Mega Constructions: Biggest Marshaling Yard, Suspension Bridge & Intersection | Free Documentary

it's easy to run out of superlatives here Europe's largest marshalling yard is also where the longest train in Germany measuring an impressive 2,700 feet is put together the station itself is a gigantic maze of tracks totaling 160 miles we want to take a closer look at this and have traveled to mation 15 miles south of Hamburg standing at ground level we can only guess the incredible dimensions of the second-largest marshalling yard in the world railway tracks seem to stretch as far as the eye can see in all directions only when airborne do we get an idea of this gigantic size 1 million wagons arrive here every year that makes several hundred trains a day they all have to be uncoupled sorted out and reassembled like a gigantic puzzle especially when it comes to the longest train in Germany it transports food industrial parts cars and petrol to Scandinavia to make this happen the schedule is very tight the train must be ready in a few hours but how's that done 14 wagons were the length of 2700 feet we accompanied the birth of Germany's longest train 6 o'clock in the morning a train is just arriving from Cologne delivering the final wagons for a record-breaking train now the employees in Russian have exactly 6 hours to solve this double XL puzzle on Rails and we are allowed to watch them do it the switcher gets things going Eric hill Gert is one of them he uncoupled the train separating the individual wagons and breaking the train down to individual units a really tough job the longest I've ever had was 43 wagons some couplings weigh up to 35 kilos and if you have to lift up to 20 to 30 of them you can definitely do some damage to your back the switcher has to release the heavy iron couplings that hold the wagons together by hand this gets even more difficult if the train driver stops the train the wrong way if the connections are under tension they're particularly difficult to release the technical term for this is elongated the trains elongated when it's pulled an inch or two apart the screw coupling then becomes so tight that you can't get it to move I always complain to the drivers when the trains elongated at 2300 feet always having to wait just eats up time and the switch that doesn't have much time now there are only four hours left until departure time for the shunting driver to get involved he must now move the detached wagons and Wolfgang Powell does this with the necessary calmness I've been here 37 years so it's probably not that special anymore but that's the way it is I mean if it was any smaller I'd be riding this track right now you can't really see the size when you sat here on the locomotive only when airborne the gigantic dimensions can be seen their task begins the shunting locomotive pushes the lose wagons to where they are distributed that however is done by a computer which controls the speed why Frank Powell's only task is stopping the train in an emergency I'm responsible for the emergency stop thought switch so if I fall asleep I'll become unconscious I can't see what's happening then the locomotive stops after a certain time graph going comment please 41 to the Train all right we're starting at walking speed the shunting locomotive pushes the wagons along the track the Shanta can't see what's going on at the front a third person is responsible for this my two eyes have to be enough now the watchman stands there at the front the colleague who checks the train keeps an eye on the front as well that's what he's there for because I can't see everything here when I say I'm starting then he has to say if something's not right or shout stop or something if someone's in the way whatever but that hasn't really happened up to now 1600 tons are now moving towards the so-called hump due to the height difference of 10 feet the railway wagons roll on to one of the 48 shunting trucks using their own weight the computer controls the speed using a retarder brake high speed switches ensure that the wagons end up on the right track there are now only three hours left and this is how the puzzle works the split-up train from cologne has a total of 32 wagons the yellow ones have to go to Luba the pink ones to hamburg harbor and the green ones belong to our record train here in motion these wagons are now sorted like toy trains all wagons for the record train are moved to track 2036 where the remaining wagons for the longest train in Germany number for 472 for to Denmark are already waiting watching over the super-sized puzzle is the so called pump master it has to be ready in just under two hours from his tower Kristian molap monitors the rolling in an emergency he can take control away from the computer immediately this is for all emergencies for locomotives if anything goes wrong with it an accident or something then I can make an emergency stop here or for all the conveyors this is the emergency stop here to stop people getting hurt Kristian Mela has been working for the railway for 40 years for 30 years he has been the hump master in machine he loves the variety and the challenges of the job at Europe's largest marshalling yard [Music] of clamp-on as a little station there are two trains a day whereas here there's one train after the other and particularly from the port they just keep coming the port of Hamburg is the reason why the largest marshalling yard and Europe was built here a gigantic amount of goods and containers arrived by ship every day this is why there used to be five marshalling yards in Hamburg the Train formation was therefore distributed over various locations and this took considerably longer because even then 2,500 wagons had to be sorted every day unthinkable for the longest train in Germany train number four for seven to seven is almost finished pulled by this locomotive it is scheduled to leave for Scandinavia in one hour the final check by the so called wagon technician is the last remaining step before departure and whole Galang has found something this wagons up for inspection you can see here it was last checked on the 5th of March 2009 the wagons are all inspected wearing parts are replaced it's like a minor roadworthiness test this wagon can make one last trip then it has to go into the repair workshop the wagon technician checks that the load is properly sound and secured that all doors are closed are not damaged what's contained