Most Dangerous Transports: Siberian Ice Road | Mega Transports | Free Documentary

[Music] Russia Siberia a tough mega transport through a thousand kilometers of frozen snow and ice there's only one way to reach your destination the ice road it doesn't forgive mistakes it's treacherous it's unpredictable a life-threatening adversary that has left many fractured and broken we could slip off here any second and then there is the biting cold relentless and without mercy for both man and machine we don't have a spare tire for the trainer anymore an icy brutal battle today on mega transports [Music] the coulomb are mountain range in eastern russia an inhospitable frozen landscape with temperatures as low as 50 degrees below only in winter when the snow buries the underlying mudflats is this region accessible at all just four months a year far away from civilization on the ice road a failed engine or mechanical fault could place you firmly into the clutch of death the cold cleaning you in minutes the surrounding mountains up to 2,000 meters high make this almost endless stretch a deadly trap extremely difficult for normal trucks to handle and for Omega transport it's very nearly impossible starting-point Magadan the only major city within a 1,700 kilometer radius located on the coast it's the only supply center for the entire region in the winter months mugga Dunn is the only gateway to this otherwise isolated region which is only accessible from January to April that's why all goods stored here must be sent to the hinterland as quickly as possible one of the biggest businesses in the area involves transports to the gold mines that's because the mine operators need a lot of heavy equipment delivered by sea in order to extract the mineral resources from the ground sometimes what they need is a colossal machine like Komatsu d 475 a it costs 1.2 million euros it's one of the biggest bulldozers in the world 11 and a half metres long and four and a half metres tall and almost five and a half meters wide it weighs in at a hefty 86 tonnes far more than the world's heaviest tank driving a rig this big along the ice road the smallest mistake can be fatal the empty weight of the truck alone is over a hundred tons this task is to get the valuable cargo to the gold mine as quickly as possible dennis operates of a traffic off the ice road trucker stays calm in the face of it all and quietly accepts the challenge we have experience in transporting cargo such as the 475 we know our way around really big machines Dennis's first job loading the bulldozer to reduce the weight to a minimum the team transports the bulldozer without it scoop but that changes its center of gravity it can easily start to wobble what's more the bulldozer is just as wide as the trailer that means there's no room for error if it's not exactly centered the Machine tilts given all these considerations the driver has to steer his 86 tons of bulldozer directly over the rear tires of the truck without damaging them in order to prevent this kind of damage driver Dennis uses a typically effective Russian method packing old tires in between as buffers and finished as the front of the bulldozer raises up sky-high during this maneuver the driver is essentially steering blind with the help of verbal commands dennis navigates the colossus onto the trailer with maximum precision it's really heavy all the equipment is already at the load limit the steel monster is now precisely in position he's easy easy stop stop everybody's getting ready for more than risky mega transport 1,000 kilometers through the Siberian tundra the loaded truck measures twenty-two and a half meters in length with a total weight of 138 tonnes ice road trucker Denis is worried about the one certain danger during the five-day trip there can be problems with the wheels there can be problems with the axle bearings or with the air brakes because the cargo is incredibly heavy spare lines workshops rescue services of any kind you won't find any of these on the ice road from now on the trucker's around their own I'm just checking the tires again we probably have to pump them up someone pretty flats already too little air pressure quickly leads to cracks in the sidewalls and can even damage the carcass worst case scenario the tire bursts on the ice road the stakes are always high requiring at least two trucks to drive in convoy the support vehicle is carrying the bulldozers scoop along with some lighter equipment Dennis's partner is a relative newcomer a greenhorn even Alekseevich a nuke nicknamed Vanya has only been on the region's ice roads for three years on the road we can't afford any problems everything must run perfectly the mega transport route leads from the Russian magadhan through the tundra of Siberia for a total of 1,000 kilometers over snow-covered mountain passes temporary bridges and unpaved ice roads the destination is located between the rivers colima and omul on the gold mine is in the middle of nowhere the mine is basically still hibernating but in a few days this year's digging will begin and if the transport and bulldozer don't make it there in time the mine could lose an estimated ton of gold this season [Music] it's already the end of March the harsh and unforgiving Siberian winter is coming to an end that's good for the mine but dangerous for the truckers if it thaws prematurely the surrounding ice roads turn into an impassable swamp overnight the mega transport has to start as soon as possible in the middle of the night Dennis gives his rig a final check as does his karlie ganya with a cargo worth 1.2 million euros they can't afford to take any risks