All language subtitles for Building Giants Series 4 Part 2 LA Mega Rail 1080p

♪

Narrator: In los angeles...

Hey, pull it again, tony!

...This elite team of engineers

Is embarking
on an epic endeavor.

They're building three brand-new
subway lines

Through the heart of the city.

It is the biggest
civil-engineering project

To ever take place
in tinseltown.

Oh, yeah.

[ indistinct conversation ]

It's going to be transformative
when it opens.

Hey!

Narrator:
To build this colossus,

The team must battle
dangerous earthquakes...

[ rumbling ]

I think it's a crazy place
to build a tunnel.

Narrator:
...Deadly pockets of gas...

Carbon monoxide --
it can kill you.

Narrator: ...And a labyrinth
of underground obstacles.

That was like going through
a minefield.

[ beeping ]

Oh.

Hold on a second, danny.

I'm not sure why that's there.

Narrator: This subterranean
earthquake-proof railway 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

♪

Los angeles...

Home of hollywood...

♪

...Sunshine...

♪

...And some of
the worst traffic on the planet.

♪

The city's aging highways

Are pushed beyond their limits.

[ horns honking ]

♪

The average angelino spends
more than 120 hours

Stuck in traffic every year.

[ horns honking ]

I used to commute here,

And it would take 2 hours there,
2 hours back,

And it's 4 hours
of my day just gone.

Woman: Like, even at 5:00
in the morning,

There's commuter traffic.
It's stop-and-go.

Narrator:
To overcome this problem,

The citizens of los angeles

Are funding a new
multibillion-dollar expansion

Of the city's existing
metro network.

The new subway lines
will connect the city

Like never before

To relieve the pressure
on its overburdened highways.

♪

On the south side of the city,
a brand-new 8-1/2-mile line

Will whisk passengers
from lax airport

Through eight new stations
into central l.A.

♪

Further north, engineers
will dig 9 miles of tunnels

And construct 7 new stations

To connect l.A.'s westside
and beverly hills.

♪

Beneath the skyscrapers
of downtown, a new line

And three new stations
will form a crucial link

Between the city's existing
but unconnected subway lines.

This ambitious project

Should reduce congestion
on l.A.'s roadways

And increase the metro's usage
by 30 million people a year,

Radically transforming
travel in l.A.

♪

Overseeing this massive project

Is tunneling expert
bryan pennington.

[ speaking indistinctly ]

It will change the face
of the city.

All underground systems
in a city are complicated.

This area has probably got
just about

Every complication
you could imagine.

Narrator:
In this dense urban landscape,

Engineers must build most of
the new railway underground,

But the terrain below l.A.
Is treacherous.

It's filled with deadly gas,
earthquake fault lines,

And a maze
of skyscraper foundations.

This is the plan.

♪

To link lax to central l.A.,

The team will build more than
8 1/2 miles of new track.

Nearly 7 miles will be
aboveground,

Running alongside roadways
and over six new bridges.

The other 2 miles
will run underground.

To the north of the city,
huge tunneling machines

Will dig two new
parallel tunnels 16 feet apart.

These digging demons will plow
through 70 feet of earth

Every day,

Leaving a superstrong
tunnel behind.

Beneath downtown l.A.,

Engineers need to build
a crucial connection

Between the existing lines.

To do this, they'll manually
dig out 1,300 feet of new tunnel

Through a tangle
of skyscraper foundations,

Removing thousands
of tons of earth

From under one of
the city's busiest streets.

Taking 15 years and
costing more than $11 billion,

The project will bring l.A.
Together like never before.

♪

Work begins in 2014.

The team spend years
digging access tunnels...

♪

...Preparing station sites...

♪

...And clearing routes
for service lines.

Now they face their toughest
challenge yet --

The extension of
the subterranean line

Right through the earthquake
zones to the west of the city.

Clear!

To build it, engineers must use
two huge tunnel-boring machines.

At the front, a 22-foot-diameter
cutting head chews

Through the clay.

The cutterhead is turning
and cutting the ground

Just like a cheese grater
as it's propelling forward.

♪

Narrator:
32 powerful hydraulic rams

Slowly push
the machine forwards.

