All language subtitles for Building Giants Series 4 Part 1 City of Ice 1080p

Narrator: In northeast china,

This team of elite engineers is
embarking on an epic endeavor.

They're attempting to build
an entire city

Made from just snow and ice.

It's huge. It's enormous.

There's nothing as big
as this in the world.

Unbelievable.

Narrator: Spanning over
eight million square feet

And made from a massive
110,000 tons of ice,

They are racing to complete
this ambitious build

In just 15 days.

To construct this
remarkable ice city,

The team must battle
arctic temperatures

And dizzy heights.

♪

[ shouts indistinctly ]

Narrator:
This incredible ice city

Ranks in a league of ambitious
new engineering wonders

That are bigger, faster,
taller, and more advanced

Than anything
ever constructed before.

This is the inside story
of the extraordinary challenge

Of building these giants.

♪

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Harbin, northeast china,

Home to over
10 million inhabitants.

Just 200 miles
from the russian border,

It's one of the country's
most northern cities.

During the winter months,

The arctic climate
causes temperatures to plummet,

Freezing the mighty
songhua river.

But these icy conditions

Create a unique opportunity
for the people here

To construct a one of a kind
ice megastructure.

For hundreds of years,

Local fishermen
crafted makeshift lanterns

From the river ice
to fish at night.

People started first
to carving ice

For practical reasons,
and then it became an art form.

And it requires a lot of skill,
especially when you're working

At this scale.

♪

Narrator: This year, the team
will push the boundaries

Of ice engineering.

They plan to construct
30 massive ice buildings.

At their center,

A huge double tower will be
the tallest ice structure

Ever built.

The twin towers,

That is going to be
something really amazing.

Narrator: This is
the polar wonderland

They must build --

Five grand frozen palaces

Each with a unique design,

Tower over spectacular
arch bridges

Made from solid ice,

A 23-foot high dome
cast in the shape of a shell

Provides shelter for visitors
from brutal arctic conditions.

♪

And at the heart of this city,

A grand curved double tower
soaring 130 feet high.

It will be the tallest
ice structure ever constructed.

And at night, lights built
into the structures

Will create a dazzling,
multicolor display.

♪

Tasked with turning these
ambitious plans into a reality

Is head of development,
yang zhi.

Incredibly,
he has just 15 days

To build the entire city.

To do that, he has assembled
an army of 10,000 workers

Operating in shifts
24 hours a day.

Building on this scale
in such a limited timeframe

Is a monumental challenge.

Building one building
otherwise in just 15 days,

That's difficult.

By building 30,
that is crazy.

This is the plan.

First, workers will erect
a 130-foot high skeleton

To support the enormous
central double tower

And begin covering
with 20,000 tons of ice,

Setting ribbons of led lights
within each layer.

Meanwhile,
five separate teams

Will construct
the grand ice palaces

Carving the intricate exteriors
as they go

And using wooden formwork,

They will build
a one of a kind solid ice bridge

With a 10-foot high arch.

Another team will cover
a giant inflatable mold

With a mix of paper and water
to create a solid icy shell

For visitors to take shelter
from the arctic temperatures.

Finally, they top out
the central tower

Making it the tallest
ice structure in the world.

♪

Work begins by sourcing
their building material -- ice.

The man in charge
of the massive ice

Harvesting operation
is liu cai

Also known as the ice master.

♪

Each day,
he checks the thickness

Of the ice
on the songhua river.

It must be
at least 12 inches thick

To meet the construction
team's requirements.

♪

If it's not thick enough,
the harvest cannot begin.

The city marks the start
of the harvest

With a lavish
traditional ceremony.

Thousands of people
descend on the river

To witness the cutting
of the first ice block.

It's a carnival on ice.

The first block they pulled
from the river

Is just one of hundreds
of thousands they need

To build
this extraordinary ice city.

So the celebrations
don't last long.

♪

Because of the tight schedule,

The team must provide
over 10,000 tons of ice per day.

♪

To keep up with this demand,

They have to use more
than just manpower.

♪

This is their plan.

First, workers use giant
two-foot circular saws

To slice halfway through
the one-foot thick ice...

♪

...This creates a vast
checkerboard of blocks

That are still attached
at the base

So the team can continue
safely moving across the ice.

Next, workers break off
the ice blocks one by one

And float them down the river.

Here, a specialized crane hoists
the blocks out of the water

And onto a metal chute.

Once the ice blocks are safely
away from the water's edge,

Forklifts move in and lift them
onto a waiting fleet of trucks.

♪

♪

Over 200 harvesters work
in shifts 24 hours a day

To keep up with demand.

They operate on vast ice fields

That stretch as far
as the eye can see,

Just one of dozens
along the river

Needed to supply enough ice
for construction.

