trains is coming in just under an hour finally the last tunnel element is in its final position [Music] all that's left is to fill the gaps seal the joints and keep working without a break at a temperature of 50 degrees celsius in air that is so humid you could almost drink it the concrete components in precise position and stuck together now the excavators need to replace enough soil back into the gaps while the window of time continues to shrink to less than 40 minutes the giant pop-up construction is still at risk of failure [Music] if we do not finish on time and just one single train is delayed because of us that will set up a chain reaction that will last for several weeks because here it's all about trust if indian railway traffic gets out of control because of one single mistake then all further projects will hang in the balance the pop-up team gives their all a total of 3 000 cubic meters of soil now have to be placed on and next to the tunnel then the all-important tracks need to be placed back on top it's shortly before six o'clock and dusk is already starting to fall they're almost there now they just have to put the tracks back together that they took apart just a few hours ago and do it as precisely as possible despite pressure from the clock otherwise the first train that passes over the freshly built underpass could be the first accident [Music] now we can weld the tracks together again so that in best case everything is just as it was before 20 minutes to go now they're not just running low on time they are also running low on daylight precision down to the millimeter often an overused cliche but here it's reality keep going keep going it has to fit perfectly get closer supervisor srinivasa has to ensure that something like that does not happen under any circumstance success looks like it's within reach and then in one fell swoop it's over [Applause] [Music] time is up the goal they didn't make it the race truly seems to be over but despite expectations there is still no train in sight it's delayed according to the current status we are 20 minutes too late we are trying to save it our team still hopes to transform their failure into success to achieve the impossible even if it's not within five hours expecting the signal at any second everyone works at full speed this is where the team really show their spirit [Music] then a half hour later the first train arrives passing the construction site like nothing ever happened and the tunnel construction it actually held the load and as of this moment it will change the life of sixty thousand residents of the town manager raja gopala raju and his team have pulled it off this feeling of actually finishing it makes me unbelievably happy all 150 workers did just the right thing at the right moment and we didn't have a single accident all our work was worth it even if there were moments when we thought we wouldn't make it on time as unbelievable as it is one and a half days ago this place looked like this trains driving on four tracks at the same time there was no sign of an underpass then we had to remove the tracks dig a stable tunnel while keeping the unchecked soil under control [Music] after all that precisely position all the load-bearing concrete structural elements in just 60 minutes in the end our team from india created something with a mere half hour delay that would seem impossible in many countries of the world a railway underpass in five and a half hours that will bear the load of 200 trains every day the day after the construction is holding firm even after dozens of trains [Music] admittedly there's still some fine-tuning left to do but the proud residents of the town are already admiring their new underpass we had so many problems in this town over the last 30 40 years that's over now and that makes me so happy which is why i'm taking a lot of selfies with our new underpass the many accidents in bubbly people losing their lives on the tracks are a thing of the past whether going to school traveling to work or even giving birth no one has to live in fear of being run over by a train anymore the five and a half hours of pop-up construction was a spectacular feat that will change the lives of thousands long into the future [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 310,541

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), engineering documentary, engineering, construction, construction documentary, giant constructions, pop up construction, railway junction, railway underpass, railway under pass construction, 4k, 4k documentary, uhd documentary, 4k documentaries

Id: oD10ccstzp4

Length: 48min 24sec (2904 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 22 2021