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00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,760
A colossal wall of
concrete, perilously wedged

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between mountains...

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Something so impressive
in the landscape to be built

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00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,320
is a real engineering feat.

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00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,840
..Five epic circular structures

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00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,160
mysteriously deserted.

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00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:22,280
Everything is curved.

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00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,400
There's no place you
can go and not be seen.

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00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,960
An American escape route
from nuclear armageddon.

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00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,680
You can almost envision
terrorised people trying to avoid

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00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,400
a nuclear explosion in a
large metropolitan area.

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And an unsung
hero of world war ii.

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The fact is it's got far
more historical significance

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than you could ever imagine.

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Once they were some of
the most advanced structures

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and facilities on the planet...

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00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,160
At the cutting edge of
design and construction.

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Today, they stand
abandoned, contaminated,

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and sometimes deadly.

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00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,480
But who built them and how?

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And why were they abandoned?

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In northern Italy,

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in the mountainous
province of belluno,

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just 60 miles from venice is a
monumental feat of engineering.

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Towering above the
town of longarone,

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an 870 foot wall of concrete
spans the tree-covered cliffs

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on either side of
this narrow gorge.

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All of a sudden, you'd
come to an opening

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with this big concrete
wall in front of you.

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It's an astonishingly
impressive piece of engineering.

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Even by modern standards,

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it's still one of the
highest in the world.

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627 feet wide at its summit,

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the structure narrows
to just 89 feet at its base.

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Here the wall is an
immense 72 feet thick.

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Constructed using 1.3
billion cubic feet of concrete,

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this fortress is not
holding back water...

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But rather 9 billion cubic feet
of sedimentary rock and debris.

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Standing at its
base, gazing up at it,

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you would be
overwhelmed at its size.

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You would be dwarfed.

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But why did engineers
build this giant structure

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in such a precarious location?

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And why was it then abandoned?

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Italy, at the end
of world war ii,

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was a nation in tatters,

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living under the
occupation of foreign armies.

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The industrial heartland
in the northeast was vital

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00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,240
to the recovery of
its flagging economy.

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00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,280
But the region's factories
were chronically short of power.

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In the 1950s, when
Italy was just coming

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off the back of the
second world war,

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its economy was in
a state of devastation.

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Rising from the ashes,
the nation embarked

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on a massive program
of industrialisation

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backed by the us who saw Italy

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as a valuable bulwark against
the threat of communism

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from the east.

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The program was
driven by hydroelectricity,

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drawing on natural resources,
they harnessed the power of water

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flowing from the Italian alps.

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An abundance of
rivers, melting snow,

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and high rainfall provided
perfect conditions.

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Hydroelectric power
is incredibly attractive

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00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,520
in a mountainous
region because if you can

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have a tight valley and
you can trap water high up,

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you've suddenly got the ability
for that water to move downhill

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very quickly and
generate free electricity.

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00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,960
In the shadow of
the mighty mount toc,

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engineers identified the
deep and narrow vajont valley

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as an ideal location
to store water...

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Huge amounts of water

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that could be used as part
of a vast hydroelectric plan.

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The gorge itself was a
particularly attractive site

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because of the sheer
height-ness of the gorge

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and the amount of the volume
of water that you'd be able

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to get for such a small
cutting off of the valley.

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You can more or less throw a
stone from one side to the other.

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At the core of this
hydroelectric network

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was this...

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The vajont dam!

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00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,520
A curved dam is a
very classical way

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of structuring a
dam to make it strong

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and resist the fluid forces
of the reservoir behind it.

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It was designed to hold
a 3-mile long reservoir.

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When you have a huge amount
of water pushing up against a dam

87
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and the dam is in
the shape of an arch

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and it's made from materials
that are really good in compression,

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then what it means is that
the arch is really strong,

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you don't need as much material
to resist that massive force,

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and it stays stable.

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And the clever thing is that
it channels all of that force

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into the cliff faces
either side of it.

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Employing over 400
labourers from the local area,

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work started in 1957.

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00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,760
The dam was the centrepiece of
an ambitious hydroelectric network

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00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:02,200
that spanned the region.

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00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:06,040
Engineers hoped it would hold

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00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,840
over 6 billion
cubic feet of water

100
00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:10,880
and feed 4 power stations

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00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,720
via 37 miles of water
delivery tunnels,

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00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,080
bringing much needed energy
to the cities of northern Italy.

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00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,000
For three years,
workers laboured

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until the dam's
distinctive curvature

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was finally in place.

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For something that big,
something so impressive

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in the landscape to be built

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at that time is a
real engineering feat.

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The filling of the reservoir basin
was underway in February 1960.

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The moment of truth had arrived.

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When you're filling
the dam up with water,

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there's a lot of weight,
a lot of pressure

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that's being exerted
on sides of the valleys.

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But at the same time,
you're bringing water

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into areas where it's not
normally there all of the time.

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So, those two factors
clearly changed the way

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the landscape was reacting.

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For nine months, the
dam held its water level

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at almost 600 feet,

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part of a hydroelectric industry

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00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,320
that provided around
85% of the countries power.

