All language subtitles for Abandoned.Engineering.S09E12.Niagaras.Hidden.Marvel.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

Tom ward (narrates): A royal
retreat in Romania caught

in a web of corruption.

There have been allegations,

these beautiful structures
have been allowed

to fall into disrepair
on purpose.

A Canadian engineering
marvel that lit up the modern age.

If you look at this gallery,
it just radiates power.

A vast factory in Uruguay
that once played a pivotal role

in the nation's economy.

In the early 1900s one
out of every 200 people

in Uruguay worked here.

And a subterranean treasure
with a formidable secret.

They did not want
the United States

to know what was going on there.

Decaying relics,
shadows of lost worlds,

ruins haunted by the past,

their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

(Theme music)

On the us-Canadian border

an extensive labyrinth lies hidden
behind the mighty Niagara Falls.

In the cliff face by
low Niagara Falls

is this huge tunnel
leading who knows where.

But why put it here
so dangerously close

to such an extra
ordinary natural force

like the falls?

The only building nearby
appears to be unconnected.

Could be a turn of
the century train station

or hotel.

Inside things take
an unexpected turn.

There is a room that looks like

something out of a
Jules verne adventure.

One particularly big
room is filled with a row

of enormous blue cylinders,

each one just radiates
some sense of power.

Behind eerie corridors
lined with rusting machinery,

there is more
than meets the eye.

A deep shaft plummets over a
hundred feet and its shrouded

in darkness.

So, you've got all of this
sort of odd construction

right next to one

of this classic
wonders of the world.

And it was absolutely
ground-breaking in its day.

Heritage manager Jim hill reveals
how these structures were intended

to blend into the surroundings.

So, when they designed
the building they thought a lot

about the materials
they were gonna use.

Even the kind of limestone
had a slightly blueish,

greenish tinge
just like the water,

so, they were kind of
blending the look of the building

with the water.

And then the roof is all
done in this beautiful green tile

and that would allow
the top of the building

to blend in with the tree line.

But the quaint camouflaged
facade is deceptive.

What you're looking
at is like an iceberg,

you're only really seeing
about a quarter of the building.

What makes this
building special,

and in some ways
visionary in its design,

is how much you don't see.

This is the Canadian
niagara power station,

one of North America's first

and most ambitious
hydroelectric plants.

It can be traced back
to the late 19th century

and the inspiration of
pioneering entrepreneur

William b rankin.

But why is most of it
concealed underground?

Rankin visited niagara in 1877

and he became
consumed with the idea

of harnessing niagara's power.

And he started thinking
about the potential

for this huge amount
of natural power

to make electricity.

The need for electricity

was literally soaring
through the roof.

There was kind of an
energy gold rush going on,

people had realised that
harnessing the power of niagara

could have
extraordinary results.

But there were
objections to rankin's plan,

particularly from members of
the local indigenous community

who were worried about
the threat to a way of life

that had almost been
unchanged for centuries.

Indigenous people had an
incredibly important relationship

to the niagara river.

There are been people
living here for 13,000 years.

So, to create a plant like this,

in many ways it was
seen as interfering

with a natural setting that
people had enjoyed and lived with

for thousands of years
and water was life.

They needed it to for the fish,
they needed it to irrigate crops,

they needed it
for transportation.

Water was everything.

So, the idea of redirecting it,
using it for some other purpose

would have been a little
questionable for them.

The wider public had
their reservations too.

This was new and
experimental technology

that the average person
found difficult to comprehend.

There was a lot of fear
and anxiety about electricity.

It was considered to be
a dangerous natural force

that might be impossible
to harness effectively.

Years of delay eroded
support for the project,

and it cost them
the exclusive rights

to generate power
for the Canadian side.

Eventually, an agreement
was reached on the condition

that the plant
didn't spoil the view

or interrupt the
rivers precious flow.

Out of sight rankin's plant
recreated Niagara Falls.

So, hydroelectric power is
when you generate power

by using the force of
the movement of water.

So, when you have a river
travelling from high to low,

if you can put a
turbine in the way,

the river actually
moves the turbine,

so, you have potential energy
created into kinetic energy

that we can use as electricity.

Well, the water
comes into the plant

from the niagara river,

and it travels under
these two Bridges

into this big fore bay,
just a big pool of water.

And then it looks like it butts
right up against the building.

But actually, there
are these big archways,

and the water comes in the building
from underneath those arches.

Water from the niagara
river would come in here,

fill this entire area.