This is not
for the faint of heart.

The harvesters work precariously
close to the water's edge

Chipping and breaking away
the ice by hand.

[ speaking indistinctly ]

Narrator:
One slip would send them

Plunging into
the icy river below.

♪

With the ice in position,
they fire up the harvest machine

And feed in first block.

♪

They soon load up
the waiting fleet of trucks

And the ice is transported
from the river.

♪

With a steady flow of ice
to the site,

They gear up
for their biggest challenge --

Building the enormous
double tower.

♪

♪

Narrator: In northern china,

A team of engineers
is attempting

To build an entire city made
from just snow and ice.

They have only 15 days to
complete this record breaking

Ice engineering project.

Now, work begins
on the complex centerpiece

For the frozen city --

The double tower.

It will be one of the most
ambitious structures

Ever constructed from ice.

Yet, ice alone
is not strong enough

To support a tower
of this size.

Yang zhi and his team must find
a way to reinforce this giant

Or else the tower
could come crashing down.

♪

If they made this tower
from just ice,

It would sway and collapse

In a brutal winter winds.

So first, engineers bolt
giant steel girders

To foundations
set into the ground.

Next, they use a crane
to place more and more steel

Sections on top,

Creating two super strong
130-foot high cores

That should support
the entire structure.

They quickly install
the lower half

Of the steel skeleton.

But before they can
cover it in ice,

They have to install
this massive

50-foot high section of steel

And they'll be doing it
in the dark.

Overseeing the lift
is tower construction manager

Deng fuchang.

Tonight, his team must work
through a bone-chilling

Minus 4 degrees fahrenheit.

As the temperature continues
to drop, they begin to lift.

♪

♪

There isn't much space
up high,

So deng fuchang
must watch from the ground.

[ speaking foreign language ]

♪

♪

Narrator: Up top, two workers
guide it into position,

They must ensure all the legs
align perfectly with the base,

Then bolt it
securely into place.

But something
isn't going quite right.

One of the legs
won't line up correctly.

This team has to finish
the skeleton tonight

In order to stay on schedule.

They strap ratchets
to the second tower

And attempt to pull the leg
into alignment

Inch by inch.

♪

It's slow progress.

♪

But eventually,

They managed to get
the leg perfectly aligned.

The next day,
the team makes fast progress

Covering the skeleton
with thousands of ice blocks,

But as they build higher,

They can't simply stack the ice
around the steel skeleton.

They need to find a way
to securely attach

The ice blocks
to the steel core

Else they risk seeing their
hard work crash to the ground.

♪

To support the tower,

They stack blocks of ice
around the core

And fill the hollow space
in the middle

With broken ice rubble.

They then cover this rubble
with water.

This freezes solid,

Tying the steel to the blocks
around it,

Keeping this vast structure
standing strong.

Team uses broken
and discarded ice blocks

From all over the site
to fill the core of the towers.

Dozens of workers move in
to pack the ice

As tightly as possible.

Any large gaps could be
a point of weakness.

Finally, they add the water.

In the arctic temperatures,
it freezes quickly,

Locking the blocks together.

With the ice securely
attached to the skeleton,

The tower will now stand up
to even the most brutal winds

And a team can continue
pushing upwards.

♪

Meanwhile, at the other
end of the site,

Another team begins
tackling a unique challenge --

Sculpting a giant
88-foot high buddha

Carved from solid snow.

♪

♪

Narrator:
Harbin, northern china,

An army of 10,000 workers

Is building a vast city
made from ice in just 15 days.

♪

Work has begun
on an 88-foot high buddha

Made from solid snow.

Overseeing this mammoth carving

Is master sculptor,
sun jian.

[ speaking foreign language ]

♪

Narrator: To shape
this monumental sculpture,

Teams of master carvers use
just two simple tools.

[ chainsaw whirring ]

First, chainsaws
rough out the shape

And remove the bulk
of the material.

♪

Next,
they use a sharp shaving tool

To carve out the fine details.

♪

Carving snow, the sharpness
of the tools is very important.

It's like carving
in a soft white marble.

Narrator: The scale of this
build has sun jian worried.

So, he creates a plan.

First, he divides this sculpture
into manageable sized blocks.

The team then works
on one square

Before moving on to the next.

But for the sculptors
working up close,

It's impossible to see
the bigger picture

So they need help
from the ground.

Up top, the carvers are in
constant communication

With the team on the ground

Working slowly
and methodically to make sure

They don't make any mistakes.

Over the next 10 hours,

Buddha begins to emerge
from the snow,

But they still have
a long way to go.

Sun jian and his team
must work around the clock

If they are to be ready
in time for opening.

♪

Across the rest of the site,

The construction crew
is working in overdrive.