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00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,760
However, a 6,000-foot crack

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soon appeared across
the slope of mount toc.

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And it was followed on 4 November,
1960, by a massive landslide.

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24 million cubic feet of
rock slid into the reservoir

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just under 2,000 feet
from the dam wall.

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The water level
drastically increased

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and it's threatened to
breach the crest of the dam.

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Providing you keep enough space

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in the level of the reservoir

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00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,360
and this slow rock
mass moves into it,

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it would not necessarily be
a problem, they can control it.

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Engineers lowered
the water level,

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easing pressure on
the surrounding cliffs

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and decided to employ a
fundamental principal of physics

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to control any further
land movement.

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So, if you imagine
taking a metal spoon

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and then you bend it back
and forth a number of times,

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00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,200
eventually that
spoon is going to snap.

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00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,680
So, by raising and lowering
the level of the water

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00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,920
in the reservoir, they
changed the pressure

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00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:27,800
exerted on the soil.

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Using the water level in a dam to
control the surrounding land mass

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is a risky operation.

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It makes it virtually
impossible to predict

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00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,720
how fast the
landslide might react.

147
00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:48,320
But for three years, the
technique appeared to pay off.

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00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,360
The dam successfully supplied
water to four power stations,

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00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,640
producing much needed
hydroelectricity for the cities

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00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:58,280
of northern Italy.

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00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,000
In April, 1963, with
the landslide seemingly

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00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,960
under control, engineers
filled the reservoir

153
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,320
behind the dam to capacity

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00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,920
at 2,345 feet above sea level.

155
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The lesson that civil engineers

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00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,160
are reminded of time

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00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:21,680
and again is to be acutely
aware of the natural surroundings

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00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,320
and the geology in which
you are building your structure

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00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,120
because, if you don't
take heed of those lessons,

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the price you pay
could be devastating.

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00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,800
Disaster soon struck.

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00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:41,680
At 10:39pm on 9 October, 1963,

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over 9 billion cubic feet

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00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,360
of rock broke away
from mount toc.

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Hurtling down at 68 miles an
hour, the destructive debris smashed

166
00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:54,400
into the reservoir below.

167
00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,640
It wasn't just the mass
of earth that slid away

168
00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:06,960
into the reservoir, it
was the ferocious speed

169
00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,120
at which it came.

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00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:17,000
45 seconds for effectively
half of the mountainside

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00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,120
to drop into the water.

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00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,960
It cascades into the water
and causes big waves.

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Now, if you imagine a bath,
you've got a wall on one side

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00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:30,616
of the bath and you've
got a lip the other side,

175
00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:32,000
you jump into that bath,

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00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:33,960
you're gonna cause
waves in two directions.

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00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:35,640
One will hit the wall
and bounce back,

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00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,440
that's exactly what happened
in one part of the valley.

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00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:40,520
The other's going to
actually go over the rim.

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00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:43,040
It is literally like an
airborne Tsunami.

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00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,920
Over 800 million
cubic feet of water

182
00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,520
became a massive wave,

183
00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:53,480
a wave 820 feet high with
the village of longarone

184
00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:54,880
directly in its path.

185
00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,080
A massive amount
of water forced down

186
00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,600
such a tight gorge, it
displaced all of that air

187
00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,160
and it was almost
like a shockwave of air

188
00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,200
hit the village directly
before the water did

189
00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,280
and started destroying
some of the buildings.

190
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,760
And then next minute,
a wall of water hits you.

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00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:16,720
It's got rocks in it.
It's got trees in it.

192
00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,760
It is like liquid sandpaper and
it just wipes the village clean.

193
00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:24,160
Barely four minutes
after the landslide began,

194
00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,920
most of the town was obliterated
by the subsequent wall of water.

195
00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:33,840
It's one of the worst natural
disasters in European history.

196
00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:36,920
Nearly 2,000
people lost their lives.

197
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,440
The tragic irony of this story

198
00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:43,400
is that whilst the
villages below the dam

199
00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,400
were completely destroyed
by the onrush of water,

200
00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,000
the dam itself remained
completely intact.

201
00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:57,520
I guess that's testament
really to the quality of the design

202
00:11:57,560 --> 00:11:59,920
and build of the dam.

203
00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:02,360
It was just a dam
built in the wrong place.

204
00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,280
Ultimately, the reservoir
was filled with debris

205
00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,960
and this spelt the end
for the great vajont dam.

206
00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,760
It was then abandoned.

207
00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,320
Today, the vajont dam stands
isolated in the rocky landscape,

208
00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,000
scattered with hints
of its tragic past.

209
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,800
It forms a permanent reminder
of humanity's underestimation

210
00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:26,280
of the forces of nature.

211
00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:29,440
From an engineering perspective,

212
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,600
the vajont dam
should have become

213
00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,720
one of the most
impressive dams in history.

214
00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,120
Instead, it's become
one of the most infamous.

215
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:40,400
It's an unfortunate tragedy.

216
00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:44,560
But from tragedy, we learn
about how the landscape can react

217
00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,360
and, hopefully, we can
mitigate against such tragedies

218
00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:48,800
in the future.

