Original subtitles

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: A sprawling industrial town

Instantly deserted...

Gough: whatever happened here Happened very quickly,

And it was very bad.

Narrator: ...An engineering Triumph destroyed in minutes...

It's a great story To be told there,

And there's something Remarkable to go and see.

Narrator: ...And a daring mountain route That swayed the tides of war.

I mean, given the extraordinary Engineering feat that it is,

I mean, given the extraordinary Engineering feat that it is,

This road should be Better known.

Narrator: Once, they were some of the Most advanced structures

And facilities on the planet,

At the cutting edge Of design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned, Contaminated,

And sometimes deadly.

But who built them? And how?

And why were they abandoned?

[ suspenseful music plays ]

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Located in the heart Of pennsylvania

Is one of the great triumphs Of american engineering.

[ beeping ]

[ whirring ]

Towering above the forests

Is a massive Engineering endeavor.

Is a massive Engineering endeavor.

This now-abandoned bridge

Stands over 300 feet Off the ground,

Runs for nearly 2,000 feet,

And uses Some 1,500 tons of steel.

Gough: This thing was so audacious.

Kinzua bridge became known

As the eighth wonder Of the world.

For a couple years, it was the Highest bridge in the world

And one of the most Incredible engineering feats.

And one of the most Incredible engineering feats.

Narrator: But just how challenging Was it to build

Such a monumental structure Across this cavernous gorge?

And how did it become abandoned?

Looking at the ruins Of a bridge like this

Really makes you appreciate

Just how strong and ductile Steel really is.

Bell: when steel became Available on a large scale,

It became cheap to produce, That was the new, shiny material

It became cheap to produce, That was the new, shiny material

That everyone wanted to build Their structures out of.

Narrator: in 1882, The phoenix iron company

Is trying to build a railway Through kinzua gorge

That will carry coal trains To the great lakes.

And the solution To the problem is

The kinzua viaduct bridge.

When it goes into operation,

It's the highest trestle bridge In the world.

*

*

But this audacious project First soars over the gorge

With the primary material Of its time:

Wrought iron.

Wrought iron was The go-to material

For these kinds of structures.

It was strong.

It was much lighter

Than building bridges Out of stone or brick.

And it was much more versatile.

Wrought iron was very Typically used at the time

And looking back At the photographs

Of what the bridge Looked like then,

Of what the bridge Looked like then,

It does look incredibly fragile And quite skinny and slender.

But it worked.

Announcer: the speed at which we can run our trains

depends on the power of the locomotive.

where a fill would be too great,

We build a trestle or viaduct to carry our trains on stilts.

Narrator: The original wrought-iron

Supporting columns Of the viaduct

Are radical for the time.

The hollow design provides Strength with less weight.

The hollow design provides Strength with less weight.

The bridge's manufacturers, The phoenix bridge company,

Assert that the hollow columns Can support a structure

1,000 feet high, if necessary,

And over 3,300 tons of weight.

The original wrought-iron Design of the kinzua bridge,

With its quite spindly, Fragile-looking legs

On all the towers That hold up the railway,

Can be quite deceptive.

Can be quite deceptive.

What was clever about it Is making sure

That all of the members, All of the constituents

Of each of those towers Were only put in compression

And that's where wrought iron Does its job very, very well.

Narrator: But during operation,

Engineers discover Trains going over the viaduct

Cause such vibration Through the narrow columns

That their speed must be limited To just 5 miles an hour.

So they grapple With strengthening

The entire structure.

The entire structure.

It was mainly coal that was Being taken across the top

And as the industrial revolution Was happening across the states,

Business, commerce, dictated

That more coal needed To be transported around.

And so the loads that were Being taken by the bridge

Got bigger, got heavier,

Got much more stressful For the wrought iron underneath.

So it's at that point, The decision was taken

To replace what was made Out of wrought iron

With steel.

With steel.

Agrawal: iron, with different Amounts of carbon in it,

Can have wildly different Properties.

So you get cast-iron, For example,

Which is very, very brittle.

So I compare that to biscuits, Which, you know,

You can kind of snap.

And wrought iron, On the other hand,

Are a bit like the really soft

Chocolate-chip cookies that, You know, you pull,

And they're very kind of Crumbly and soft.

And then steel is somewhere In between those two properties.

And then steel is somewhere In between those two properties.