inside the rail wagons is something whole Galang does not normally no we don't have to look inside unless we've been specially instructed or if the doors bulging there's something pressing against them sometimes there's some impact damage it's been hit by a cleft or something we just have to make sure the doors are properly locked finally he checks if all brakes are released the method he uses is rather unusual we have brake pads here this is the brake shoe when the brakes are applied they sound dull can you hear it when the brakes are loose afterwards they sound bright let's take a look here this should be released then it sounds like this when they're off you can hear if the brakes are off or on everything is fine the longest train in Germany can set off for Denmark on time 2,700 feet more than 40 wagons are slowly set in motion and that happens twelve times a week the train once with a special permission on all other routes the maximum permitted length is 2,400 feet the dermalex L train takes three hours to cover 130 miles the 2,000 tonnes are not allowed to move faster than 60 miles per hour nevertheless the train as a braking distance of almost 3,200 feet the longest train in Germany one of about 600 trains departing from the largest marshalling yard in Europe every week this accounts for over 3,000 wagons a day rolling over 170 miles of rails spread over an area the size of 380 soccer fields that is the secret behind this impressive aerial photograph [Music] this construction project is breaking records with a 2 million dollar price tag a weight of 70 tons and a total length of 1,300 18 feet its success is literally hanging by a thread the bridges engineer Thiel and his son Kevin are trying to achieve the impossible they want to built Europe's longest suspension bridge with the help of a drone there's little time until the opening ceremony and working at 328 feet up in the air is extremely dangerous your life basically depends on someone else's actions are they going to be successful with this bold idea it's 6:00 a.m. on an early September day in Reuter in tyrol austria europe's longest suspension bridge will soon stretch above this valley 21-year old kevin lava is one of the people in charge of the construction he arrived here from Switzerland yesterday and spent the night in his car right next to the construction site the deadlines are tight and a lot of things could go wrong we've made all the necessary preparations but there's no ultimate guarantee mayor kevin has been preparing for this moment for months together with his father he wants to lay the foundation for a multi-million dollar construction project using only a drone and a thin wire we've never used a drone for a project of this size before it's the last time we built a large-scale suspension bridge we worked with a helicopter the weather conditions are far from ideal using the drone in the thick fog could be difficult it affects the GPS of the quad copters and that makes it harder to navigate you'd have to control the drone manually but that's tricky especially when it's carrying a load they want to use the drone to install the 1300 12 feet long pilot cable for the bridge however they've never worked with a drone over such a long distance before it all starts with a thin wire the drone carries the wire across the valley connecting what will later become the two ends of the bridge we'll find out more about the construction process in a little while Kevin is extremely focused the expectations are very high if you can't keep a cool head you're not the right person for this kind of job Kevin and his father Theo are working on opposite sides of the valley today Kevin sets up the drone and attaches the thin pilot cable at the end of the day the project's success rests on his shoulders it's still very foggy and his father is basically flying blind he's going to help him navigate via radio the slightest gust of wind could cause the wire to snap Martin cath Ryne is the technical site manager and initiative of the project he always believed in the idea of the record-breaking bridge and managed to find for private investors for the 1.7 million dollar project well I did my research some people actually don't believe that it's possible I hope we're in for a positive surprise Kevin and Theo decide to proceed despite the grim weather conditions efficient communication between father and son is crucial for the success of the drone Minova you have to fly at least 13 feet above the treetops once the drone is in the air Theo has to fully rely on his son the drone is about to take off now I'll be an extra set of eyes for my dad and help navigate the quadcopter he has to be able to trust me precision is very important for this project in the loft [Music] [Applause] I can't see anything do you have it under control can you see something through the camera no I can't okay but is the GPS working I don't know the success of the project is literally hanging by a threat now the drone is approaching its destination at twelve point five miles per hour it takes a skillful drone pilot to do that just attack too fast and the wire might snap and then the wire is suddenly gone this is exactly what we were afraid of the wire got stuck on a mast I hope we'll manage to get it loose what am I supposed to do now should I just wait until you give me a heads up Kevin finds out that the drone arrived on the other side without the wire it has snapped he can't do anything but wait the team on the other side is discussing how to proceed [Music] [Music] we've already dismissed Plan B contemplated Plan B and now we're discussing plan E it's a good thing that the alphabet has 26 letters CEO decides to give it another try and the drone is being transported back to Kevin meanwhile builders are working on a safety tunnel down in the valley the new suspension bridge will be built over a busy highway and objects falling from the bridge could cause fatal accidents [Music] the phoque finally clears and the drone is up in the air again [Music] [Applause] [Music] this time the drone has managed to reach its destination without losing the wire the first threat is now being used to pull over even more threats and increase the thickness that takes almost an entire day the result is a steel rope that is strong enough to carry the weight of a heavy bridge cable a winch will be used to transport the suspension bridge cables across the valley the precise