219
00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:57,280
Nearly 5,500 miles
away on the Cuban island,

220
00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,360
Isla de la juventud
or isle of youth

221
00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,800
sprawls a group of
peculiar structures.

222
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:10,080
Laid out like five spots on
a die, these circular giants

223
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,520
are a 174 feet in diameter

224
00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:16,080
and tower over a 4 million
square foot open plane.

225
00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,360
If you were flying
over the island

226
00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:23,440
and you looked down

227
00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,000
and saw these five
yellow circular buildings,

228
00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:28,120
you would think,

229
00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,320
"what, is this some sort
of industrial beehive?

230
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:32,640
Is it a power plant?

231
00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:35,400
No, it's not really shaped like
a conventional power plant.

232
00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,960
What is it?"

233
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,080
The four outer buildings,
each 98 feet high,

234
00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,760
consists of six levels, yet
inside there are no floors,

235
00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,960
only a colossal empty space.

236
00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,040
Light pierces the
dank grim interior

237
00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,360
through 465
rectangular openings.

238
00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:00,920
Had a pretty sinister reputation

239
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,560
amongst the local residents
and the conditions inside

240
00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,560
were just atrocious.

241
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,360
The most bizarre feature
is a short lighthouse

242
00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:14,920
like tower standing in
the centre of each building.

243
00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:16,880
When you walk
inside, you're instantly

244
00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:18,160
struck by the fact

245
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,560
that there are no
straight corridors,

246
00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:22,320
everything is curved.

247
00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,880
You are constantly in
view from somewhere else.

248
00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,960
There's no place where
you can go and not be seen.

249
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:30,560
And that was all by design.

250
00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,640
What happened in these
strange hollowed out structures

251
00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,200
on this remote island?

252
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,880
And why was this site abandoned?

253
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,280
In the 1920s, Cuba
was experiencing

254
00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,320
a period of economic development

255
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,240
set against a backdrop
of political corruption.

256
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:57,720
Cuban president Gerardo machado

257
00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,040
had ordered a major
construction program

258
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:01,520
to modernise the nation.

259
00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,600
He was also determined to
stay in power at all costs...

260
00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:12,320
And maintain ultimate control
over his political opponents,

261
00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:15,960
not only physically
but psychologically.

262
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,480
To help him achieve
this, the dictator turned

263
00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,680
to this extraordinary
island complex,

264
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,960
presidio modelo,
Cuba's model prison.

265
00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:31,240
It was created and
conceived by a Cuban dictator

266
00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,840
who drew upon an 18th century

267
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,960
social reformer whole ethos

268
00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,960
was that behaviour could
be modified via surveillance.

269
00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:46,720
The brainchild of
English philosopher

270
00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:49,320
and prison reformer
Jeremy Bentham,

271
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,560
it was part of his
panopticon theory.

272
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,920
It was a design intended
to rehabilitate prisoners.

273
00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,880
Surveillance was conducted
from an observation tower

274
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:01,840
at the centre of the structure.

275
00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:04,320
And this was key to
the building's design.

276
00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:08,400
You have a central
observation tower.

277
00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,640
And then you have
a circular structure

278
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,520
that surrounds that tower,
which is where all the cells are.

279
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,640
And the idea is that all
the prisoners in their cells

280
00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,280
are not really sure whether
the guards are looking

281
00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,280
at them or looking at
their neighbour downstairs

282
00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,360
and so they have to be on
their best behaviour all the time.

283
00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,800
That design inside the prison

284
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:28,840
certainly feels quite
menacing to me.

285
00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,120
That central tower with
guards who theoretically

286
00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,240
then can be observing
what's going on

287
00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,240
in all of those prison
cells at any time.

288
00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:38,976
I mean, it certainly
feels quite 'big brother',

289
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,960
something you might have
read in George orwell's '1984'.

290
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:47,960
Construction began in
1926 using inmate labour.

291
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,760
As each building was
completed, it was populated.

292
00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:57,400
President machado's motive was
one of control rather than reform.

293
00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,200
But as well as creating fear and
paranoia amongst the prisoners,

294
00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:04,280
the structures also had
an engineering benefit.

295
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,800
This philosophy of
prisoner observation

296
00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:11,400
actually lead to a very
interesting structural advantage,

297
00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,040
and this advantage is the
fact that having a circular wall

298
00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:16,680
going all the way round

299
00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,520
meant that there was
an inherent stiffness

300
00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:19,760
in the structure that meant

301
00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:21,256
you don't need to put
intermediate floors in

302
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:23,560
to keep the structure stable.

303
00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,880
By the 1930s, presidio
modelo was fully operational,

304
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,520
with each building
containing 465 cells,

305
00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:39,000
the complex was designed to
house less than 3,000 inmates.

306
00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,200
Every cell faced inwards,

307
00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,280
pointing towards the
central guard tower

308
00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,240
and most incredibly,
there were no cell doors.

309
00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,160
The architecture itself
was designed to control

310
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:52,880
the behaviour of
those imprisoned.