[ men shouting ]

It stops moving every 5 feet
so workers

Can install
a new section of tunnel.

[ men shouting ]

♪

They're built of superstrong
concrete segments

Locked together
in a solid ring.

This should protect passengers

From the ever-present
threat of earthquakes.

Man: Oh.

These can cause massive damage
to structures aboveground.

♪

But belowground, the tunnel
simply moves with the earth

As it shakes,

Making it one of the safest
places in the city.

Halsey: The segments
will move with the ground.

I've been in a earthquake
two times,

And both times,
we didn't feel it.

Narrator: Earthquakes may not be
keeping the team up at night,

But hidden within the ground
is another invisible

And deadly threat...

[ bubbling ]

...Gas.

♪

Gas tester j.R.

Is one of the most
important members of the team.

He monitors the tunnel
for gas

At all times
to keep the miners safe.

Some gases down here
are poisonous.

Others, like methane,
are explosive.

The miners need a way to keep
gas outside of the tunnel.

♪

Without any protective measures,

Invisible gas would slowly seep
into the tunnels

From hidden pockets
within the l.A. Soil.

If a spark ignited
the dangerous gas,

The results could be disastrous.

So to prevent it from ever
entering into these tunnels,

Engineers build the walls out
of impermeable concrete slabs.

To keep the joints airtight,
they line up two layers

Of high-density rubber
to form a seal.

Finally, they inject special
liquid concrete

Behind every tunnel ring,
stabilizing the ground around it

And locking the seals
tightly together.

♪

Every time the cutterhead
pushes forwards,

It's a race to construct
the newest tunnel ring.

♪

They use a train to haul
the precast concrete segments

Up to the work site.

Man: Full speed ahead!

Violet:
These are all wedged together.

These gaskets line up.

It makes a pretty good seal.

This helps a lot
with keeping the gas outside.

Narrator:
To make these seals gas-tight,

They must line up the sections
with millimeter precision.

The crane operator
picks them up one by one

And maneuvers
them into position...

Man: Whoa!

...Guided by the watchful eye
of bolt fitter lalo.

14! 11! 10!

Lalo: I'm his eyes.

I tell him if he's going to hit
something,

If something's in the way,
"stop," "go."

He has to listen to me
at end of the day.

3...2...1!

Good!
Good.

Narrator:
Once each section is aligned...

Release!

...Lalo bolts it into place.

Good!

Lalo: You have to know
what you're doing,

And if not,
you will definitely get hurt.

Narrator: The team fits
this final ring segment,

And another 5 feet of tunnel
is complete.

Good!

With the ring in place, the
miners can breathe more easily.

Good!
Good!

Narrator: But as the
tunnel-boring machine advances,

It leaves a void in the soft
soil outside the concrete rings.

If this collapses, it would be
a disaster

For the busy streets above,

So the team needs to work fast
to stabilize the ground.

A.J.:
It's watching all these numbers.

If something happens,
it's like that.

♪

Narrator: Beneath the busy
streets of los angeles,

A team of engineers
is building a massive extension

To the city's underground
metro network.

Whoa!
Good!

Narrator:
On the west side of the city,

Miners have tunneled almost
2 miles of the brand-new subway

Connecting beverly hills
to downtown,

But as their digging machine
moves forward,

It leaves a void around
the outside of the tunnel.

Go!
To prevent a collapse,

The miners need to stabilize
the soft earth

With a special liquid cement
called grout.

I'm basically the grout guy.

And that's it. Cut. Cut.

♪

The grout flows into the earth,

Filling up any gaps
and reinforcing the ground.

Boom. See?
Stopped on its own.

Grouted to pressure on that one.

Narrator:
This quick-setting concrete

Should support the tunnel

And stop the city above
from sinking,

But they are right below
some of l.A.'s

Most densely
populated streets.

The team can't take any chances.

So up at street level, engineers
install superaccurate sensors

That detect the slightest
movement of the ground.

The system is under the watchful
eye of geologist peter mcdonald.

Mcdonald: There are hundreds
of instruments

And settlement points running up
and down wilshire boulevard.

The tunnel-boring machine
will come this way

Right under our feet.