Rankin's powerplant sent
5% of niagara's flow cascading

down a 11 enormous
pipes known as pen stocks.

The pen stocks drop the
entire length of the building.

Literally, gravity

and the force of
all that water falling

those 15 storeys down to the
bottom of that plant is creating the force

that turns the turbine, just
like a big old water wheel.

Those turbines spin,

they are connected
through giant shafts

back up into the building and
each of those turbines spins

one of those blue generators
you see in that main gallery.

This hall is the generator hall.

And each one of these
generators weighs about 40 tonnes.

So, this was massive,

this was incredible
technology for its time...

Ten thousand
horsepower turbines,

the largest in the
world at the time

and 5 generators began
creating hydroelectricity.

The halls, corridors, and
control room were once filled

with the hum of electricity.

If you came into the plant

when it was at its
peak of production

there would have been about
20 people working in here.

You would have heard the
whir of all this machinery moving,

loud and very much alive,
you're generating electricity here,

you would have felt it.

And rankin's unobtrusive
powerplant didn't stop there.

Today, an elevator travels down
through the guts of the building.

We're now inside
the tail race tunnel,

which is a
2,200-foot long tunnel

that takes you from the
powerplant back to the niagara river.

The tail race was
key to rankin's promise

that his powerplant would
take nothing away from niagara.

But it too had to be
hidden from view.

Constructing this colossal
outlet right by the falls

while keeping it
hidden was a challenge.

One that was going to
require an innovative solution.

Well, by digging
this huge wheel pit

you're recreating Niagara Falls
without interrupting Niagara Falls.

You could bring the
water into the plant

without affecting the waterfall

or having equipment or
machinery right at the water's edge.

So, it was a lot more work to
create this err, this separate waterfall.

They needed to use dynamite
to blast this huge tunnel

though 160ft,
mainly of limestone.

Then, this whole tunnel is lined
with about 17 inches on concrete

and then glazed brick, so the
water could move smoothly through it.

So, all that water that
came through the plant

to generate electricity flows
right back into the niagara river.

But rankin didn't live to see

the full impact of
his miracle plant.

Sadly, in September
1905 rankin died,

just a few days after
the third generator

came online and started
providing more power.

The Canadian
niagara power station

transformed the region.

It helped supply power to
the entire Great Lakes area,

and this rapidly became one
of the most industrialised areas

of the United States.

The Canadian
niagara power station

was so well-made and
so beautifully engineered

that it continued to
function for a 100 years.

But in 2005 the once
cutting-edge generators

were finally switched off.

Now, a major renovation
project is underway.

We're gonna invite
guests to come through,

visitors to Niagara Falls can
see the inside of this power plant.

At night there will be an
exciting sound and light show

that will literally bring life
back to this power plant.

On the banks of the river cerna

in the mountains of
southwest Romania

are the ruins of a
once palatial building.

When you get closer you
see that the town is split

between the two riverbanks.

And on one side

there's this very
grand looking ruin...

This must have been
a very important place,

but it's clearly
seen better days.

It's very symmetrical and
there's this rusted roof,

but it's still very grand,

it must have been something
quite impressive in its day...

Adorning the walls
inside are hallmarks

of the site's former glory.

As you enter,

you're greeted by
this extraordinary

painted ceiling

and radiating off either
side are long, long corridors

with what appear to be
Latin inscriptions on the roofs

and coming off those corridors

is what seemed to be
a whole series of cells.

For the affluent
people who came here

an experience of pure escapism
and indulgence awaited them.

So, what brought
all of this wealth here

and where did it go?

Orna chirila is a
Romanian architect.

She first visited this
derelict site four years ago

while still a student.

When I first came here,
I was very sad to see

this place in such
a state of decay,

but I was also
mesmerised by its beauty

because the architecture
is quite amazing.

I had the courage
to just walk inside

through a broken window

and this is the window

through which I
got in with a friend.

Inside orna discovered
the remains of a lost world.

Here, powerful people
came to wash away their ills

in the healing thermal waters

that percolate up from
deep underground.

There are actually
multiple Springs

that are underground
in this area

and for millennia
people have used these

because of their supposed
curative properties.

These rooms are
individual treatment rooms

where people were
seeking medical treatment.

Each person would have a
cabin and they would bathe first,

and then have a series of
massages and other treatments.

It was and still is believed

that these treatments
could offer cures for warts,

eczema, chronic joint pain,
asthma, sinus problems,

and even relief to sufferers
of long-term arthritis.

Today, Romanian locals know
this grand complex in the town

of herculane as
the Neptune baths.