we can leave now we have to check again on the way and because of the intense time pressure they'll be performing those checks at full speed the driver of the accompanying vehicle is responsible for keeping an eye on things he's an experienced ice road veteran transport supervisor Alexander valentinovich Sowinski has known the ice road for over 20 years with all of its lurking pitfalls and dangers I am mainly responsible for the downhill stretch in the mountain passes I have to check constantly whether it is slippery and whether the vehicles or the cargo are damaged 10:00 p.m. the mega transport is setting out they want to cover a hundred kilometers by done this is the easiest stage of the trip all in all the trucker's want to make the thousand kilometers to the mine in just five days as expected there is hardly any traffic at night the streets are still clear but even greenhorn Vanya knows what soon awaits him and the others once we leave the city the road gets a lot worse so right after we get out of here in fact but for now everything's fine it's not only the road and the approaching thaw that puts the drivers under pressure there's also the financial factor the ice road truckers earn money almost exclusively in the winter season the more tours they make the more they collect to get themselves and their families through another year at two o'clock in the morning the convoy reaches its first destination as planned but just barely Dennis's trunk is suddenly losing antifreeze and of these arctic temperatures antifreeze is essential Dennis tries to repair the damage but under no circumstances can the engine be switched off otherwise the drivetrain will freeze over completely within a few minutes and our drivers will be in real trouble the hose is old so the pipe couldn't withstand the pressure any longer but now everything's okay again hos exchanged then it's time to sleep in the trucks with the engine running around the clock for just six hours nine hundred of the 1000 kilometers are still ahead of the mega transport time to enter the next Lake the so called Road of bones prisoners of war helped build this road in the 1950s under Stalin nearly all of them paid for it with their lives and are all lying and rest buried by the roadside in the next two days the drivers want to cover four hundred kilometers and overcome five icy mountain passes in the process with up to six and a half percent gradient their next stop is an essential destination in every respect the only petrol station on the whole ice road [Music] in the mountains the weather changes fast forecasts are notoriously unreliable visibility snowfall slipperiness the elements are highly unpredictable within a few minutes quickly making the seemingly peaceful landscape impassable even in clear moments in order to withstand any worst-case scenarios the convoy follows a fixed order in front the truck with a bulldozer then the support vehicle and at the rear the much lighter truck with a scoop weight breaking distance experience all play a decisive role in addition supervisor valentinovich checks the tires again and again while the rig is moving if the tires get too hot they change color they get dark when they lose air right now they're all the same color that means everything's ok but I still have to keep a constant eye on them the importance of these checks is quickly demonstrated from time to time supervisor valentinovich checks the tires not only visually but also with his ears thanks to his experience valentinovich can tell whether something is wrong by the noise of the tires axles and engine alone it sounds good at least so far then that convoy reaches the first foothills the trucks have to slow down and increase the distance between them to over a hundred meters to prevent a crash on ice the road has become very narrow now and this stretch particularly so I'm activating the differential lock now Vanya I'm going up very slowly now the differential lock distributes the force evenly across all tires this prevents wheel spin which would cause the truck to fishtail but it also means that ice road trucker Dennis will make slow progress with his 86 to unload and the day is already drawing to a close finally over the hill now it's downhill again all brakes are at full lock they hold out at first but after a while they really start glowing [Music] we're stopping now to check the wheels Vanya says there's smoke coming out it may actually be the brakes brakes and tires these are the most dangerous weaknesses along and something is smoking I smell something it's hot really hot yeah the brakes smoking with what you tell you the constant high load through the mountainous landscape was too much for one of the brakes unless they get the damage under control they'll be late and that's not all the gold mine needs the loaded bulldozer and the truckers need their financial bonus in every respect delayed means failure block the brake shoes they just got too hot I need to release them but that also means that we now have one less brake on this axle sounds minor but with a total weight of over 130 tons it plays a decisive role for this mega transport [Music] disconnecting the brake is a risky solution that nobody in the team is happy with and yet they must keep moving ever forward it's the only way to complete the transport it's all or nothing if we hadn't done that the brakes would have gotten so hot that the wheels would have started to burn soon after that they have to face the next pass the clear sky is misleading in the past few days it has snowed heavily too heavily in fact the heavy transporter gradually runs out of power on the