311
00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,240
Gualdemar llevaron
was a guard here

312
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,040
and kept watch
over the prisoners.

313
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,080
(Speaks foreign language)

314
00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:20,480
Unseen by the captives

315
00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,720
who never knew if and
when they were being watch,

316
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,320
guards entered the observation
tower through a 98 foot long

317
00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:28,480
underground tunnel.

318
00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,080
Hidden from view, the
guards could keep an eye

319
00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,040
on the prisoners
through narrow slits

320
00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:37,560
in the top of the tower.

321
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:39,920
You're constantly being watched,

322
00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,520
not only by the prison
guards from the central tower

323
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,360
but other prisoners whose cell
was only a few feet from yours.

324
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:48,520
There's no privacy whatsoever.

325
00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,480
And it must have generated
a whole lot of paranoia.

326
00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,000
The large open space

327
00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,960
within each building
made surveillance easy

328
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,320
and the result was the
inmates increasingly

329
00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:02,480
policed themselves.

330
00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,440
Even at meal times,
within the central dining hall,

331
00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,240
there was no respite
from the constant silence

332
00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:10,040
or watchful gaze of the guards.

333
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,096
You would think
that leaving your cell

334
00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:16,280
where you're constantly
under surveillance

335
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,240
and going for a meal would
be a nice experience of chatting

336
00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:21,680
with your fellow cellmates.

337
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:23,000
Not at all.

338
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,640
You went to a
building that was called

339
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,560
the hall of the 3,000 silences,

340
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:29,880
and it was aptly named

341
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,280
because you weren't
allowed to speak.

342
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:34,280
Imagine how
oppressive that would be.

343
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,400
You're being watched
all day in your cell,

344
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,080
and now you're having a
meal and you can't even speak.

345
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,680
Ironically, its cutting edge
design originally conceived

346
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,200
to rehabilitate convicts
earned the prison a reputation

347
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,960
for horror

348
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,720
and the prison relied on
more than watchful guards

349
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:56,600
to keep inmates under control.

350
00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,160
There are all sorts of
legends about the prison,

351
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,360
including the fact that
there were crocodiles

352
00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:04,880
in the ponds and lakes

353
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,160
on the perimeter
of the prison itself.

354
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,320
(Speaks foreign language)

355
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,960
President machado was
unable to hold on to power.

356
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,040
But the prison
continued for 27 years

357
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:32,440
and saw multiple regime changes.

358
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,360
But then in 1953, its
most notorious inmate

359
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,440
entered its doors.

360
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:43,000
The communist revolutionary
fidel Castro served two years here

361
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:44,840
for attempting to overthrow

362
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,880
the ruthless dictator
fulgencio Batista.

363
00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:52,520
By his side was
his brother, Raul.

364
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,280
Though themselves treated
humanely as political prisoners,

365
00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:00,320
fidel Castro witnessed firsthand
the psychological success

366
00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:03,440
of the jail's design and
realised the potential

367
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,920
for control and paranoia.

368
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,920
It was knowledge and
experience he went on to exploit

369
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,840
when he overthrew Batista in
1959 to become leader of Cuba.

370
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,080
When he comes into
power, he doesn't, you know,

371
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:20,776
destroy the place, he
doesn't knock it down.

372
00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:21,800
No!

373
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,560
He then sends his
political opponents there.

374
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:25,840
I think that's quite rich.

375
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:30,360
For eight years, Castro
used presidio modelo

376
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:32,800
to Bury his enemies.

377
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,200
But these political prisoners
posed serious threats to security.

378
00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:41,040
One dramatic plan hatched
during the CIA-backed

379
00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,480
bay of pigs invasion in 1961
involved destroying the prison

380
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:47,960
using the underground
guard tunnels.

381
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,200
There was actually
a plan to blow up

382
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,520
these structures
using that tunnel

383
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,240
by actually packing
it in with explosives.

384
00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,320
And thinking about the sheer
size and scale of these structures,

385
00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:04,800
the fact that they had this inherent
stiffness because of its shape,

386
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,120
I think it would have been
quite difficult to actually bring

387
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,480
that structure down.

388
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:15,320
Dynamite couldn't destroy
presidio modelo but Castro could.

389
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:19,920
The prison had a
capacity for 3,000 inmates,

390
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,600
but he packed it with
double that number.

391
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:24,016
Something that was
originally designed

392
00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,280
to house up to 3,000 prisoners
was now housing anything

393
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:29,920
from 6,000 to 8,000 prisoners.

394
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:36,320
Riots were commonplace,
fights, unsanitary conditions,

395
00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,440
and the place was just hellish.

396
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,160
This measure of
overpopulation backfired.

397
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:46,960
Cramped, dirty, and overcrowded,
it encouraged growing resistance

398
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,280
from the inmates
and was increasingly

399
00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:53,120
seen by Castro
as a security risk.

400
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,440
Cuba's model prison
closed its doors in 1967

401
00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,560
and Castro's enemies were
dispersed to other prisons.

402
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,040
It just stops to function.