When it opened
over a century ago

it was called the
Austrian imperial baths.

Only a select few
were allowed inside.

Right now we are in the
individual treatment room

of emperor of Franz Joseph.

He came here around
three times for three weeks

along with Princess Cece.

Franz Joseph was
the emperor of Austria

and he ruled over this
empire for almost 70 years.

And when Franz Joseph
came here in 1852,

he declared it the most
beautiful resort town

on the entire continent.

And that's when this area
really started to come into its own.

Franz Joseph and his
wife empress Elizabeth,

or Cece as she was often known,

regarded these vast baths
as their own personal retreat.

From the central room there
are actually these two wings

that go out in opposite directions,
so the whole room in itself

is about 650ft long.

You can clearly tell that
this was not designed

for the ordinary person.

This was a luxurious place.

Despite Elizabeth's royal
status and great wealth,

she often cut a forlorn figure.

Elizabeth didn't really fit
into the royal court at Vienna.

She didn't do what women of
the time were expected to do.

She helped the needy,
she wrote poetry,

she lived very much
on her own terms.

Elizabeth is also said to
have struggled with depression

and an eating disorder.

Today we talk a lot
about body image

and clearly Elizabeth felt

those same pressures
hundreds of years ago.

To compound the
tragedy in Elizabeth's life,

in 1889 her only son
died in a murder suicide

with his young lover,

leaving Elizabeth distraught
for the rest of her life.

So, perhaps at her
halona she felt a place

where she could
relax and be herself

and maybe free herself
from some of those pressures

if only for a minute.

But the inner peace
empress Elizabeth felt here

would soon be shattered.

In 1898 even though
she had been warned

against doing so
she went to Geneva.

And whilst she was there,

she was set upon and
stabbed by an assassin.

She survived the initial attack,

probably because of the
tightness of her corset,

but people didn't realise
how serious a wound it was.

And she was carried away
and then perished later.

The opulent baths
time as a playground

for the wealthy elite
was coming to an end.

As we know now a
cataclysm was on the horizon

that was going to
consume Europe in a storm

of artillery and
machine gun fire.

Rulers like Franz Joseph

were sleepwalking
their way right into it.

During the first world war

all of the spa facilities
were abandoned.

They were no longer used for
spa treatments for the nobility.

Soldiers from military barracks
from that time that came here

to seek treatment left
a beautiful markings

on one of the terraces.

Two of these walls are marked
with their names, year, regiment.

This is when the
town started to decline,

it would never return
to its days of glory

under the
austrian/hungarian empire.

But the story of the
baths was far from over.

At the outbreak of world war ii

Romania allied itself
with Hitler's Nazi Germany.

But the deal with
the devil backfired

paving the way for
Stalin's communist forces

to overrun the country.

You might think that under
a communist leadership

these buildings would have been
taken apart and seized and destroyed

because of what
they represented.

But the baths were fixed up
and repainted, and herculane

once again became
a thriving resort town.

But the clients were
of a very different sort.

The idea of such
an opulent elitist town

was not really in
keeping with the values

of the new communist regime,

so, they turned it into
a facility open to all.

Now, you have people coming
from all over the Soviet union

and Romania to these
baths that were previously

just the playground
of the rich and the elite.

Yet, the bath's days as a
workers utopia didn't last.

In 1989, violent revolution brought
an end to communist rule in Romania.

And as often was the case
in post-communist regions

or in any region that has a
massive shift in government,

folks who had formerly been in
positions of political power saw

an opportunity here.

Unfortunately,
corruption happened

and these buildings were
played around like in monopoly

and had different owners,
and that led to a property chaos.

There are even allegations
that these beautiful structures

have been allowed to fall into
disrepair and ruin on purpose,

so, that they can be redeveloped
without having to worry too much

about historical preservation.

Whatever the truth,
the fate of the baths

had been decided and by early 2000
they had been completely abandoned.

Today, orna and her friends
are part of an ambitious plan

to save this grand old ruin.

Our ultimate goal is
to restore the building

and give it back
to the community...

The real glimmer of hope here

is that the young people of
Romania saw their history falling apart

before their eyes and decided
to do something about it.

Concealed beneath a
blanket of snow and ice deep

in the forests of Poland

are the remnants of
a destructive force.

There is one building
visible, there is one road in,

but what's special about
this place is all hidden.

And you can't imagine
what is going on here

until you go through
these steel gates.

And then you realise
that it's not above ground

that you should be
looking, but below ground.

It looks like the walls might
just cave in at any moment.

