Original subtitles

Narrator: An abandoned concrete pyramid

Dominating The american midwest...

It looks like the set Of some "Temple of doom."

Narrator: ...A group Of ominous structures

Rusting away at sea...

Dr. Dickrell: This looks like aliens

Are standing out in the water.

It's quite a sight to see.

Narrator: ...And one of the Biggest machines ever built,

Forgotten in a field.

It's just unbelievable.

It's just unbelievable.

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?

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

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

*

*

At the northern edge Of north dakota,

Just 15 miles from The canadian border,

Stands one of america's Most incredible

And mysterious structures.

Standing on top of A sloping mound, a 79-feet tall,

Standing on top of A sloping mound, a 79-feet tall,

Slab-sided concrete pyramid

Looms Over the surrounding plains.

Gough: this thing looks Downright sinister.

This has to be one of the Weirdest-looking things

In the entire country.

There's a brooding menace About the whole environment.

Narrator: There are no windows visible.

Sloped at 56 degrees,

The otherwise blank Surfaces of each wall

Are punctuated with strange, Large white disks.

Are punctuated with strange, Large white disks.

You're confronted with something Completely unworldly

From where you are.

This giant structure

Has the impression Of an aztec pyramid.

Narrator: the giant pyramid

Is in the center Of a 470-acre field,

Surrounded by dozens Of underground silos,

Security fences And derelict guard posts.

But this is no ordinary Industrial complex.

But this is no ordinary Industrial complex.

Gough: when you get closer, You can see this was some kind

Of military installation, But what?

These monolithic structures Springing out of the ground.

You have a concrete parking lot That has hatches and pillars.

What is this?

Who built it and why?

Narrator: and why was this giant Pyramid abandoned?

In the cold war Of the early 1960s,

The nuclear arms race Between the soviet union

And the united states Is reaching a crisis point.

A fierce debate breaks out Within america's armed forces

About the best way To protect the nation

And its arsenal of missiles From annihilation

By soviet intercontinental Ballistic missiles.

By the 1960s,

The popular imagination Has fixed on the idea

That nuclear war would involve All-out total war assault.

Bell: nuclear armageddon was Very much on the horizon.

The potential for mass Destruction was very real.

The soviet union truly Respected one thing only,

And that was military force.

And so we had to show That our technology was equal

And so we had to show That our technology was equal

Or better than theirs.

Narrator: so the u.S. Army

Raises the stakes Of military defense

And develops this,

The nekoma anti-ballistic Missile system.

At the heart of the complex Is a state-of-the-art radar.

Bell: this is a one-of-a-kind Radar system

That was constructed at The height of the cold war,

The height of american paranoia.

The height of american paranoia.

Narrator: construction Of this installation

Begins in the late 1960s.

Teams of engineers excavate

Nearly 1 million Cubic feet of earth

To create a vast pit 53 feet into the ground.

They line it with concrete

Reinforced by 22,000 tons Of iron and steel

To shield against nuclear Electromagnetic radiation.

Inside, multiple floors Cover 127,000 square feet

And contain all the tactical Operational systems

And weapon control.

The groundbreaking radar Has ambition.

The technology developed to Create a virtual radar antenna

That is capable of focusing In different directions

Without actually having to move A big piece of steel mesh.

Without actually having to move A big piece of steel mesh.

Otto: the phased array Is a radar that will,

Through the computer system,

Will detect a missile or An object coming in from russia

Or at a greater distance.

This was the cutting edge Of technology,

To allow the u.S.A. To feel safe that,

Should there be a strike From the ussr,

They'd be able to take out Those nuclear warheads

Before they landed On american soil.

Before they landed On american soil.

Narrator: but achieving this Level of defense requires

The most advanced computer in The western world at the time.

Engineered to handle 10 million Instructions per second,

The radar's computer is located

Deep beneath The blast-proof pyramid.

It controls an on-site fleet Of 46 missiles

Held in underground launch silos

Designed to shoot down Incoming soviet weapons,

Designed to shoot down Incoming soviet weapons,

All directed by The huge circular radar dishes

Mounted on each side Of the pyramid.

But the system faces incredible Defense challenges.

The nekoma system was operating At the limits

Of 1960 technology,

And the biggest problem it had Was you had seconds to decide,

Are you going to fire your Missile to stop that missile,

Are you going to fire your Missile to stop that missile,

Or is it a decoy?

Is it something else?

Narrator: to be effective,

It had to be able To target multiple

Soviet nuclear missiles All at the same time.

The radars could detect A soviet missile incoming

And give 6 minutes' warning.

The missiles could hit a target On 30 seconds' notice.

That meant that as long As the big computers

That meant that as long As the big computers

Could make their Decisions fast enough,

A nuclear-tipped missile Could be in the air

And intercepting An inbound soviet icbm

In time to blow it up.

Narrator: working out these Technologies takes many years,

And it isn't until late 1975 That the nekoma base

Is finally fully equipped With both long-range spartan

And short-range sprint Nuclear missiles.