Bell: Wrought iron and steel both come From the same beginnings:

Iron ore.

The difference is the process In how they're made.

And wrought iron's Much more primitive.

If you were to look At the surface

Of wrought iron Under a microscope,

You'd see it's quite granular.

It's got imperfections in there.

It will snap! If you try and bend it.

Steel, on the other hand,

Has a much more ordered Structure.

So if you're to try and bend That, you will get it to bend,

And you'll have to get it A long way

And you'll have to get it A long way

Before it eventually fails And snaps.

[ eerie music climbs ]

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: by 1900, The phoenix bridge company

Wants to keep the coal trains Moving safely.

So the old wrought-iron Columns are torn down

And a new steel structure Is quickly put up in its place.

When another iron-built bridge, Called the quebec bridge,

Collapses in canada in 1907,

Collapses in canada in 1907,

The engineers believe That the kinzua's

New steel foundations Will save lives.

Gough: the kinzua bridge Was the brainchild

Of the phoenix bridge company,

An offshoot of a company That made cannons.

So they took one technology -- Long, tubular cannons --

And said, "Hey, we can turn that

Into long, tubular support For a bridge."

But this is the same company Who, in quebec, in 1907,

But this is the same company Who, in quebec, in 1907,

Built a bridge And 75 people died,

So it wasn't exactly A good reference.

*

Narrator: so why is The railway abandoned?

And what causes the new steel Bridge's spectacular collapse?

*

Narrator: lying out In rural pennsylvania,

The 300-foot-high kinzua viaduct

Is one of the great triumphs Of american engineering.

At the turn of the 20th century, Engineers replaced

The wrought-iron leg columns With steel

So this trestle bridge

Can handle heavier trains With bigger cargo.

Can handle heavier trains With bigger cargo.

But despite this upgrade, doubts About its safety continue.

A crew of only 40 men were able To rebuild the bridge,

In steel, in 90 days.

Imagine that.

But they did that because They bypassed the task

Of replacing the anchor bolts.

That would've taken much, Much longer

And would've cost A lot more money.

And would've cost A lot more money.

Bell: They redesigned the towers Right from the top,

All the way down to the bottom,

Giving the whole bridge The ability

To take a larger capacity Across the top.

But, they failed To change one component,

Which is possibly one

Of the smallest components Of the bridge:

The anchor bolts, which fix The towers into the ground.

So what we had at the base Were these wrought-iron anchors,

Which weren't quite Long enough to connect

The new steel bridge above it Down to the foundations.

The new steel bridge above it Down to the foundations.

So what they did was put A little coupler piece

To join together wrought iron To the steel.

Bell: They also included Some upgrades:

Installing small roller bearings At the bottom

Of some of the feet Of the towers on the east side,

Which is where the prevailing Winds would've come from,

To allow a little bit Of flexibility,

Just so that they weren't On those anchor bolts

Holding everything above Down into the ground.

Holding everything above Down into the ground.

Narrator: but despite This significant flaw,

The kinzua viaduct safely Supports countless trains

For the next 80 years,

Until local coal supplies Finally run out.

*

Then in 1959, The commonwealth of pennsylvania

Turns the bridge Into a visitor attraction.

In the 1960s, It was really unusual

To take a decrepit, old railway

To take a decrepit, old railway

And turn it into A tourist attraction.

Nobody had done that.

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: So then what causes This behemoth to fall?

On july 21, 2003,

A full-blown tornado slams Into the eastern face

Of kinzua bridge.

94-mile-an-hour winds

Tear at the steel support Columns on their stone bases.

The result is devastating

The result is devastating

And reveals the bridge's Achilles' heel.

So, we had these Wrought-iron anchors,

And they weren't quite Long enough

To tether down this New steel structure above it.

Then when the wind came in And pulled this bridge upwards,

This coupler split.

It just wasn't strong enough To do the job.

Once those wrought-iron Anchor bolts

Had just been overstressed And had sheered, snapped off,

Had just been overstressed And had sheered, snapped off,

The bridge then is no longer Attached to the ground.

The bridge effectively Got picked up

And started to be moved around By the wind,

Which is an incredible image,

To think of this Manmade structure

Becoming alive, almost, In the wind.

Narrator: In less that three minutes,

More than half Of the kinzua viaduct

Becomes a mass Of twisted wreckage.

Incredibly, no lives are lost,

But the historic structure That had stood for so long

But the historic structure That had stood for so long

Lays in ruins.

