The Engineering That Built the World

Season 1

A documentary series on revolutionary engineering projects: the Transcontinental Railroad, The Statue of Liberty, the US highway system, the Panama Canal, the Boston subway, the Transatlantic telegraph cable, The Golden Gate and Bay Bridges of San Francisco and the Hoover Dam.

Where to Watch Season 1

8 Episodes

Race for the Railroad
E1
Race for the RailroadOne of the greatest engineering achievements of our world, the railroad expansion across America was also a tale of greed, financial miss dealings, fraud, and a lack of concern for human life that is hard to believe.
Liberty Rising
E2
Liberty RisingA little-known 19th-century French artist embarks on a 20-year odyssey to build the tallest statue in the world and erect it on U.S. soil.
Road Warriors
E3
Road WarriorsTwo master roadbuilders spend decades struggling to create a highway system that connects every city and town in America. It will be the greatest public works project in history--more expensive than two thousand Hoover Dams, three times longer than the Great Wall of China, and with enough pavement for three round trips to the moon.
The Panama Canal
E4
The Panama CanalTwo powerful nations--France and America--compete to build a path just 50 miles long that will connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Completing it will cost 30 thousand lives, $600 million dollars, and require overcoming every obstacle imaginable--from mudslides to malaria to bankruptcy.
Race to the Underground
E5
Race to the UndergroundAfter the London Underground becomes the first subway system in the world, visionary engineers in New York and Boston vie to build the first one in America. But being first will mean overcoming unprecedented engineering challenges, deadly accidents, fierce political infighting, and the public's fear of the underground. When the dust settles, the American city will never be the same.
Cable Across the Sea
E6
Cable Across the SeaA century before the Internet, two brave visionaries, Collin Perry and Cyrus Field, endure failure and heartache while risking everything to connect the United States to the rest of the world with a cable under the ocean.
Battle of the Bridges
E7
Battle of the BridgesBraving treacherous waters 350 feet deep, gale-force winds and earthquakes, obsessed engineer Joseph Strauss and President Herbert Hoover battle side by side to build the two longest suspension bridges of all time in San Francisco: The Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge.
The Hoover Dam
E8
The Hoover DamA self driven engineer sets out to tame one of the wildest rivers in the United States, and bring water to the dry American West. He'll struggle with a disgruntled workforce, hellish conditions, and many engineering challenges, but when it's done, the Hoover Dam will be as tall as a 60 story building, and be built with enough concrete to circle the equator.