You've got to be pretty
brave to want to go deep down

into this particular area.

The discarded equipment here
suggests something important

was once carved out
from these dark tunnels.

There's bits of train carriage,

there's some pickaxes,

there's a bit of
industrial equipment.

Clearly there was
something going on here,

possibly mining, but what
exactly were they looking for?

One of the reasons that
this space is interesting

is because it was kept top secret,
what were they hiding down here?

For subterranean
explorer michat rzadzki,

it offers a unique window
into his countries past.

Behind these doors lies
something of huge value.

This site played a
critical role in the war

that dominated the
world for decades

and changed thousands
of people's lives.

Inside a labyrinth of passageways
extend deep into the earth,

but there is only so far you
can go by motorised transport.

The only way to
reach the lower levels

is to descend by rope.

It is very dangerous
to go down the shafts,

you have to watch
out for the falling rocks

while descending.

We are now about 180
metres below the surface.

This sort after commodity
buried in this mine

was originally
discovered by accident.

So, uranium was first found
in this area in about the 1920s

and it was kind of by surprise

because they were
actually mining for iron.

Nuclear powerplants
today rely upon uranium,

but there is a much darker use

and that's where this
location comes into play.

The discovery of atomic
fission confirmed the idea

that uranium could power

the most fearsome
weapons in human history.

That's when you
split atoms apart

and generate lots
and lots of energy

and this was discovered in
the late 1930s by the Germans.

And at that point this
was a game-changer.

Almost from the
start there was a race

between leading countries to
try to develop the atomic bomb.

The Soviet union
put all their energy

into building their
own nuclear weapons

as a counterweight
to the Americans.

The one thing that
the Soviets needed,

the one piece that was
missing was uranium.

These are the mines of kovari,

site of a top-secret
uranium deposit

that the Soviets hoped
would propel them

into the nuclear age.

Because the ussr
had effective control

of all the countries

within its sphere of influence
behind the iron curtain,

they were essentially able
to essentially make Poland

an offer it couldn't refuse,

which is you let us run a mine

to extract uranium
from this location

and we will pay you a
certain amount per tonne

of ore extracted.

While under communist
control the kovari mines went

by a different name.

The Soviets went
to a lot of lengths

to keep their uranium
mines and research secret.

They didn't call them mines,

they called them
r1 industrial plants.

Rocks containing uranium veins

were mined by hand
only with a simple tools.

It was very hard to mine
because those rocks contained

only small amount of uranium.

When you're dealing with
minerals that are in key veins

you have to be quite precise

because the miners
needed to be quite skilled

in not only knowing where
the ore was within the rock

but also kind of following its
path as they mined their way

through into the mountain.

Some people have
compared extracting uranium

to dental work or clock work.

So, the Soviets were
willing to pay well for this,

they provided good
housing for the workers.

But the Polish workforce toiling

in the darkness had no idea
about the dangers lurking here.

The miners knew
what they are digging,

but they didn't know all of
the hazards connected to it.

The Soviets didn't tell the
miners what they were mining,

but the risk was not
known at the time.

So, when they come out after
they've been mining for months

or years and they
start losing their hair

and they start losing
their fingernails,

and they start being sick,

they don't know why

because the Soviets
aren't going to tell them.

If the miners dared to
speak of their activities

or the terrible conditions, there
was serious consequences.

Soviets didn't allow
the miners to speak

about their work
outside of the mine.

There was a legend that
the one miner wrote a letter

to his brother and
then spent four years

in prison for that.

So, the Russian programme
went on and eventually

on August the 29th, 1949

they actually had their
first atomic bomb test

that was successful.

So, they became the second
state to own an atomic bomb.

So, in many ways all
of this secretive mining

and the getting of
the uranium paid off.

It was a very
successful project.

They exported about 200
tonnes of pure uranium,

but the mine was closed in 1958

after the Soviets found
their own uranium deposits.

For 16 years the
mines laid dormant,

until in the 1970s
it was repurposed

for an altogether different use.

Ironically

it was for the
improvement of health.

There was a period
when people believed

that being in an environment
with a very low level radiation,

like a uranium mine was
actually good for your health.

With the idea that people would
go into the mines and lounge

and inhale the radon
in the air with the theory

that it had somehow
healing powers.

But the mines life as a
so-called inhalation hospital

didn't last long.

In the late 1980s the
shaft lining collapses

and there is just no
economic reason to repair it,

and so the mine
is no longer utilised.

Today, the mine's upper
levels open to visitors,

but most of the
subterranean passages

are too dangerous to access.