*

Instead of demolishing The remains,

The state of pennsylvania

Leaves the fallen columns And rail bed where they lay.

Today, from a newly built Public viewing platform,

Visitors can see the wrath Of nature's fury.

Bell: There's a great story To be told there,

And there's something remarkable

And there's something remarkable

To go and see and feel And be part of.

It's all there In front of you to see:

The disaster and the devastation That this wind has caused.

But more than that:

For engineers, There's a case study here.

And there's something to be Learnt for future projects:

If you're gonna replace Wrought iron with steel,

do all of it.

[ outro plays ]

*

*

Narrator: 5,000 miles away,

Out in the remote Pine forests of ukraine,

At the heart of the infamous Chernobyl exclusion zone,

Lies one of The greatest achievements

Of the soviet union.

[ eerie music plays ]

This abandoned city spreads Across 5 miles of land...

...Has 150 buildings,

And 60 modern roads.

And 60 modern roads.

It could house a population Of around 50,000 people.

It was one of the most Technologically advanced cities

On the planet.

But today, it lies Derelict and deserted,

Patrolled by armed guards and Protected by security barriers.

The abandoned city Is a modern-day pompeii.

The abandoned city Is a modern-day pompeii.

It's as if overnight, Or at least even within hours,

Life changed.

You see a huge wheel

Where the local community Would've recreational moments.

You see children's toys.

You realize that Whatever happened here

Happened very quickly, And it was very bad.

[ ominous chords striking ]

Narrator: So, what happened to this city?

Narrator: So, what happened to this city?

Where did All its residents go?

And how was it abandoned?

[ eerie music climbs ]

[ ominous chord strikes ]

In 1970, the soviet union

Is in a technological race Against the west.

To power its global ambitions,

The country creates the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

[ eerie music plays ]

But this cutting-edge facility

Requires tens of thousands Of people.

And, to house These nuclear workers,

And, to house These nuclear workers,

Soviet planners build An entire city,

Called pripyat.

Bell: It's very easy for us now

To look and think of it As a disaster town.

It's linked intrinsically With the nuclear disaster

Just down the road at chernobyl.

But, I think You have to look at it

As how it was intended And how life was

Before disaster struck.

*

The iconic images that we can Picture about pripyat --

The iconic images that we can Picture about pripyat --

The ferris wheel that's kind of Stuck there and decaying and...

The gas masks lying around.

That tells one story in this, Just looking at decay.

At the time,

When it was operational And it was functional,

That was the soviet dream and People wanted to be part of it.

[ sinister music plays ]

[ sinister music plays ]

Narrator: Though only open to those With government permission,

Pripyat is designed to provide

State-of-the-art housing To its residents.

Despite the imposing Modern architectural style,

The city is designed For families.

And lots of them.

[ speaking russian ]

Interpreter: The city wasn't finished Till the very end

And all the construction Had been preplanned.

This was a blossoming city,

This was a blossoming city,

And it was the first place I'd seen in my life

That had so many roses And kids around.

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: In a remote, dense forest, The city's planners

Have almost unlimited space For their new town.

Without the restraints

That come with expanding Upon a preexisting town,

They impose a utopian Architectural vision

They impose a utopian Architectural vision

And construct A completely new modern city.

They build wide avenues for cars And public transport,

As well as numerous parks And gardens

Between the apartment blocks.

And as most of the city's Population are under 30,

There are plenty Of sports facilities.

You've got these High-rise buildings,

Which normally had been used For areas of high density,

But yet, each building Is hugely spaced out

But yet, each building Is hugely spaced out

With these enormous Green areas in between

To give people space.

I think that Would've been very new

And very quite unique, even, And maybe it was an identifier

As, you know, "This is the new way.

This is how the new soviet Communities are going to be."

You know, pripyat Was iconic at the time.

Narrator: The heart of pripyat Is its main square.

[ chernov speaking russian ]

Interpreter: right now We're in the central square,

And this building right in front

And this building right in front

Was the so-called Cultural building.

It was named energetik.

And to the right, You can see this was a hotel.

It was called polissya.

At the time of the explosion,

It was a very high-tech And contemporary hotel.

[ suspenseful music plays ]

And over there on that Nine-story building,

There's an emotive slogan That says,

"Let the atom be a worker Rather than a soldier."