Narrator: The metro's new
tunnels will lie just 50 feet

Below the foundations of l.A.,

So engineers must
closely monitor any movement,

Looking out for signs
of dangerous subsidence.

Aboveground, they install
an advanced network

Of lasers and prisms.

The lasers fire a beam
which the prisms reflect back

To measure distances
down to 1/1,000 millimeter.

The measurements indicate
if the tunnel building

Is causing the structures
above to move.

Belowground, they bury over
1,000 motion detectors

Beneath the streets

To monitor tiny shifts
in the soil in real time.

If any of their measurements
suddenly change,

Engineers can alert the team
beneath to stop tunneling

Before any damage is done.

♪

Installing such a vast
network of sensors across l.A.

Is a major challenge.

Today, the team is positioning
one

Of the highly sensitive
underground motion detectors.

The sensormate we're installing
acts as an early warning system

To detect ground movement
caused by tunneling.

♪

Narrator: A massive rig

Slowly cuts a borehole
into the street...

♪

...Drilling 70 feet down
into the ground.

[ man shouting indistinctly ]

♪

[ indistinct conversation ]

♪

They place the new sensor,

Which will measure
ground movements

As small
as 1/1,000 millimeter.

Looks good.

The slightest slip triggers
an automatic warning

That alerts miners
to stop digging

Until they have
stabilized the ground.

Mcdonald: Most of these
instruments are automated,

Reading at a 15-minute interval.

I can pull up information
for just about every sensor

We have on the site.

Narrator:
This new motion detector

Links up with peter's extensive
network of high-tech sensors,

Which stand sentry
over the street...

Lalo: Clear!

...As the tunneling
machines rumble on below.

Good! Give me another
retract on below!

While work continues on
the west side of the city,

At the center of downtown l.A.,
another team of workers

Is battling to build
a new stretch of metro line

Right below the high-rise
business district.

This 1.9-mile-long line
is called the regional connector

And will make a huge difference
to l.A.'s residents.

Currently in downtown l.A.,
four separate railways

Take angelinos
to long beach, east l.A.,

And the rest of the country
through union station,

But they aren't
linked together.

It's impossible to travel
across downtown

Without changing trains
several times.

The regional connector
will change this.

Three additional stations
will bring new areas

Of the city into the network,
and 1.9 miles of new tunnels

Will bridge the gap
between pre-existing rail lines,

Enabling passengers to travel
across the city

From the mountains
to the pacific

Without ever leaving their seat.

♪

To construct the station
buildings for the new line,

Workers dig out
three enormous trenches.

The deepest, for the station
at bunker hill,

Dives more than 135 feet
down into the ground.

♪

To connect these stations,
a tunnel-boring machine

Carves out 2 miles of subway
under l.A.'s busy center.

♪

Today, there's just one
final stretch to excavate,

But it's the toughest of all.

We're dealing with some of
the most challenging areas

To work within in los angeles.

♪

Narrator:
In los angeles,

Engineers are constructing
a brand-new subway line

Beneath the high-rises
in the heart of the city.

A tunnel-boring machine

Has quickly carved out
nearly 2 miles of tunnel,

But now work
has slowed to a crawl.

Overseeing this phase of
the project

Is construction manager
michael harrington.

Harrington: The public probably
has no idea what is going on

Underneath their feet
as they're walking up above us.

Narrator:
Michael faces a major problem.

It's impossible to use the fast

And efficient tunnel-boring
machines

To dig out this final
1,300-foot stretch,

Thanks to the soaring
skyscrapers aboveground.

Harrington: When those high-rise
buildings were built,

Their foundations came
right into this excavation.

We couldn't bring the tbm
down here

Because there was just
too much risk of it

Striking one of these elements
and getting stuck.

Narrator: The ground beneath
the financial district

Is a tangled maze
of foundations,

Utility pipes, and cables.

These dangerous hidden obstacles
make it impossible

To use a tunneling machine
to excavate the subway,

So the team must dig manually.

They start by excavating a
narrow access trench in the road

And then carefully hollow
out the tunnels from there.

As the tunnel grows,
a chain of earth movers shifts

The waste material
out through the tunnel entrance.

Then things get even tougher.

Once they reach the far end
of the new tunnel,

Demolition experts
must carefully break

Through a 2-foot-thick
concrete wall

Into the existing metro network
at 7th street station.