403
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,520
And it's a little bit
dilapidated anyways,

404
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,440
but the political
climate had changed

405
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,120
and it no longer had
a purpose to serve.

406
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,240
The unique design and
function of the prison

407
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,120
made the buildings virtually
impossible to re-purpose.

408
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,440
After 41 years of oppression and
paranoia, they were abandoned.

409
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:30,040
The gigantic circular cell
blocks of presidio modelo

410
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:33,400
are now decaying shells
and stark reminders

411
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,560
of Cuba's political turmoil.

412
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,800
While Raul Castro,
in early 2018,

413
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:41,720
remains president of Cuba,

414
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,480
the hospital building honours
its most famous inmate,

415
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,160
his brother, fidel.

416
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,200
But these structures
also represent the closest

417
00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,080
anyone has come to
turning Jeremy Bentham's

418
00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:56,960
panopticon concept
into a reality.

419
00:23:58,040 --> 00:23:59,600
Today, the prison is a museum.

420
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:00,720
It's a school.

421
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:02,040
It's a research centre.

422
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:03,440
And that's about right.

423
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,640
Because what it really was,
historically, I think we look

424
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,520
back at it as an innovative
attempt at social reform.

425
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,880
It was all about surveillance,

426
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,440
and actually, it was
quite ahead of its time.

427
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:25,760
Over 2,000 miles away,
across the Gulf of Mexico,

428
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,000
a barren landscape hides
an enigmatic enterprise.

429
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,960
High above Los Angeles
is a closed off road,

430
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,440
winding 900 feet up in
the San Gabriel mountains.

431
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,520
It leads to a mysterious
masonry arch over 20 feet high,

432
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,200
driven into its slopes.

433
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,240
But what is this
an entrance for?

434
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,040
And where does it lead?

435
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,560
When you first see these
entrances opening up

436
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,160
on the sides of the
mountain, you can't fathom

437
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:05,280
why the effort was gone to to
build these huge big tunnels.

438
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:07,536
For me, you'd expect to see
some kind of railway or a road

439
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,496
or something coming out
of it, but none of that's there.

440
00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,520
In fact, it becomes
quite mysterious.

441
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:16,200
A tiny light at the end of
the dark tunnel suggests

442
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,720
this structure runs directly
through the mountain.

443
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:21,880
As you're standing
there, you appreciate

444
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,840
what an impressive
feat of engineering it is

445
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,440
and how difficult it would
have been to have made.

446
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,600
The interesting thing
is there's a lot more

447
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,480
to this story than
meets the eye.

448
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,760
Why did someone go
to the trouble of building

449
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,040
this immense tunnel only
to seemingly down tools

450
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:42,800
and walk away?

451
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:44,520
Why was it abandoned?

452
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,400
In the 1950s, the
cold war loomed large

453
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,200
over a paranoid america.

454
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,120
The nation feared
not only an invasion

455
00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:59,280
but nuclear attack
from the Soviet union.

456
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,120
La's many aerospace facilities

457
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,440
and military bases made
the city a prime target.

458
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,760
America's early warning
systems could recognise potential

459
00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:14,240
threats hours before impact.

460
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,920
But in that small window of
time, how would the authorities

461
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,040
save the then population
of nearly 2 million people?

462
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,800
The la authorities began to
wonder how would we evacuate?

463
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,640
In the 1950s, there might
have been 20 minutes

464
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,280
or half an hour's warning of
an impending nuclear attack

465
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:36,600
on Los Angeles.

466
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,800
Any evacuation for the
people of Los Angeles

467
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,360
had to be prepared in advance.

468
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:43,960
(Siren blares)

469
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,640
Man: In this troubled
stage of the atomic age,

470
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,040
our very lives may depend
on always being alert.

471
00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:57,000
If the Soviets launched a
nuclear strike on Los Angeles,

472
00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,920
a credible escape plan
would need to be set in place

473
00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:01,960
for its citizens.

474
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,680
To get out of Los Angeles,

475
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:05,576
you've got to get through
the hills and the mountains

476
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:07,160
and out the other side.

477
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,880
That means either twisting
and turning through canyons

478
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:12,600
or tunnelling right on through.

479
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,560
So, a 25-mile
shortcut was devised.

480
00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:20,240
Designed to speed
the city's residents

481
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,320
through the San Gabriel mountains
via multiple tunnels to the safety

482
00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:25,600
of the mojave desert...

483
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:28,720
This path to safety

484
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:30,760
was shoemaker canyon road,

485
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,520
better known as
armageddon highway.

486
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,200
The armageddon highway
would work in premise

487
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:39,400
that the entire
population of Los Angeles

488
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:40,800
would get in their cars

489
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:42,760
and exit away from the city

490
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:44,960
and the eventual
destruction that would happen.

491
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:49,400
This was part of the
culture at the time,

492
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,280
this fear that the other
guy has the technology

493
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,080
and can strike us and
that we need to have

494
00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:59,320
some kind of way
to protect ourselves.

495
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,600
Once complete, these tunnels
were designed to form a costly

496
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,120
but potentially vital evacuation
route high above the city.