"Let the atom be a worker Rather than a soldier."

And that's how This whole thing turned out.

[ suspenseful music climbs ]

Narrator: with chernobyl Only 3 miles away,

Why, and how quickly, is the City of pripyat abandoned?

*

Narrator: Over the course of 15 years,

The restricted city of pripyat Swells to nearly 50,000 people.

But at 1:23 am On the 26th of april 1986,

Only 3 miles away,

Chernobyl nuclear power plant 4 Releases a plume

Of radioactive debris Into the atmosphere.

Of radioactive debris Into the atmosphere.

A huge area, covering the Ukraine and neighboring russia,

Is contaminated,

And radiation levels increase Dramatically across europe.

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Male reporter: Reactor number 4 exploded,

Spewing radiation Over much of europe.

Two others have been Permanently shut down.

It is the world's worst Nuclear accident.

[ eerie music climbs ]

Narrator: The brand-new city of pripyat

Is now subsumed In a deadly radiation cloud.

Is now subsumed In a deadly radiation cloud.

But to prevent embarrassment About this closed city

And the secretive Chernobyl plant,

The government Publicly hides the disaster,

Even to its own residents.

[ suspenseful music climbs ]

Within hours, many start falling ill.

Yet amazingly, Another day goes by

Before the authorities Evacuate the city.

Before the authorities Evacuate the city.

But then, hundreds Of buses and trucks

Pick up pripyat's inhabitants.

They are told they would only Be leaving for a few days.

The layout of pripyat, With its enormous, wide avenues

And big, open spaces,

In my mind, Certainly helps the efficiency

Of the evacuation that Took place over 48 hours,

Getting the entire population, Almost 50,000 people,

Away from that town.

Away from that town.

If you tried to do that In any kind of conglomeration

That had grown organically

With little streets and back Roads all over the place,

Ah, that would have been A lot more difficult.

It would've been One heck of a challenge.

Narrator: Within 48 hours, The inhabitants from pripyat

And the surrounding area Are evacuated,

Never to return.

[ suspenseful music climbs ]

Having structure and being able

To, I guess, break it all down And plan that evacuation

To, I guess, break it all down And plan that evacuation

and then having the arteries to get people away

Just made that whole evacuation Work really quite efficiently.

It would surprise me If the successes

Of what happened at pripyat, When disaster struck,

How quickly they managed To evacuate the entire city,

Wasn't used as best-case Analysis for future disasters.

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: today, Pripyat remains restricted,

Narrator: today, Pripyat remains restricted,

But for an altogether Different reason.

As part of chernobyl's Exclusion zone,

This abandoned city is regulated By the state agency of ukraine.

The irony Is that the whole place

Has now become a very popular Tourist attraction.

Why? I think It's that morbid fascination.

We've been watching too many "B" movies for decades now.

You want to see In the real world

What could happen On a larger scale

What could happen On a larger scale

If we get it wrong bigtime.

Narrator: rotting away Amidst nuclear fallout,

Pripyat silently screams A warning

Of how quickly utopian dreams Can become haunting nightmares.

*

1,000 miles away, carved through The top of the italian alps,

Is one of the most terrifying Engineering projects ever built.

Is one of the most terrifying Engineering projects ever built.

[ whirring ]

This 4-mile-long road snakes Across the sheer mountain cliffs

6,500 feet above sea level

Through a network of 52 tunnels Blasted through solid rock.

You've only got to Walk on it today

To see what A hazardous undertaking

Just moving along it Would've been.

Forget about actually Building it in the first place,

When there's literally Nothing in front of you.

When there's literally Nothing in front of you.

Narrator: so, why would Anyone build a road

Through such an insanely Dangerous place?

[ suspenseful music plays ]

In 1916, world war I Is ripping europe apart.

Italy is with the allies,

Fighting against The austro-hungarian empire.

But the austrians are invading Italy through the alps,

With the aim of sacking venice.

With the aim of sacking venice.

Well, most of the fighting

The italians do During the first world war

Is in the mountains That border austria-hungary.

As a result of this, It's known as the white war.

Of course in many cases,

They were actually fighting Above the snowline.

The logistical challenges That presented

And the natural Formidable obstacles

That mountains are to the Movement of military troops

Meant that there wasn't actually A lot of gain on either side.

[ beeping ]

Narrator: To cut off the invading army,

The italians must get troops And supplies to defend venice.