smooth surface now we have to unload the bulldozer this ascent is too slippery the following descent to steep with that bulldozer my truck would never make it we could even slide down the slope here's the problem when driving on a slope there's a thing called slope down force this force literally pulls the truck down without that nine tons in addition a strong engine power you need above all maximum grip this is a tremendous challenge on a Siberian ice road and even when the ascent is over there is still the downhill run where the opposite force takes effect the weight shifts and threatens to overload the brakes the only thing that can be done is unload the bulldozer for the entire section thereby reducing the weight as much as possible supervisor valentinovich also prescribed snow chains ice road trucker denis obeys the instructions but colleague Vanya doesn't he ignores the warnings breaks formation more than a little impatient the greenhorn just passes him by Denis on the other hand is sticking to the plan for the time being which means getting the bulldozer off his truck the biggest problem besides time is that the bulldozer has to go over the tires of the trailer again the enormous load is the lesser evil because there's simply no alternative it's the only way to avoid look over there a life-threatening risk he didn't put the [ __ ] chains on while Dennis and the rest of the team unload the bulldozer greenhorn Vanya is stuck with his heavy-duty transporter the team is trying to make the best of a bad situation and wants to send the bulldozer with it's towing device towards the mountain we tie this up and then we go meanwhile supervisor valentinovich is already driving the escort vehicle up the hill it's much too slippery the wheels are just spinning he should have cut the chains on from the beginning but nothing yes but he just kept going without them and now he's stuck but then defying expectations he's moving again the rebellious greenhorn banyas tires are digging their way back into the snow little by little getting some grip again at a walking pace the heavy-duty truck works its way meter by meter towards the summit [Music] at the top he has to face the wrath of supervisor valentinovich if you don't follow your instructions you're off the team [Applause] driver Vanya is humbled and changes his tune it has become too warm and the road is now extremely slippery it makes sense to finally put on the snow chains so far the road was okay but for the rest of the way I'll definitely need them that's for sure because this Hillcrest was just the beginning but the trucker's still have to overcome the Colima mountains which are up to 2,000 meters high to move heavy equipment to one of the remotest gold mines in Siberia the icy cold guarantees that an engine breakdown means a quick frosty death it's a hell of a job on the road of bones it's better now currently the bulldozer is fighting its way up the pass on its own it may be slow but thanks to its 670 horsepower it masters the climb effortlessly albeit at just four kilometers per hour it sticks to the outermost edge of the road because the monster chains tear open the snow cover of the road which would be a catastrophe for all the vehicles following behind it once the broken snow freezes again no truck will be able to get over it that's why the bulldozer is leading the column for the time being the trucks have to flatten all the craters in the snow immediately afterwards a little later at the foot of the pass our driver Denis and supervisor valentinovich after maneuver the 86 ton bulldozer back onto the heavy truck this is an enormous load for a few seconds the weight reaches almost 11 and a half tonnes on every single tire truck there's a possibility they could blow out during this maneuver the damage usually begins with hairline cracks barely visible to the naked eye so by the time the damage is recognizable it's already done loadings done everything seems to have worked out now we can move on the mine is waiting for us the first real catastrophe during this mega transport is still to come only four more mountain passes remain to be conquered in other words unload four times negotiate the pass and reload in order to reach the next destination in time the men will drive the rest of the way without brakes day and night [Music] then after a total of three days so far just before the fuel runs out [Music] only five kilometers to the gas station today we drove 175 kilometers strong performance nevertheless we didn't make it in daylight but we have to go there we have to refuel urgently especially the bulldozer the destination where they will enjoy a well-deserved night's sleep seems to be within reach but then a serious breakdown just short of the gas station cuts our team to the bone the constant loading and unloading was too much for the truck tires the first one is blown out the bulldozer is blocking the tire with its weight that's why I just can't pull it out the bulldozer has to be unloaded again a mega transport through the ice desert of Siberia in the middle of the night the 86 tonne giant once again rolls over the tires of the truck at relentless temperatures and the Siberian goldmine is expecting the bulldozer in just two days time at minus 35 degrees the oil and the jack has become too viscous I have to warm it up otherwise I can't jack up the trailer and remove the wheel trucker Dennis's fingers and feet have long since gone numb with the cold everything's freezing their bodies the trucks even the lug nuts under these circumstances a simple tire change means risking their own lives Denis and his colleagues need one hour