497
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,720
Given the cold war in the 1950s,

498
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,200
everyone was afraid of
nuclear war and in that,

499
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,280
the response of the
government was to drill a hole

500
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,160
through a mountain such that
the population of Los Angeles

501
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,000
could escape given
all out nuclear war.

502
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:34,080
One Soviet nuclear weapon
air bursted over Los Angeles

503
00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:38,440
could kill more people than
were killed in Hiroshima,

504
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:39,600
Nagasaki combined.

505
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,040
(Loud explosion)

506
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,560
But carving a road
through a mountain

507
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,200
of hard rock is difficult
at the best of times.

508
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,000
And in the volatile region of
the San Gabriel mountains,

509
00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:56,000
with severe heat in the
summer, avalanches in the winter,

510
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,840
and the continuous
threat of landslides,

511
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,920
the challenge was
all the more extreme.

512
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,720
Construction started in 1956.

513
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,200
To hold up in this
harsh environment,

514
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,160
interlocking steel beams
and moulded concrete

515
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:14,640
were needed to shore
up critical stress points

516
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:16,600
of the 1,000 foot long tunnel.

517
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,920
You would have thought that
a project of this importance

518
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,840
would have warranted
professionals.

519
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,000
But what they got
instead was a chain gang.

520
00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:31,320
I mean, they literally asked
the inmates of nearby prisons

521
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:33,960
to go up into the
mountains, build a road.

522
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,240
Not only was their
heart probably not into it,

523
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:37,920
but they didn't
have the skill sets.

524
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:43,560
With unskilled workers
struggling to cut through solid rock,

525
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,480
the two-Lane escape highway
made agonisingly slow progress.

526
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:53,640
It was only completed in
1961, a full five years later.

527
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,520
The fact that they were prepared

528
00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,256
to blast their way
through these mountains

529
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:04,400
just shows that level of panic
and urgency that was felt to give

530
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:09,240
the people of a major
us city a means of escape

531
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,320
and a means to get to safety.

532
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,680
To be inside of it, you
can almost envision

533
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:18,120
terrorised people trying to
avoid a nuclear explosion

534
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,240
in a large metropolitan area.

535
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,160
The route to salvation
had finally made progress

536
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,720
cutting through the mountains,
but engineers realised

537
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,800
there was a fundamental
flaw with their plan.

538
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,000
Predictably, progress
on the road was slow

539
00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:34,560
and that led to la
authorities to say, "hang on.

540
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:35,840
Let's have a rethink."

541
00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,280
"What we're really doing
is creating a potential

542
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,800
very huge traffic
jam in the future.

543
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:42,360
Do we really wanna do that?

544
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,800
It's going to be world war III
just trying to get to that road."

545
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,800
Given Los Angeles's
notoriously congested highways,

546
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:52,840
the premise that the
armageddon highway

547
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,320
would have been able to
safely transport the denizens

548
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,840
of Los Angeles to safety
is basically ludicrous,

549
00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:02,120
especially when viewed
from a modern perspective

550
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,560
of gridlocked Los
Angeles highways.

551
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,200
And with the advent of faster
intercontinental ballistic missiles

552
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:12,560
giving even less warning,

553
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:16,000
escape from the Soviet nuclear
fallout became impossible.

554
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,960
La's evacuation plans
through shoemaker canyon

555
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:23,400
were now useless.

556
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:26,840
When you really think about it,

557
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:30,920
that given the warning
time, which is next to nil,

558
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:35,680
it's basically impossible to
evacuate major urban areas.

559
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,600
Now, I think, by the late
1960s, they're thinking,

560
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,400
"whoa, this is just a
whopping "waste of money.

561
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:44,720
It's just not worth it."

562
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:51,640
In 1969, 13 years after
the project commenced,

563
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,360
the Los Angeles authorities finally
called time on the escape route.

564
00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,960
All that had been achieved
of the 25 mile shortcut

565
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,480
through shoemaker
canyon was a 4.5 mile road

566
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,000
and two tunnels
that led to nowhere.

567
00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:10,600
Today, the road and tunnels
still stand on the slopes

568
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,320
of shoemaker canyon
but are rarely visited.

569
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,360
They survive as a monument
to cold war paranoia

570
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,120
and the real dangers felt

571
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,760
by the citizens of
la half a century ago.

572
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,160
Today, the most striking remains

573
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,120
of the road are its tunnels.

574
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,000
And it makes you appreciate
the fact that this is what

575
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,400
cold war paranoia
forced us to do.

576
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,520
Thousands of miles
across the Atlantic ocean,

577
00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,880
on the south coast of
england is the seaside village

578
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,400
of littlestone.

579
00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:56,120
In the rough seas of
the English channel,

580
00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:01,120
a mysterious 200 foot long
and 32 foot wide steel structure

581
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,480
lies partially
submerged in its waters.

582
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,840
If you're one of the
thousands of holidaymakers

583
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,200
playing on the beach
at littlestone or even out

584
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,200
for an early morning walk,
you'd quite happily dismiss it

585
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:17,080
as part of a sunken
barge or something.