The italians must get troops And supplies to defend venice.

[ whirring ]

They brace for a final stand

At a strategic strongpoint 6,500 feet up, on monte pasubio.

Monte pasubio was of vital Strategic importance

Because it represented The last major obstacle

Between the austrians And the venetian plain.

If they get beyond That obstacle,

There's nothing stopping them Advancing towards venice

And, if they do that,

They cut off the vast majority Of the italian armies

They cut off the vast majority Of the italian armies

Who were fighting On the northeast front.

Narrator: Their desperate solution Is to construct this:

The perilous 52-tunnel road.

You're working on the side Of a rocky mountain.

You've got fairly basic tools To work with.

You're trying to explode Into the side of this rock

And take material out

And you're creating what ends up To be quite a narrow path --

Enough for two mules To pass on --

Enough for two mules To pass on --

That it just had to get done.

Bell: it can often Come down to engineers

To make the impossible possible.

"No, it can't be done" Is not an acceptable answer.

Narrator: But will the italians Construct this road

In time to save venice?

And why is it abandoned?

*

Narrator: To beat back the austrian army During world war I,

Italian engineers Must construct a perilous road

Through the top of the alps.

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Their plan is audacious And desperate:

Blast a 4-mile road through The tunnel's mountain peaks

In record time.

The result is the 52-tunnel road.

The result is the 52-tunnel road.

*

[ grotto speaking italian ]

Interpreter: One million soldiers Were pitted against each other:

600,000 italians up against 400,000 austrians.

The austrians advanced From that side

And, by taking the mountain,

They hindered The use of this road,

Which the italian soldiers Used to get to the front line.

This is why the 52-tunnel road was made.

Narrator: It's hard to understate

Just how perilous This engineering project is.

[ stones clanking ]

Engineers must face High altitude, violent storms,

And heavy winter snow.

[ gunfire ]

But despite The dangers and risks,

They battle unbelievable odds In trying to make it happen,

And face death every day.

Can they do it, or are The obstacles too great?

Can they do it, or are The obstacles too great?

Those are the times When engineers have made

What might seem impossible, Possible.

Under attack, at altitude,

It's an amazing Engineering achievement

And should be recognized As such.

Narrator: But constructing the 52-tunnel Road isn't just dangerous.

It must also be made under Extraordinary time constraints.

The whole road was built In nine months,

At altitude, With limited resources,

And it would've saved Thousands of lives.

Narrator: With only nine months,

The italians rely on what was Then cutting-edge technology:

Heavy explosives And a powerful new tool:

The jackhammer.

Jackhammers, Or pneumatic drills,

Jackhammers, Or pneumatic drills,

Came about In the late 19th century.

And when it came to tunneling And road-building,

It made the whole process So much more efficient.

Previously, it was Physical labor with chisels

To break away the rock Or to make holes

To drop explosive charges into to blow your way through.

A jackhammer is effectively A hammer and a chisel combined,

Using compressed air.

You can hammer away really, Really quickly

At that rock face.

[ speaking italian ]

[ speaking italian ]

Interpreter: In the tunnels, You can still see

All the holes Created by the drills,

Which would've been filled With explosives.

The explosion would then enable The construction of the tunnel.

Narrator: during this grueling And war-torn process,

Hundreds of engineers perish Building this mountain road.

But will the italians' Engineering efforts

Actually save venice?

And why is the 52-tunnel road Eventually abandoned?

And why is the 52-tunnel road Eventually abandoned?

*

Narrator: Carved atop the italian alps

Is one of the most terrifying Routes ever built:

The 52-tunnel road.

During world war I, Italian engineers

Used jackhammers and explosives For nine grueling months

To blast a 4-mile-long road Through the solid mountain rock.

But despite the loss Of hundreds of lives,

The plan works.

The road gets the italian army And its supplies

Through the italian alps,

Where it beats the austrians Back to save venice,

Helping to turn the tide Of world war I.

Maybe it's not As well-recognized

As it should be,

As the feat of engineering For what it is,

Considering the conditions Under which it was done.

Considering the conditions Under which it was done.

I mean, you have nothing But extraordinary admiration

For the men who did it

And were they recognized With bravery medals?

I suspect not, yet they Probably should've been.

Narrator: In 1918, the allies win the war.

But after its service In the first world war

And after several Major accidents and deaths,

The italian army abandons The 52-tunnel road in 1936.