♪

The team of digger and bulldozer
operators

Painstakingly excavates nearly
3 million cubic feet of dirt,

Dodging the many obstacles.

Some of the work around
the utilities is being done

With a shovel.

Narrator: Earth movers
shuttle buckets of soil

To the tiny access opening,
and a single digger scoops

It out into the waiting dump
trucks through the narrow hole.

Harrington: 10-4!

I equate it to the old-school
passing the bucket

From one person to another.

We're talking
thousands of moves,

And you have thousands
of hours of labor

Just to remove the dirt.

Narrator:
The tunnel grows steadily longer

Towards the existing station
at 7th street.

Here a wrecking crew will break
through to connect

The railway
to the existing lines.

For the new line to have any
chance of opening on time,

It's vital that the station
is connected soon.

The slow excavation pushes
the schedule down to the wire.

And we're coming up
against a hard deadline here.

Narrator: The diggers
work around the clock.

♪

After 2 1/2 years of work,

They finally clear out
this cathedral-like space

Just in time for the wall
to come down.

Harrington: Today is
a really big day for metro.

Today is the day we start
punching through,

Connecting our project
to the existing system.

♪

Narrator: Now workers have to
break through a wall

Into 7th street station

With trains still running
just a few feet away.

We do have an open station
on the other side,

So we have to keep dust and
debris from entering that area.

Narrator: Conventional cutting
tools won't work here,

So the team plans to use
this very special wire saw.

♪

This is the wire
that we're cutting with.

It's just a braided wire that's
got these manufactured

Diamond segments
about every inch.

Pulling this through
the concrete actually cuts it.

Narrator: Michael's team threads
the abrasive steel wires

Through holes drilled into
the 2-foot-thick concrete walls.

Man: Good!

A machine pulls these wire loops
through the wall at high speed,

Slicing it into a series
of blocks

That they will carefully
remove one by one.

This is precise
engineering surgery.

We want to very carefully
surgically remove

This section of the wall.

We don't want to use anything
that could

Potentially damage
the existing structure.

Narrator: But this meticulous
process is painstakingly slow,

And it isn't long before
they fall behind schedule.

To make matters worse, suddenly
the wire jams in the concrete.

Carillo: Up or down?

If the team can't wrestle it
free soon,

They could miss their deadline

And face costly delays.

♪

Narrator:
In los angeles,

Engineers are constructing
a brand-new subway line

Beneath the high-rises
in the heart of the city.

♪

It's taken more than 2 years
to build this tunnel

That connects four sections

Of the already
operating metro network,

But now work to punch through
this 2-foot-thick concrete wall

To connect the new line
with the existing metro network

Has ground to a halt.

The diamond-coated wire saw...

Tony: More?!
...Is stuck.

Feed it backwards!

The only way to free the wire
is to enlarge the hole...

♪

...And haul it out by hand.

♪

With a final pull, they get
the saw working again.

Man: Yeah, we're moving.

No!

Now the team is playing
catch-up.

Looks like we're going to have
to work a lot of overtime.

For three grueling weeks,

The cutting team works
around the clock.

Here we go.
Here we go.

[ shouts indistinctly ]

They make 14 incisions
in the wall,

Slicing it into a grid
of 12 huge blocks.

♪

The final task is to take them
out one by one

And break through
to the station beyond.

We are now removing the blocks
that have been saw-cut

Into pieces
over the last several days.

Workers bore holes into
the center of each block

And attach cables
to haul them out of the wall.

Man: They look good.
They look good.

Narrator:
With a careful nudge,

The first block
starts to inch out.

It's a tense moment
for the crew.

This block weighs
over 7,000 pounds.

If they don't pull it out
square, it could cause the wall

To collapse and damage
the operational station behind.

[ man speaking indistinctly ]

Narrator:
The first block slides free...

And the wall remains intact.

[ horn honks ]

[ indistinct conversation,
laughter ]

♪

The team works from the top
of the wall

Down to haul the rest
of the blocks out.

♪

And piece by piece,
an opening appears.

The new tunnel finally connects
to the existing station

On the other side

And the many miles
of metro rail beyond.