586
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:21,440
The fact is it's got far
more historical significance

587
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:23,160
than you could ever imagine.

588
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,160
At low tide,

589
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,600
a large 6,000 tonne block
of concrete is revealed.

590
00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:36,120
Yet the object's humble
appearance belies

591
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:38,600
its engineering and
historic importance.

592
00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:41,496
I can imagine that the
engineers at the time

593
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:43,376
were a little bit worried
that this was gonna be

594
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:44,640
a big risk to take.

595
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,320
But how did this
simple-looking structure

596
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:50,480
play a key role

597
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,760
in one of the largest
invasions in history?

598
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:55,240
Why is it here?

599
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:56,880
And why was it abandoned?

600
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:05,200
In 1944, a force of unprecedented
scale was being mobilised

601
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:06,960
across southern england.

602
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:11,720
Millions of soldiers backed up
by 12,000 aircraft and an armada

603
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,480
of 7,000 ships, all
preparing for d day.

604
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,440
It was a phenomenal
logistical undertaking.

605
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:23,440
And while the coastline was
heavily defended by German forces,

606
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,720
the challenge was not simply
landing this massive invasion force.

607
00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,560
It becomes obvious
to the British,

608
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:35,720
to the Americans that
it's immensely difficult

609
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:40,880
to give an army the supplies
it needs to keep on fighting

610
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:43,640
once you've thrown
them onto a beach.

611
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:47,680
The allies developed a unique
and ambitious plan to ensure

612
00:34:47,720 --> 00:34:51,080
they could maintain
the flow of supplies.

613
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:55,520
We, the allies, brought
together technology

614
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,680
from the field of civil
engineering, military engineer,

615
00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:01,640
materials science
to create something

616
00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,360
that had not existed
before, an entire harbour

617
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:09,320
that can 60 miles
to where it's needed.

618
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:16,360
Codenamed operation mulberry,
a critical element of these giant

619
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:20,280
floating harbours was
the Phoenix caisson.

620
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,480
The Phoenix caisson
is but a tiny element

621
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:26,360
of an incredibly complex
but at the same time

622
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:30,320
brilliantly simple plan
to take a self-assembling

623
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,120
floating harbour over to
the beaches of normandy

624
00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,120
for the d day landings.

625
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,960
These watertight structures
were designed to provide

626
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,720
valuable protection
for the artificial ports.

627
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,840
(Gun fires)

628
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,120
But with wartime
steel shortages,

629
00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,160
engineers turned to a more
readily available material.

630
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:55,560
The idea of using
floating concrete blocks

631
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,240
was actually nothing new.

632
00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:01,240
Concrete vessels have been
made since the late 1800s.

633
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:05,240
What was different was using
them to create your own harbour

634
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:08,120
the size of any modern
international ferry port.

635
00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:13,720
Each concrete block
was five storeys high,

636
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,400
intended to join
together in a chain,

637
00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,320
they would serve
as a protective barrier

638
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:20,160
to the floating
mulberry harbours.

639
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:23,600
The purpose of the
Phoenix caissons

640
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:27,640
was to act as a breakwater
as the outer limits of the harbour

641
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:33,360
within which you'd have much
calmer waters to land the supplies,

642
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,160
the vehicles, and
the troops required

643
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:40,160
on the beaches of normandy
for the d day landing.

644
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:44,000
The caisson is made of a
reinforced concrete shell,

645
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,000
but nine hollow compartments
ensure its buoyancy.

646
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:51,880
Equipped with sea
valves, each compartment

647
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:55,240
can be flooded again and
the block sunk into position.

648
00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,120
The Phoenix caisson
itself rates quite high

649
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:02,760
in terms of the
engineering ingenuity

650
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:05,880
involved in world war ii, right?

651
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:07,920
The engineers knew
they had a job to do,

652
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,240
and they solved it very
efficiently and very beautifully.

653
00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:16,280
Construction began in late
1943, workers were tasked

654
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:20,840
with making 212 caissons
with only 6 months to complete

655
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,560
this colossal task.

656
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,080
At 12 different coastal
locations around britain,

657
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:30,600
45,000 labourers worked
in complete secrecy.

658
00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:34,320
In total, this
endeavour required

659
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:37,360
over 8 million cubic
feet of concrete

660
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,040
and 31,000 tonnes of steel.

661
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:42,776
A lot of people would
be out there fighting

662
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,240
the wars and so on, so you
get the unskilled labour in

663
00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:47,000
and you can
actually train them up

664
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,360
quite quickly to fix steel,

665
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:50,856
to pour the concrete
'cause actually

666
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:52,400
the process of doing that

667
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,000
is not terribly technical
or complicated.

668
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,320
While it was impossible
to fully conceal a project

669
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:04,280
of this magnitude from the
Germans, it was essential that Hitler

670
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,240
remain unsure of both when and
where the invasion would come.

671
00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:12,680
To help keep these
preparations under wraps,

672
00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:16,520
engineers used the caisson's
design and function to great effect.