Today, The road is in a shambles.

Though it's officially Still open to the public,

Only the most determined hikers scale these heights.

I think this pathway,

Which now tourists use All the time to walk on,

It's really important For engineers to remember

That times like that come and go Without us really expecting it

And it might be that, During my lifetime

Or my children's lifetime, That engineers

Or my children's lifetime, That engineers

Will have to come up against That sort of pressure again

And we need to remind ourselves That, you know,

Right now, we've got The time and the luxury

Of really thinking through stuff And designing things very well,

But what would it actually be Like to do something

Like the 52-tunnel road In times of intense stress?

I think it stands there As a reminder to us today

That things aren't always quiet

And don't have the luxury Of time always.

And don't have the luxury Of time always.

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: But the men who built the road

Also left a memorial To their colleagues who died

And to their Backbreaking efforts

That helped turn the tide Of world war I.

I think the engineers achieved

A huge amount in that Very short space of time,

So where they've got This beautiful

Ornamental concrete arch With their motto,

It's justifiable.

It's justifiable.

Interpreter: The work is so great,

They chose to write The following in latin:

ex arduis perpetuum nomen,

Which means "The names of those Who make great works

Will be remembered forever."

*

Narrator: on the other side Of the atlantic,

Near washington, d.C.,

Lies the remains of What's called a ghost fleet.

[ whirring ]

Here in the shallow waters Of mallows bay, maryland,

Just on the edge Of the potomac river,

Are the remains Of over 200 steamships.

Some of them Extend as long as 300 feet.

And they're all made of wood.

Langely: It is a fabulous ghost yard.

When the wind is coming offshore And an extremely low tide,

We still discover new vessels

We weren't aware Were still down here.

We weren't aware Were still down here.

Once you can get The lay of the land,

It makes more sense than When you first look at it

And just see this jumble Of rotting wood.

There is a real inherent logic To it and an amazing story.

Narrator: But why were these ships built?

Why were they abandoned?

In april 1917,

The united states enters The first world war.

For the previous two years, Her factories had been producing

Military equipment For the allies.

Military equipment For the allies.

But now they must face The daunting task

Of equipping America's own forces.

Was the u.S. Prepared When it entered world war I?

No, not really.

I mean, the reality is their Industry was at full capacity,

Making armaments for the allies.

The entire American industrial base

Had been turned over To supply munitions

To the british, the french, And the russians.

The americans Had no spare capacity,

The americans Had no spare capacity,

And they certainly Weren't ready to fight.

Narrator: But despite that, there's A far more pressing problem.

Gough: they were really challenged.

They couldn't keep up with, You know, sending supplies

To the allies in europe, And it was a real problem.

David: If we're gonna enter the war And not only get supplies

Over to the allies, But also our own soldiers,

We're gonna need An awful lot of shipping,

So how much shipping Do we actually have?

Well, as it turned out, Not enough,

Because this extraordinary Order goes out

Because this extraordinary Order goes out

To create 1,000 300-feet wooden Vessels that would do that job.

Narrator: Keeping the supplies Going to europe results in one

Of the greatest shipbuilding Projects in history.

With the advent of world war I, There was a proposal made

To come up with something Like 2 million tons

Of shipping in 18 months.

Phenomenal proposition.

They wanted to build 1,000 Of these wooden steamships.

They were not military vessels. It was a civilian endeavor.

They were not military vessels. It was a civilian endeavor.

They were support vessels.

The problem was they were 270 to 300 feet long.

[ suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: But because the steel foundries And major shipyards of america

Are already pushed To their limit,

Ordering 1,000 steamships For delivery so quickly

Is asking the impossible.

So the u.S. Government Must take a step back

To the construction techniques Of a previous era.

To the construction techniques Of a previous era.

This means building with wood.

Lambert: In 1917, the american Steel shipbuilding

Is not a very large industry,

So the americans see The quick way of building ships

Is to go back To the craft industry

And build in wood Because that's gonna be quicker

Than trying to set up New steel shipbuilding centers.

Langely: There were eight basic Designs that were issued,

And every shipyard Kind of tweaked them

Based on their own mastery Of it.

No one knew in 1917 When the war was going to end.

No one knew in 1917 When the war was going to end.

It wasn't In the foreseeable future,

So 18 months Was extremely expeditious

To try and get 2 million tons Of shipping out

To answer a badly needed call.