Harrington: We are now
connecting the project

To the existing metro system
for the first time.

♪

♪

Narrator:
All across the city,

The massive excavations
for the new metro lines

And stations have removed
millions of tons of earth.

This is a once-in-a-generation
opportunity

For one of the team's
more specialized members --

Project paleontologist
ashley leger.

Most of the earth
beneath los angeles

Is a mix of clay, sand, and tar,

The ancient bed
of the pacific ocean.

Huge numbers of fossils
are preserved inside.

♪

Ashley and her team keep a close
eye on the excavation here.

They've discovered a remarkable
number of fossils

Hidden in the dirt.

♪

At her lab, ashley's team cleans
and catalogs all their finds.

This is the giant-ground-sloth
skull.

♪

This is andy.

This is the long-horned
bison horn core.

This animal was huge.

We're not just finding
broken pieces.

We're finding big, complete,
beautiful specimens.

My favorite is hayden,
the mammoth skull.

Narrator:
These remarkable fossils

Aren't just a time capsule
of l.A.'s past.

They can even help the miners
see into the future.

Leger:
We can tell them that we know
we've got to be getting close

To the marine layer,

So we can give them
a heads up that,

"hey, here comes
the beach sand, guys.

Excavation is about
to change a lot."

♪

Narrator:
While teams race to excavate
the new railway tunnels,

Stations,
and prehistoric monsters,

On the south side of the city,

A brand-new line is almost ready
to open to the public.

The crenshaw line connects
the airport to central l.A.

After three years' work,
today engineers are testing it

By running trains on the railway
for the very first time.

You want to go?
Yeah, go.

If these tests reveal
hidden issues

Embedded within their system,

They could delay the grand
opening by many costly weeks.

Hold on a second, danny.

♪

♪

Narrator:
In los angeles,

To ease the city's
crippling traffic problems,

Engineers are building
a multibillion-dollar expansion

Of the city's metro network.

After three years of work,

The crenshaw line that connects
the airport to central l.A.

Is almost ready
to open to the public.

Today, engineers plan
to put it to the test.

They're gearing up to run trains
on the railway

For the very first time.

[ man speaking indistinctly ]

I'll be operating between
the crenshaw line

And the green line --

Make sure that we're getting all
the signals we need out here.

Veteran driver danny mathison
takes control

Of today's crucial test.

He needs to run his train

Just a few hundred yards
backwards and forwards

Across this
brand-new section of track.

It's where the new
crenshaw line

Connects with the existing
green line.

The pressure's on.

A problem today could reveal
hidden issues

Embedded within their system.

I think we're in 3t.

To run properly,
the metro network relies

On a series
of electronic signals

Transferred through the track.

It's vital the trains pick up
these signals

From the new sections of rail.

♪

You want to go?
Yeah, go.

Here we go.
[ bell clangs ]

♪

Danny slowly moves
his train forward,

And the team puts the signaling
system to the test...

♪

...Driving one way...

♪

...And then the other...

Through the short section
of track...

Man: Good morning.
1015 is here.

Narrator:
...Checking signals one by one.

[ beep ]

It was a turn back at 8.

♪

[ beeping ]
oh, no.

Hold on a second, danny.

They soon hit a problem.

Yeah, but we still have this --
wait, wait, wait, wait.

Yeah, go ahead.
We still have that ues.

Some of the signals aren't
passing through the new tracks

And into danny's cab.

Engineer steve sheroke
is determined

To identify the problem.

Okay.
Let's try to go again.

♪

Nothing?
Nothing. It's not moving.

Okay. So, we should have
a straight route.

Give me a second here.

After a few tests...

Here we go.
...He pinpoints the issue.

There are some glitches
in the system

That are making
the signals drop out.

The cab signal's intermittent.
It's not stable and continuous.

It's fluctuating.

All righty.

We'll try something else.

[ sighs ]

With time running out
on the test,

Steve tweaks
the signal software...

Alright.

Got it.

Alright. There we go.

...And danny
gives it one last try.

♪

Yep. There it is.
Mm-hmm.

Success.

The signal system
is up and running.

Another beautiful day
in paradise. [ chuckles ]

Narrator: It's a huge relief
for the crew...