The central tower
is quickly rising

And the team has started work
on the five glacial palaces,

Making progress on the walls.

One palace has
a unique feature

That will push the limits
of ice engineering,

A 10-foot high arched bridge

Made from nothing
but solid blocks of ice.

The bridge will have to
support thousands of visitors

Walking across it.

So construction will call
on the most skilled ice builders

On the project.

This is their plan --

First, workers must build
a wooden mold

That forms a template
for the arch

And crane it into place
at the base of the bridge.

Next, skilled carvers
cut blocks of ice

To precisely the right shape
to form an arch...

♪

...And stack them
along the formwork

Adding a second layer
for extra strength.

The team constructs the steps
that lead up to the bridge,

Followed by the walkway on top.

Only then can they remove
the formwork

And put this marvel
of ice engineering to the test.

♪

They use wooden templates
to mark out the blocks.

This ensures that each block
is exactly the right shape

Before they cut it.

When you're building an arch
with ice blocks,

You have to have,
you know, the perfect size,

The perfect angles
of the blocks,

And then also
the perfect surfaces.

Narrator: Lifting each of
the 180-pound blocks into place

Is backbreaking work.

And it's all done by hand.

As they complete each row,
they must secure the next.

To do this, they use
a special spiked tool

To roughen up the surface,

Then stack the next row
of blocks on top.

♪

Now they pour water
over the ice,

Which trickles
between the rows.

When the water freezes,

It acts like cement locking
into the roughened surfaces

To make the ice blocks
one solid piece.

Over the next five hours,

They make steady progress
working into the night.

♪

But once they reach the top,
they notice a problem.

The space left for the keystone
is not the right shape.

It has square sides
like a brick.

For the arch to hold strong,

Every single block
must be shaped like a wedge.

The team works through
the night to fix the problem.

They removed dozens of blocks
and shaved them down.

♪

The next day,

The keystone is in place

And the bridge
is back on schedule.

They quickly complete
the rest of the bridge.

They add in the steps
and walkway.

Now it's ready for

The ultimate test
of their work --

Removing the formwork.

If the bridge doesn't hold,

The site won't be ready in time
for opening day.

♪

♪

Narrator: Harbin, china,

Thousands of workers here
are building a vast city

Made entirely of ice.

With just eight days
until opening to the public,

The team has finished
constructing a unique ice bridge

That should be strong enough
for people to walk over.

Now they must remove
the wooden formwork

Used to support the arch
during construction.

But they must work carefully.

If any of the blocks are not set
correctly, they could fall free.

First, they cut the wooden
supports to loosen the formwork,

Paying close attention
to the ice above them.

If the arch doesn't hold,

It could seriously injure
the workers below.

With each wooden support
they cut,

More and more weight
transfers to the bridge.

♪

With one final pull,

They haul it clear.

After a final smooth
and polish,

This masterpiece
of ice engineering is complete.

♪

♪

Across the site,
the ice city is rising fast.

♪

The snow carvers
are making headway

With the 88-foot high buddha.

♪

And work on the ice palace
roofs has begun.

But building with ice
is only half the story.

The final city will only
truly come alive

Once the ice is lit.

Lighting the harbin ice city,

That is huge challenge
a huge job.

It's so amazing
because there is light

Everywhere in between
every layer of ice everywhere

There's light.

Narrator: Zhang yao oversees
the lighting installation.

This is one of the biggest
jobs on the site.

♪

Workers must light
every single block from within.

♪

To do this,

First, they use chainsaws to
cut special channels on the ice.

♪

Then they lay more than
120 miles of custom-built

Led cable inside

And use wooden pins
to secure the lights in place.

Finally,
they pack snow on top.

The led strips wind around
and around each structure

To illuminate
every single block.

Each strip can glow red,
blue, or green.

♪

When complete, the whole city
will be a multi-color marvel.

♪

For the ice to look its best,

The thin light strips have to

Fill the whole block of ice
with light.

♪

Zhang yao has developed

A special technique
to do just that.

Instead, they install
the lights facing backwards.

Installing the lights
this way allows the team

To illuminate the structures
with a bright, even glow.

♪

To install the 120 miles of
lighting in such a short time,

Zhang yao oversees a team
of over 500 electricians.

They must work in perfect tandem
with the ice builders.

As each row is complete,

The electricians move in
to install the light strips.

Once they've finished, the ice
builders lay the next row.

♪

The two teams gradually
work up the structures,

Bringing them to life
with a spectacular glow.

♪

The team now has just
six days until opening.

Next, they will have
to tackle

One of their most technical
builds on the whole site --

A giant 23-foot high
ice dome.

♪

♪

Narrator: In harbin, china,

The team building the world's
biggest ice city

Is over halfway through
their 15-day build.