*

Narrator: But are the u.S. Shipbuilders

Able to handle This tremendous order?

And why is this unique supply Fleet eventually abandoned?

*

*

*

Narrator: In 1917, the united states Enters the first world war.

To supply their troops In europe,

The u s. Government commissions 1,000 steamships to carry arms,

Armaments, and supplies To help the war effort.

But, to keep the cost down,

Engineers make The supply fleet out of wood.

Engineers make The supply fleet out of wood.

But there's another, important Reason to use this material.

They were largely expendable,

So if you're facing U-boat action,

You'd rather lose A wooden hull, quickly built,

To a metal hull.

Although, we certainly didn't Want to lose the supplies.

It was keeping the economic Supply chain open

That was critical.

Narrator: Contracts for building This giant fleet

Go to 87 shipbuilders Across america.

Go to 87 shipbuilders Across america.

The project is hailed As a unique

And war-winning triumph For american construction.

But just how difficult is This massive engineering effort?

I think this sudden need To create 1,000 ships

From a marine industry that Really isn't geared up for this

Does smack of desperation.

Langely: They built them very fast.

They had problems With green timber.

They had problems with Them leaking

When the vessels were launched.

When the vessels were launched.

The vast majority of them, About 127,

Had triple-expansion engines.

If you want to think about the titanic -- very similar.

The rest had variations on that.

They had problems With vibrations.

So some of these vessels, When we get in among them,

You'll see there are Large blocks of concrete.

The tips of the metal You see protruding here

Are part of what we call The composite structure,

Where it's been reinforced In a crisscross pattern.

These were added to help Stabilize the vessels.

They were patchwork, If you will.

Narrator: But reverting To wood construction

Narrator: But reverting To wood construction

Has an unexpected consequence.

Lambert: The shipyards that they go to Aren't big enough.

They don't have the resources.

Many of them Have lost their ability

To build ships effectively In the previous few years.

So the industry that, in 1900, Was still fairly dynamic

Is on its last legs.

They are asking people who Really, simply don't have

The means, the tools, And the expertise

To do a job That's probably beyond them,

To do a job That's probably beyond them,

And so it proves, Because not a single one

Has actually been used For transporting

Either men or materials Across the atlantic,

Which was the original purpose.

Narrator: Additionally, alterations To the ships' designs

Cause the costs To spiral out of control.

Producing each one costs The modern-day equivalent

Of a whopping $22 million.

When these shipyards were Underway and in full flight

During the beginnings Of this effort,

During the beginnings Of this effort,

America became the greatest Shipping nation in the world

Because it's not Just building boats.

It's cutting lumber.

It's building the machinery For the engines.

It's extracting the metals.

So it was employing A vast number of people

Who weren't directly Involved in the war effort,

But certainly were directly Involved in it at home.

Narrator: Though america helps The allies win the war in 1918,

It takes almost a full year

Before the united states Government

Finally cancels The wooden fleet,

Finally cancels The wooden fleet,

Leaving more than 200 Unwanted ships.

There's only one thing to do:

Abandon the entire project And scuttle the fleet.

The whole project ended up being A grand example of what happens

When you go into something Completely unprepared,

Make hasty decisions, And throw lots of money at it.

It's a classic modern Democratic government problem.

It's a classic modern Democratic government problem.

The majority of them Were moored across the river

Near an area called widewater

And they'd take a few At a time up to alexandria

To have them broken down For the metal components --

Some of the wood, Mostly the metal --

But, because Of storms and fires,

Every time there was a problem, They'd break loose,

They'd become hazards To navigation.

They'd sail downstream.

So they tied them all together, Burned them to the water line.

Here they are, And here they remain.

[ ominous outro plays ]

*

*

Narrator: Today, the disaster story That has turned

Mallows bay, maryland, Into a massive naval scrapyard

Has become an extraordinary And unexpected success.

The 200 rotting wooden ships Lying in the water

Now form part of a huge nature reserve,

Proving a refuge For ospreys and waterfowl.

*

So, we have 1,000 wooden ships

Commissioned At $1 million apiece.

Commissioned At $1 million apiece.

Is that american "Can do"

Or american "Should not have"?

Today, they're An ecosystem for wildlife.

But what is that?

That's the most expensive Nature reserve in history.

*

Narrator: But what was once A costly military mistake

Is now an ecological success.

*