alignment of those cables is important for the statics of the bridge only 35 days left the suspension cables have been successfully installed and aligned the actual construction of the bridge can finally begin the team wants to start with the Assembly of the gratings Kevin is back at the construction site well my goal for today is to at least get a little further than the highway I think that will be very good they have to install at least 22 gratings per day to complete the construction works before the grand opening the gratings for the pedestrian walkway are 47 inches wide unfortunately one of the most important people on the construction side isn't fully fit today three of us were carrying a 220 pound metal grating it slipped from our hands I was wearing safety boots but it hit me higher up the foot and I broke a metatarsal bone kevin is trying to support his father as much as he can he never envisioned being a bridge builder as a matter of fact only 7 years ago he was still terrified of heights it always takes me about 30 minutes to get used to the height when I'm working on a new construction site but I usually start to enjoy it after a little while kevin is secured to the bridge with a carabiner everybody is responsible for their own safety as well as that of their co-workers you have to be able to trust your workmates completely Trust is the prerequisite for this kind of job your life basically depends on somebody else's actions kevin is working 196 feet above the ground he first attaches the bulky brackets to the supporting cables they will be used for fastening and securing the bridge deck they have to push the bracket further down so that we can attach these bars that were later hold the gratings we have to repeat this process 120 times the workers use a trolley to move the 13 feet long steel gratings one person is in charge of securing the heavy grating to protect the railroad crossing and the highway right below the construction site the men are on edge you have to push harder use both hands don't hold on to the railings there's no need for that the gratings are pushed into place with hands and feet for more flexibility the screws won't be tightened before the construction is complete [Music] can you move them a little closer together Kevin adjusts the suspension cables they will run closer together in the middle section of the bridge Theo checks if everything is done according to his calculations checking the alignment the curve of the bridge wasn't quite right so we had to make a few changes there you die for South Ocean only when every little detail is right will the bridge be able to hold up to 500 people even in wind speeds of 37 miles per hour of course I care about the opening date but when I'm not a hundred percent satisfied with the project I can't change that it commits Sinan project supervisor Martin Katherine visits the site daily he's also keeping the investors in the loop their patience is being put to the test I'm an eternal optimist but to be honest I'm approaching my limits we've already had to increase the buffer once now we're hoping that the final amount won't be more than 15 to 20 percent higher than the estimate so that would be 2 million dollars time is money and the construction workers are finally finding their groove they manage to assemble 16 ratings a day which equals 164 feet on the bridge deck if Theo's calculations were accurate all parts should fit together perfectly in the end belong to Silas I can tell you the exact length of the suspension cables but the length of the walkway is a different story there's a certain clearance between the different parts I've built bridges that ended up being 60 feet longer than planned dividing almost lost one segment and laying it out skip plant Theo and his team will have to wait until the very end to find out the exact length of the new suspension bridge seven days until the grand opening after more than ten years of planning the last part of the bridge will finally be completed today there's only 65 feet of the bridge deck missing Theo and his workers have been at the construction site since sunrise are you nervous Theo there's no time to be nervous we're about to find out if Theo's calculations were right meanwhile he's on his way to the connection point sixty-eight feet sixty-eight feet of the bridge Tech are still missing however the steel grating such as 65 feet long too short for the gap with the finish line so close everybody wants to help even Martin Kathryn the technical site manager is suddenly operating the excavator this is gonna be the last part of the bridge deck in just a few moments we'll be able to walk across the bridge have waited for that moment for over two and a half years the last 19 feet long steel grating is being transported to its destination [Music] right so there's vegan motor-pod coming in and they made it but what about that last gap that wasn't part of the initial plan we're on it we'll just pull the two sides together with a chain hoist and screw them in place the two parts of the bridge deck are pulled together with simple straps success at last the construction crew is overjoyed and visibly relief [Music] I had my doubts in the beginning but Martin was always optimistic and put his heart and soul into this project I couldn't be happier how it's turned out two members of the crew are missing from the celebration Theo and Kevin are over on the other side of the valley they still have a lot of work to do before the grand opening in seven days in the evening father and son finally walk across the bridge for the very first time Theo is beaming with pride my suspension bridges don't sway they move people finally after six months and 11 days the construction is finally complete the 1,300 32 feet long bridge is now officially europe's longest suspension footbridge chongqing in china with 36 million inhabitants and a land area as large as austria it's the largest city in the world and it's the city with the most congestion in China commuters here take an average of 55 minutes per journey 607 thousand cars drive here every day in order to relieve the traffic Network a giant new traffic junction which connects a total of 8 different directions is currently being built in the west of the city this is it it looks really huge really high it's got lots of different levels to appreciate how big the intersection really is we turn on the drone camera because only from the