just to remove the wheel [Music] then the next problem arises the tire can't be salvaged and we no longer have a spare wheel for the trader we only have some left for the truck and they're too big another flat tire and there is no suitable replacement the team has no choice but to improvise I want it hissed when we unknown at the bulldozer that's when it broke the tire now we must try everything to replace it but there's not a single matching tire left all the rest are simply too big the team has no choice but to mount an oversized truck tire on the trailer now Dennis and his team just have to defrost everything with the Bunsen burner adjust the air pressure as best they can and then as soon as possible drive on at first it seems to be working although the tire is actually much too big the wheel bolts fit meanwhile at 11 p.m. and in total darkness temperatures have dropped to almost minus 40 degrees Celsius after two hours and close to complete exhaustion the team makes it now for the hard part get the bulldozer back on the truck the first attempt fails by this time they have all long exceeded their limits they are beginning to wonder why they do this to themselves pull it over a little I'll never get it up like this nerves are shattered everyone is beyond exhausted and frozen stiff they can hardly concentrate and tempers wear thin they are really putting everything to the test the cold the equipment their physical and mental abilities everything is at the absolute top limit anyone who wants to make it through the Siberian ice has to do one thing above all stay calm or the road claims another victim [Music] it takes the men a total of six attempts and a long cold hour wasted finally the bulldozer is back on the truck Dennis wants to continue immediately we did it that was really difficult it's so dark you can't see a thing [Music] after midnight the convoy sets off again to stagger through the last five kilometers of this leg of the trip the truckers eagerly await the welcoming lights of the lone petrol station the supply point specially built by the mining company is located in the place that ordinary mortals never see out in the frozen nowhere the only fuel pump far and wide is free no big surprise there it pumps agonizingly slowly but that doesn't matter at this moment it gives ice road trucker Dennis a chance to take a little break while the rig's fuel is filled five times slower than at a normal truck station with sixteen point five litres of diesel per minute we're filling up everything's fine we need about a thousand meters so we can keep going and then there's the bulldozer which probably needs another 500 meters that means a force brake of two and a half hours and some enjoyable relaxation for the team minimal sleep maximum diesel and a very meager breakfast that's all they can manage before the third and most difficult stage of the mega transport because from now on it's over the unpaved part of the ice road [Music] the West 500 kilometers are a real challenge first over bear ice and then over a one lane road through a forest with limited visibility what's that's done they have to cross a temporary bridge and then negotiate another steep mountain pass only then will the goldmine be in sight if that is everything mostly goes smoothly this part of the ice road is one of the most dangerous streets in the world water sprayed regularly transforms its surface and the bare ice over and over again sounds crazy but still better than the alternative a thawing road fall the potholes the most minor malfunction here quickly becomes a fight for survival if you have a breakdown here you're on your own there's always a creeping freezing death lurking just ahead [Music] up to minus 35 degrees Celsius here it's do or die but for the time being a fate worse than death has been avoided by this mega transport the convoys making good progress the decisive mountain chain is already in sight and yet due to the natural road boundary the carriageway here is only 9 metres wide oncoming vehicles have no chance to get out of the way worst case scenario gridlock to avoid this supervisor valentinovich drives first it's his task to stop oncoming vehicles in time I'm going into the bend now and slowing down with these curves I might not be able to see the oncoming traffic that's why I Drive slowly the many trees make it even more difficult to see the curves I really have to be careful to make it around the corner the road keeps getting more and more narrow and on the radio Dennis's heard other truckers in the opposite lane I'm coming through now have you stopped them yes they're waiting all right made it a simple hand signal let's the drivers know that another truck is coming Vanya there are two tankers waiting for you but after the bottleneck the next potential danger looms a provisional bridge built from a few simple tree trunks stacked on top of each other with a little soil to fill in the gaps it's a typically simple construction for 138 tons maybe too simple [Music] supervisor valentinovich is trying to assess whether a crossing might be feasible at all [Music] the bridge could be damaged maybe there are already visible cracks but no it doesn't look like it nothing's crumbling no fissures everything seems fine [Applause] nevertheless the trucker's have a queasy feeling the moment of truth first they send greenhorn Vanya across with his relatively lightweight 70 ton truck he's taking it very slow and doesn't want to strain the construction by causing any more vibration than is absolutely necessary then it's Dennis's turn his truck with the bulldozer weighs almost twice as much the bridge seems to