And short-range sprint Nuclear missiles.

These weapons ensure That there are two chances

Of taking out incoming Soviet missiles.

We have here Sprint missile field.

You'll notice that there's A white cover

On top of this missile site.

That is mainly fiberglass.

When they fired this missile,

It would go directly Through the fiberglass.

When they launched these Spartan missiles,

When they launched these Spartan missiles,

You'll notice that there is A steel rail on each side.

When this missile is ready For firing, they send a signal,

And then there's explosive Charges on that area,

And they'll blow This cover out of the way

And be speeding on its way To the outer atmosphere.

Narrator: so will this high-tech Missile defense system

Actually work?

And why was it abandoned?

And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator: in north dakota

Lies a forgotten remnant Of the cold war,

The nekoma anti-ballistic Missile system.

Completed in 1975, The complex costs $5 billion,

The modern-day equivalent Of $27 billion.

Those missiles were so fast And so accurate

Those missiles were so fast And so accurate

And directed by radars That were so powerful

That the united states

Was able to demonstrate its Capability to the point at which

The u.S. Could be made Invulnerable to soviet attack,

Scared the hell Out of the russians.

Narrator: but in early 1976,

The american political climate Takes a new turn.

After just five months Of full combat readiness,

After just five months Of full combat readiness,

The u.S. Government believes Projects like nekoma

Are ineffective war deterrents

And abruptly shuts The complex down,

Leaving it abandoned.

Bell: although it was Technically operational,

Rumor has it it was only ever Switched on, screens alight,

Lights flashing, Fuzzy noises, for three days.

Gough: so when you look at Nekoma, you're in for a shock.

Gough: so when you look at Nekoma, you're in for a shock.

When we waste money, we really Go down in flames, don't we?

I mean, this has to be One of the greatest wastes

Of taxpayers' money In the cold war

If not in history.

Narrator: But many experts think

That the billions Spent at nekoma

Actually helped to keep The soviets in check.

If you look at it that way,

The very fact that nuclear war Never did break out,

Maybe the american taxpayers Did get value for money.

If 5 billion bucks was the cost Of nuclear peace,

If 5 billion bucks was the cost Of nuclear peace,

That is 5 billion bucks Well spent.

Narrator: today, the nekoma Safeguard complex lies abandoned

In a remote corner Of north dakota.

Plans were afoot for nekoma To be opened up

As a tourist attraction.

And you might think, "Why am I Going to want to travel

A distance and pay money

To go and visit This giant concrete eyesore?"

Well, you could look At it this way.

Well, you could look At it this way.

That's a monument to the fact

That two nations Could come together

And resolve their issues To create peace.

Narrator: Despite its short active life,

Nekoma pushed the boundaries of Radar and computer technology.

It proved that simply flooding The planet with nuclear missiles

Was not the way To win the cold war.

Bell: and I think reason enough To keep nekoma as it is

Bell: and I think reason enough To keep nekoma as it is

And to go along, To learn about that history

And feel the significance Of what is otherwise

Just this giant, mysterious, Concrete structure.

*

Narrator: over 4,000 miles away, Across the atlantic ocean,

Off the east coast of england, A group of bizarre,

Rusting iron structures Stick out of the ocean,

Looking like something From "War of the worlds."

Looking like something From "War of the worlds."

It looks like an alien Standing as a sentry.

Coming out of the water, It almost looks like a deposit

From an alien civilization.

It's completely out of character From what you would expect.

Narrator: Standing 80 feet above the sea

Are 7 huge steel boxes Weighting 750 tons,

Supported on four 17-feet-long Splayed concrete legs

Supported on four 17-feet-long Splayed concrete legs

Extending down into the waters.

Agrawal: being out there

And living In one of these structures

Must have been very intense And rather quite terrifying.

You sort of know There are people nearby,

But it must have been A very, very isolating

And scary experience.

Narrator: it's easy to see from Their corroded steel plating

That these mysterious structures Have been derelict for years.

That these mysterious structures Have been derelict for years.

But what drove engineers To create such bizarre

Constructions in such An inhospitable place?

What was their purpose, And why were they abandoned?

In the early 1940s, The second world war

Has reached a turning point.

Hitler is enraged by allied Bomber raids on germany

And plans to obliterate london

In a devastating Aerial offensive.

In a devastating Aerial offensive.

So the british military develops A top-secret defense project

And for good reason.

The designs are like nothing That has ever been seen before.

The river thames is crucial To london's survival.

This lifeline allows supplies of All kinds to flow into the city

And transports the goods made in Its factories to the war fronts.

And transports the goods made in Its factories to the war fronts.

Churchill And the british had to make sure

That nobody ever came up the River thames to threaten london.

Agrawal: often really sound, Practical engineering solutions

Can be borne out Of what's a very

Difficult and tragic situation.

Narrator: and britain's Do-or-die solution

To the nazi threat Is the redsand sea fort.