673
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,880
To keep the plans
for the d day landings

674
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,360
a complete secret
from the Germans,

675
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:25,920
once the Phoenix caissons had
arrived at their assembly point

676
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:28,800
on the south coast, they
were sunk to keep them

677
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:31,000
out of view below
the water level.

678
00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:33,400
The idea being then that
you'd pump the water out

679
00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,800
to float them up before
being towed over to France.

680
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:42,360
In a mere 6 months,
212 Phoenix caissons

681
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,360
were successfully
built and many sunk

682
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,800
in the English channel
in preparation for d day.

683
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,920
Now, true to their name,
they were to rise again

684
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:54,520
to play their part in
the invasion of France.

685
00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:57,640
Of course, there's
always the chance

686
00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,920
that once you've
done the first sink,

687
00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:02,416
it actually does what it's supposed
to do and sticks into the ground

688
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,640
and then stays there nice and
stable against the sea currents.

689
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:14,920
160,000 men crossed the
channel on 6 June, 1944.

690
00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:20,120
Within 24 hours, the
beachheads were secured.

691
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,480
The allies now had
to land enough arms

692
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,760
and supplies to equip an
army that would liberate France

693
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:28,200
and ultimately Europe.

694
00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:30,240
The Phoenix
caissons were refloated

695
00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:33,640
and sailed across the
normandy beaches to create

696
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:37,240
the artificial ports that would
make this epic feat possible.

697
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:42,360
The Phoenix caissons
had a crew of six men.

698
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:45,200
I mean imagine that,
being a crewman on board

699
00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:47,000
a floating piece of concrete.

700
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:51,600
As they were towed along
by tug boats on board,

701
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,600
there was a little
accommodation hut,

702
00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:56,200
a life raft in case
anything went wrong,

703
00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:01,280
but they also had anti-aircraft guns
just in case they came under attack.

704
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,600
At a rate of 3 knots, it
took 30 hours to float

705
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:11,040
146 of these giant concrete
caissons to the beachheads,

706
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:13,080
codenamed Omaha and gold.

707
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:20,240
Sunk into position, they functioned
as a 2 mile long breakwater

708
00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,080
and outer wall of
the artificial ports,

709
00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,960
fulfilling their crucial
role in operation mulberry.

710
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,240
The concrete boxes
of the Phoenix caisson,

711
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:31,560
in and of themselves,
are not terribly impressive

712
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:33,560
when described
as a concrete box.

713
00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:37,800
But the usage of that
caisson in landing material,

714
00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:40,440
men, and equipment
on the beaches of France

715
00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,440
was tremendously important.

716
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:46,720
The mulberry harbour
made up an area of 500 acres

717
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,520
that was protected by a
ring of Phoenix caissons.

718
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:54,160
Critically, they calmed
the waters so boats

719
00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:56,800
could safely dock
at the floating piers

720
00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:58,520
whether at high or low tide.

721
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,360
Having taken the
Germans by surprise,

722
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,600
the Phoenix caissons
evaded serious bombardment.

723
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:12,040
Designed to last only 90
days, the mulberry harbour

724
00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,000
at gold beach was still
going strong 10 months later.

725
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,160
With the help of the
Phoenix caissons,

726
00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:23,520
the allies were able to unload
a staggering 2.5 million men,

727
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:28,800
0.5 vehicles, and 4 million
tonnes of goods and supplies.

728
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:31,360
For the engineers involved,
the mulberry harbours

729
00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:33,600
were a phenomenal success.

730
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:35,520
The d day landings
have been described

731
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:38,920
as one of the most monumental
events in modern history.

732
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,840
The Phoenix caissons
are a huge part of that.

733
00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,200
Yet not all the caissons
were successful.

734
00:41:46,240 --> 00:41:48,160
Many didn't make it.

735
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:50,520
No matter how
hard engineers tried,

736
00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,560
the caisson beached here
off the coast of littlestone

737
00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:57,400
refused to budge and
remained fully submerged.

738
00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:01,440
The only problem
was, in certain areas,

739
00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:06,680
the seabed was extremely
sticky and, try as they might,

740
00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:08,760
the Phoenix
caisson at littlestone

741
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:11,160
just couldn't be floated again.

742
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:13,720
Unable to rise from
its watery grave off

743
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:17,040
the shore of england,
it still lies abandoned.

744
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:21,280
These simple-looking

745
00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:23,880
concrete blocks
played a crucial role

746
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:26,880
in the allies successfully
retaking France

747
00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:29,320
and winning world war ii.

748
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,120
They are a monument
to military ingenuity

749
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:36,680
and inspiration to future
generations of civil engineers.

750
00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:38,040
The story of the Phoenix caisson

751
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at littlestone in a way
is a story of failure.

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It never made its
way over to France.

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But if you were able to get it
off the seabed today and float it,

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it would still be able to do
the job it was designed to do.

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And that's testimony
to quality engineering

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and a sound plan.

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Now abandoned, they were once

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on the cutting edge
of human engineering.

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Within these decaying structures
are the echoes of history.

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They speak of war and
terror but also of exploration

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and human endeavour.

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Captioned by
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