Only 10% of the
mine now is available

for the tourists,

the rest of it is
closed or flooded

because it can
collapse at any time.

In Uruguay on the east
bank of the Uruguay river

is a fallen cathedral from
an industrial golden age.

We're in this sleepy,
charming riverside town

and right on the edge is this
gigantic sprawling building

that dominates the landscape.

Throughout this site there
are varying levels of decay

and disarray, the jetties have
almost fallen into the water.

From these docks a product
was transported that would change

the way the world eats.

There's a huge
warehouse style building

and it looks like its some
form of processing space.

You've got high level conveyors
with machinery and cogs and hooks.

At the heart of the
massive complex

is an inner sanctum

that kept all the processes
running like clockwork.

You can tell just
by looking at it,

it was something important.

The site created one of the
best-known British brands

of the 20th century and
transformed the Uruguayan economy.

Mauro delgrosso is
custodian of this site today,

his strong personal connection
dates back many generations.

The story here begins in Europe,

and a time when big
industries were growing fast.

Feeding a dense often
undernourished urban population

was a real problem.

Baron Justus Von
liebig had a solution.

Justus Von liebig
was a German scientist

in the 19th century.

And in 1847 he actually developed
a beef concentrate that he hoped

would be able to
bring nutritious food

to the poor of Europe.

But there was a
flaw with liebig's idea.

Europe, Germany, britain,

France do not have vast prairies

on which you can raise
thousands and thousands of cattle

to boil down into concentrate.

Liebig decided to actually
look outside of Germany,

and to him there was no
better place than Uruguay.

They had a burgeoning cattle
economy and it was relatively cheap

to acquire cows there.

The factory opened
there in 1865,

but it was soon
embroiled in controversy.

It turns out this miracle
nutritional product

that was designed for the poor

actually had no
nutritional value at all.

To keep up with demand, the
factories owners started looking

for a nourishing alternative and
their answer was corned beef.

This is a canned product

of ground beef, fat,
and loads of salt.

And you put it in a can
and it will last forever.

This is the fray bentos
industrial complex,

named after the town in Uruguay
where the factory was located.

At its height it was one of
the world's biggest producers

of canned meat.

In the UK it became
a much-loved product,

which was found in practically
every kitchen of the country.

Corned beef was a
revolutionary product,

never before had
meat been canned.

And this canning process allowed
this meat to keep for months,

even years.

It was truly revolutionary.

The factory had the capacity to
slaughter 1,600 cows every day.

Each cow provided enough meat
to make 1,500 cans of corned beef.

Fray bentos eventually
earned the nickname

of the kitchen of
the world simply

because of the massive
quantities of food

that were coming out of there.

To give you an idea of the scale

of the fray bentos factory,

the refrigeration facility
could hold 18,000 tonnes

of refrigerated meat.

It wasn't just the
factories output

that was impressive,
but its efficiency too.

What makes this factory so
successful is that the process

of turning livestock
into canned meat

has been worked out really
carefully from beginning to end.

As profits grew,
so did investment.

In 1883 this became
the first place in Uruguay

to be powered by electricity,

the countries capital city had
to wait another three years.

In 1924 the factory was
sold to a British company

and its new owners soon
faced an enormous test.

Could their workers
step up production

to become unlikely heroes in
the fight against Nazi Germany?

Four thousand workers
kept this powerhouse

of production
running like clockwork.

In just four months they churned
out 16 million cans of corned beef.

Hundreds of thousands
of hungry British

and American troops
were kept fighting fit

by eating this great
Uruguayan export.

The popularity of
fray bentos soured

during the early post war years.

But by the mid-1960s
the public's appetite

for the famous tinned
food had plummeted.

There is less demand for
preserved food and salted

and canned food in Europe,
especially in Great Britain.

So, it is no longer
as profitable

to can that much beef
and ship it overseas.

Then, in 1964 a typhoid
outbreak in Scotland

in which three people died

was traced back to the
fray bentos plant in Uruguay.

This signalled the end of
the factory's British ownership.

The factory limped
on for the next decade.

But by 1979 profits
had slumped so low,

it was forced to
permanently close.

Today, much of the facility
has fallen into disrepair.

It's pretty much only disturbed
by the occasional tourist

who'll come in to
check out this place.

In 2015 unesco declared
the fray bentos factory

a world heritage site...

Ensuring its place in history

as one of the world's biggest
producers of tinned food

will never be forgotten.

(Music)

Captioned by
ai-media ai-media. TV