air is the size of the intersection really clear the node point stretches across 400,000 square meters although this is quite large the Frankfort intersection the largest Junction in Germany covers about the same area the difference there were many more branches in Chongqing a total of twenty on five separate levels comparable to this is only the judge Harry Prix Gerson crossing in Los Angeles there are 18 branches but on only four levels and how do you drive on the world's largest intersection we meet an expert to clarify this the local driving school teacher Don Hugh has had more customers since the construction of the intersection because the junction is a popular test area driving student Chang yang has her driving test tomorrow today she's meant to prove her skills Calabar today we will drive over the complex intersection it's also part of the test do you think you're up for it I hope so Jang Hyun has already completed 60 driving hours in city traffic today is her first time on the holy way I'm already nervous to drive over such a complicated intersection especially in the test tomorrow but if you practice more you will drive better afterwards the driver's license is about 700 euros in Chongqing significantly cheaper than in Germany however you don't really have to drive over a highway intersection of this sort back home slowly using the brake I'm afraid of those tracks don't worry focus on driving in China you have to pass a total of three practical exams Chang Jung has already taken the parking and regular city traffic tests but my way intersection is the last one [Applause] at the next intersection you have to be extra careful yes there are many cars driving instructor Don you has to grab the steering wheel Chang Yin is tense the heavy traffic scares the student where should I go go go and it gets worse a full emergency stop in the middle of the highway she would have failed in tomorrow's test driving instructor Don you maneuvers the car from the intersection with his hand on the steering wheel we don't what ngang this five-story intersection is the tallest and most complicated one in China the cars come from eight different directions driving on this intersection is very complicated and tough you have to think about where you're going which lane you're taking whether to use your indicator lights are not otherwise an accident will happen we hope for her she'll do better in tomorrow's test how do people work on and under the largest intersection in the world only a hundred and fifty metres away from the intersection there's mr. zhou's car repair shop this shop has been here for the past 20 years since the intersection was established the business has been doing much better because there's a lot of clientele close to the ramp it's going fine especially because many cars pass by if something breaks they come here for help I'm happy to work next to the intersection he's not the only one working here also around the intersection there's still plenty of building going on it's going to be even bigger on the north side another four-lane road is under construction it's eventually going to connect north and south Chongqing the construction costs around 8 million euros the challenge this section is located in the middle of a mountain range this makes the work much more difficult it's not that easy to transport the building materials here seven days a week nine hours per day they dig and level the terrain the name of the new road full min that means the convenience of the people the giant crossing is great for the motorists but what about those who live here [Music] we see people running over the highway again and again unthinkable in Germany why are you walking here it's illegal but people live everywhere around here there are no pedestrian paths but a lot of homes and how do people live around the largest intersection in the world only 200 metres away from the giant intersection miss Yuen pass her apartment together with her husband G Chang she has lived right next to the intersection for seven years ji Chang worked as a graphic artist for 40 years and bought his own house with his savings today however they live in this 55 square metre apart on the 28th floor that's relatively normal for China but why did they swap their house for the apartment right next to the intersection another to draw the leg of the house was there in the middle of the construction side area right there where the highway was to go moving here was a good option for us there sure over when the excavators arrived the Youngs accepted the government's offer and moved into the replacement Department the construction work on the intersection has lasted seven years in 2019 it should be ready this also means construction noise seven days a week we measured 80 decibels as loud as a moving truck yes but the noise is not that big of a deal the intersection has made our life easier and the neighborhood is nicer here in fact the drive to the city center takes only half the time nowadays mr. young has to visit his sick father every day for this it's enough to drive along the entire traffic junction on his top talk for him the intersection is therefore a good thing it used to take over an hour today it only took me about 40 minutes so if something urgent happens I can get to my father quickly to make sure the intersection isn't just practical but beautiful as well dozens of gardeners work under the junction to turn the brown earth into a green oasis [Music] it's heavy work since the rocky ground offers plenty of resistance but it's not just about beautifying the intersection I think it's good to plant flowers here that improves the air quality 20,000 square meters of grief will reduce air pollution in the future even if many more plants are needed for better air quality the people of Chongqing benefit from the world's largest intersection [Applause] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 1,691,044

Rating: 4.7651739 out of 5

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), exceptional engineering, engineering documentary, constructions, mega constructions, incredible construction, biggest suspension bridge, biggest intersection, longest suspension bridge, shunting station, biggest shunting station, Marshaling Yard, Biggest Marshaling Yard, largest shunting station, biggest crossroad

Id: hZBtLk8cDMk

Length: 34min 59sec (2099 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 03 2020