That'll make so many
people happy.

...And a massive step forward
for the crenshaw line.

It won't be long before
the first passengers

Ride trains through here.

You'll be able to get on
with a surfboard,

Be able to board the train,
and head west to the beach

And get off within
walking distance of the pier

At santa monica.

♪

♪

Narrator:
To the west of the city,

The tunnelers digging the line

Between beverly hills
and downtown

Are reaching
a critical milestone.

Level it!
Level it!

After six months
underground...

Clear!

...The massive
tunnel-boring machine

Is set to break through
and complete the subway.

Jonason: We've been planning
this for 6 months.

We have just over 7 feet to go.

Narrator: In this complicated
maneuver, the big question is,

Will it break through
in the right spot?

♪

Narrator:
In los angeles,

Engineers are overhauling

The city's public
transport system

By building
a multibillion-dollar expansion

Of the city's metro network.

To the west of the city,

Workers constructing the line
from beverly hills to downtown

Hit a crucial milestone.

The first 2 miles of new tunnel
is almost complete.

Jonason: We're somewhere
between 6 and 8 feet out.

Narrator: For 6 months,

The 1,000-ton
tunnel-boring machine

Has chewed through the ground

50 feet below
wilshire boulevard,

Guided by the calculations
of engineer josh jonason.

Jonason:
We have just over 7 feet to go.

We've been planning this
for 6 months.

Narrator:
Now this 400-foot-long behemoth

Must break through a specially

Built target
only inches bigger than itself.

This is how they'll do it.

As the digging machine
begins its final approach,

Workers on the other side
of the rock

Prepare for the breakthrough.

They install a reinforced
steel ring

Exactly where the boring machine
should come through the wall.

They seal this
with a concrete cap

That will hold back the debris
from the breakthrough.

♪

The ring the team has prepared

Is only a few inches larger
than the cutting head.

Engineers
must hit this target exactly,

Or they could damage the wall
and cause costly delays.

♪

While josh and his team
face an anxious wait...

Jonason: It's almost like you
can hear the cutterhead.

Narrator: ...On the other side
of the concrete wall,

The team is gearing up
for breakthrough.

♪

In the driver's seat,
scott halsey lines up

For the last few pushes.

Halsey: I'm trying to make this
thing go as fast as possible

Without stalling the cutterhead
or messing anything up.

[ chuckles ]

Narrator:
As the tunneling machine
chews through the soft ground,

It's down to scott
to keep one eye on the dials

And one eye on the target.

Halsey: We have 6 inches of play
around the machine,

So we got to make it
pretty spot-on.

There's no sharp curves
in this thing.

Narrator: If the machine is more
than a few inches out of line,

It could bring down
the whole wall.

I've got us at 374
plus 02.85,

So I've got us at
5 feet away right now.

[ man speaking indistinctly ]

The teams on either side
of the wall

Stay in constant contact
to check its position.

♪

The machine burrows another
5 feet closer to its goal.

Scott stops the steady forward
pressure

Of the massive hydraulic rams

So the miners can place

The sections
of the final tunnel ring.

♪

With only a few feet to go...

Got about 2 feet left.

...It all comes down
to one last push.

♪

This is the critical moment

They've been working
towards for six months.

♪

[ alarm blares ]

With a careful nudge...

The concrete cap buckles...

There she goes.

...And they finally
break through.

Oh, yeah.

♪

There she is.

♪

[ chuckles ]

That might have been
the prettiest hole-through

I ever saw.

Violet: [ laughs ]

♪

Narrator:
After months underground,

The machine emerges from the
darkness with perfect precision.

With this new tunnel,

L.A.'s subway system has grown
by another 2 miles...

♪

...And the city's
brand-new metro network

Is one massive step closer
to completion.

[ laughs ]

Narrator:
Los angeles's new world-class
public transportation system

Stretches from the mountains
to the ocean,

Easing the load on the city's
maxed-out highways...

♪

Jonason: It's definitely
something to be proud of

When you go back and look
at how much work it took

To make that happen.

Narrator:
...And keeping the city running
for generations to come.

Halsey:
I'm going to be able to take
my kids and grandkids someday,

And they're going to know
that I helped build this tunnel.

♪