be holding they say this simple structure can withstand a load of over 130 tons mission accomplished almost 1,000 kilometres through the icy Siberian landscape a record-breaking mega transport the trucker's are now within reach of their destination but the longer the transport takes the more the Siberian winter gnaws at the stamina of both man and machine then the next unscheduled stop ice road driver Dennis felt something in fact another tire is losing pressure it doesn't matter how much air Dennis and his team add the tires have given up looks like it's losing air but we only inflated it 185 kilometers ago and now we already have four barn s with no spare the only option is to inflate the tire to the maximum and just keep going we'd have to watch it on the move we go on now and then we have to keep checking it keeping this wheel and service is now mission critical if the air pressure drops too low the tire will be compressed making the rubber porous if worse comes to worst the tire can burst may get transport over [Music] the transport team has no choice but to delay the problem as long as possible by pumping air back in kilometer by kilometer but even though the goldmine seems close enough to touch everyone suspects they will never make it to the finish line this way telescope as Madonna for addictive ooh I was just watching the wheel in the bend now I'm going to check the pressure again I probably have to pump it up I think I need to check again we're going to have to stop and check the tire again and it looks amazingly good the tire like the rest of the team has been holding on somehow for 50 kilometers everything looking good at first lands different it hasn't lost any air yet we're moving on there are only a few kilometers left to go mega transport and gold mine are separated by a single all decisive hurdle the very last mountain pass [Music] Denis and his team not only have to unload the bulldozer yet again the freight has to make its own way home [Applause] we have to put on the snow chains now the road is too slippery it's become warmer in the past few days than we thought from now on the bulldozer will cover the final decisive metres alone not on the road just cross-country it's the fastest way the giant machine takes a virtually straight course and plows on no matter what might get in its way this saves the team a decisive two hours assuming the bulldozer makes it all the way meanwhile the trucks put on the snow chains again and fight their way through the hardly recognizable road 20 kilometers of pass including deep snow and full of potholes at temperatures that would kill anyone without protective clothing within minutes that trucks make it and finally the freight arrives even if it takes a while at just 4 km/h you're not yet at the facility purpose I really hope this was the last time to unload and Reno between here and the gold mined the roads will be flat the convoy continues to drag itself towards its destination still within the set time limit but without any room for error nothing can go wrong now a thousand kilometers of road 80 hours of driving hardly any sleep I see temperatures down to minus 45 degrees and last but not least three worn tires one set of worn-out brakes 3000 liters of diesel that's all behind them now but despite all the adversity and after five days of bitter cold the convoy reaches its destination as planned the gold mine now we've arrived at the destination of our journey from Magadan to Carcassonne my work is almost done the endlessly long journey through snow and ice will come to an end within the next hour somewhere in the middle of this Siberian no-man's land Dennis and his team have almost made it early in the morning they can now not only see the goldmine they can even feel and taste it they finally arrived for the very last time the bulldozer drives down the ramp of the mega transport and gets ready for its work in the mind I'm happy in spite of all the difficulties we have successfully delivered our load to its destination and not least because of these difficulties Dennis and his team are proud they can look forward to escaping the icy temperatures happy and content now they only have to make sure the mines equipment manager is satisfied he has high expectations of his brand-new bulldozer which costs more than a million euros it's a very powerful machine we have to dig an extreme amount of gold out of the ground this summer and only machines like this bulldozer can do it the gigantic bulldozer including the freshly mounted shovel is finally at its destination and will soon be ready to mine one of the world's most precious metals gold thanks to our team and an incredible mega transport through the icy wilds of Siberia [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 6,120,305

Rating: 4.7852888 out of 5

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, free documentaries, full documentaries, mega transport, mega transports, epic transport, heavy transport, most epic transport, dangerous transport, most dangerous roads, most dangerous road in the world, ice road, ice road transport, gold mine transport, man against nature, technology againt nature, engineering documentary

Id: wZWAtpRAXyA

Length: 48min 14sec (2894 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 24 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/TymtheguyIguess]

I remember I used to watch Ice Road Truckers a lot when I was a kid. These shows are amazing.

[u/blkmage9001]

Just watched three whole thing. Very cool. A bit disappointed at the lack of Russian trucks though.

[u/N0xtron]

Damn not available anymore...

[u/[deleted]]

Mirror?