♪

The palaces now have roofs.

And the giant buddha's body
is emerging from the snow.

Yang zhi's army
of 10,000 workers

Races around the clock,

Laying thousands
of tons of ice.

♪

But not all the structures
across the site

Will be made
from blocks of ice.

This vast dome will become
the city's restaurant and bar

A place for visitors
to escape the cold.

Yang zhi's team
has developed a pioneering

New ice building technique

To build this huge soaring roof.

♪

They'll build their dome
using a giant inflatable mold

As the base.

Next, they could
spray the outside with water,

Which would freeze
to form a hard shell,

Building up the thickness
over several days,

One layer at a time.

But the dome will be
a massive 50 feet across.

Pure ice is not strong enough
to support its own weight.

So when they deflate
the supporting mold,

The brittle shell could crack

Or even collapse.

♪

At the nearby harbin
institute of technology.

Professor of structural
design, arno pronk,

Works on a solution.

A super strong ice composite
called pykrete.

The cellulose fibers
help knit the ice together,

Making a composite that is three
times stronger than ice alone.

This material is ideally suited
to making large dome structures.

At the site,

Professor peng luo mixes paper
and water in vats

To create the pykrete.

The paper dissolves
in the water to create a mash.

♪

Peng luo's team then sprays
this mixture

Onto the inflatable mold

One thin layer at a time

Allowing each layer to freeze
before spraying the next.

♪

As it freezes,
it forms an icy shell

Knitted together
with paper fibers.

But will this vast structure
hold up when they remove

The inflatable support below?

After several days of spraying,

It's the moment of truth
for peng luo and his team.

♪

The team switches off
the pumps and quickly clears

The inside of the dome.

For peng luo,
it is an anxious moment.

Over the next two hours,

The air pressure drops

And the inflatable
slowly falls away.

Peng luo moves in
to inspect the shell.

♪

The next day,
they remove the inflatable.

[ shouting indistinctly ]

Narrator: Working carefully to
not damage the frozen covering

The end result is an elegant,
soaring shell

Unlike any other ice structure.

A cavernous space that will make
the perfect shelter

For the city's thousands
of visitors.

♪

But the team now has just
three days until opening.

Before the first guests arrive,
workers face one last

Treacherous challenge --

Placing the final blocks

Precariously on the top
of their double tower

130 feet above the ground

To make it the tallest
ice structure in the world.

♪

♪

Narrator: In harbin,
northeast china

Workers building
this colossal ice city

Are on the final stretch.

They have nearly finished
the stunning ice palaces.

But they have yet to set
the final blocks

On their most
ambitious build --

The enormous double tower.

♪

To install the final
two rows of ice,

The team has to work
130 feet in the air.

And it's not just the height
they need to worry about.

As their tower
has grown taller,

Their working area has shrunk,

It's now just 20 feet across

Leaving no room for mistakes.

♪

They begin to lift
the final blocks.

♪

The crew guides the crane
to just the right position,

But they must work carefully
when unloading.

One false move
and the 450-pound block

Could crash down
through the scaffolding

130 feet to the ground below.

♪

They carefully edge the block
into place.

With the ice in position,

Sculptors move in to shape
and level it

Ready for the final capstone.

♪

But suddenly,
the weather takes a turn.

A snow storm moves in.

If conditions get any worse.

They'll have to abandon
the lift.

♪

♪

The team quickly
unloads the bucket.

With one final effort,

They wrangled the last block
into place.

All that's left to do
is shape and polish the ice.

♪

It's a big moment
for the whole site.

♪

♪

♪

With the tower fully built,

The team undergoes
one final effort

To get the site ready
in time for opening.

♪

They take down cranes

And scaffolding

And put
the finishing touches on dozens

Of stunning ice statues

Working late into the night.

♪

It's opening day
at the ice city

And silence falls
across the site.

♪

The beautiful frozen palaces
and dome are complete...

♪

...And the meticulously carved
buddha stands proud

Overlooking the site.

At the center,

The giant 130-foot high towers
soar over the landscape.

♪

All that's left to do
is open the gates.

But before they welcome
the first visitors,

They wait for sunset

So the ice will look its best.

♪

As day turns to night,
the ice city comes to life.

For someone who has
never been to the ice city,

It must be astonishing
to go into this world of ice.

Narrator: Thousands of visitors
pour in to catch a first glimpse

Of the breathtaking views.

It's quite mesmerizing
when you see it.

It's really amazing.

Narrator: In just 15 days,

This team
of dedicated ice builders

Has transformed
an empty plot of land

Into a spectacular ice city

For thousands to enjoy.

Oh, it's really awesome
and very beautiful.

♪

♪

♪