To the nazi threat Is the redsand sea fort.

It's part of a string Of defenses equipped

With heavy anti-aircraft guns Across the mouth of the thames.

This was total war, And in total war,

You do not leave the river

That goes up to your Metropolis undefended.

Narrator: But will the redsand sea fort

Actually stop the nazis' Legendary air force?

Actually stop the nazis' Legendary air force?

And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator: Off the coast of england

Lie seven abandoned Installations

From the second world war, The redsand sea fort.

Construction begins in 1942.

In the past, creating Defenses at sea

Had been a long And complex process,

But engineers try A new building technique,

And on land, With pre-fabrication.

And on land, With pre-fabrication.

Taking a fort and constructing It in an easy location

And then floating it out

Into a strategically Beneficial location

Was a groundbreaking And very important innovation

In terms of offshore Construction

In engineering projects.

Narrator: each fort consists Of a concrete grid base

With angled legs at each corner.

These support a 36-by-36-foot Two-story accommodation block

These support a 36-by-36-foot Two-story accommodation block

And gun platform on top.

So there's two really, really Basic principles

Of structural engineering

That have been used In the design of these towers.

First one is making sure that The weight of the structure

Is as low as possible Because the lower that is,

The more stable Your structure is.

Second great principle That we're seeing

Is the use of a triangle,

So by having a wide base

So by having a wide base

And bringing the legs up Almost into a point,

You've kind of re-created That stability of a triangle,

And structural engineers Absolutely adore triangles

Because they're A really stable shape.

Narrator: and there's a real Need for stability.

The total weight of each tower Is a staggering 580 tons,

But still light enough to be Carried out by tugboat

To their position.

To their position.

Three groups of seven towers Are built to defend the thames.

The majority are armed With heavy antiaircraft guns.

*

This is the whole heart Of the operation.

We are now on the platform Of the 3.7-inch gun,

Of which there are three others On each of the other gun towers.

The gun that was out here Was very effective.

They were controlled by radar And a sperry predictor,

Which was a piece of kit

Which was a piece of kit

That sat between The radar and the gun,

Which could automatically Get the gun

To lock onto their target.

Narrator: by the end of 1943,

The thames forts Are ready for battle.

There's only one thing missing, The 165 soldiers needed

To man each group Of seven towers.

To operate the gun, there were Two crew on the gun itself,

To operate the gun, there were Two crew on the gun itself,

And then they had lots of People in the control tower

And also watching By the searchlight.

Narrator: but living conditions Are brutal.

Come down here is the shell Rockers all around the side,

All around the gun towers, Which held the 3.7-inch shells.

They were brought up From the armory

And loaded into these rockets.

Dr. Dickrell: since this was A military structure,

The human consideration Of the occupants

Was probably not a priority.

If it was more about, "Can it Withstand the weather?

If it was more about, "Can it Withstand the weather?

Can it withstand An enemy attack?

And then let's worry about The comfort of the operators."

If it meant using thousands

And thousands of rounds Of ammunition

To try to shoot down Only a few german aircraft,

Then that's what you do.

And if it meant that soldiers And sailors had to live

Under miserable conditions In the north sea

And all kinds of weather with Only a little bit of fresh water

And only occasional resupply, That's what you do.

And only occasional resupply, That's what you do.

Narrator: But will the redsand sea fort

Survive the nazis' aerial raids?

And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator: rising out of the Ocean off the coast of england,

Seven rusting sea forts guard The entrance to the river thames

That leads to The heart of london.

During world war ii,

They proved to be an outstanding Success against nazi aircraft.

In the end, these heavily Armored antiaircraft platforms

In the end, these heavily Armored antiaircraft platforms

Shoot down dozens Of planes as well

As the nazis' deadly v-1 bombs,

Sending them plummeting Into the sea.

Having antiaircraft artillery Pointed at anyone who tries

To approach london up the river Thames limits german options.

The german bombers that attack London during the blitz,

They could not just drive right Up the river and attack london.

They could not just drive right Up the river and attack london.

Narrator: these stark forts Are one of the most

Extraordinary engineering Successes

That helped lead the allies To victory in 1945.

After having fulfilled Their purpose,

The british government Decommissions them in 1956,

Leaving them abandoned.

Today, seven of the original Redsand sea fort towers remain,

Rusting away at sea.

Rusting away at sea.

The fact that the redsand forts Are still standing to this day

Is a testament to the quality Of the engineering construction

Involved in making them And putting them to use.

Engineering can't last forever,

And these have served Their purpose,

So it's often A difficult decision,

But sometimes we do Just have to accept

That things just can't Be there forever.

*

*

Narrator: 3,600 miles away Across the atlantic ocean

Is an empty, abandoned And unusually shaped complex

That sits in the heart

Of the densely populated city Of philadelphia.

When you come across what Looks like a medieval castle

In philadelphia with battlements And flags waving from turrets,

It looks like someone airlifted

One of the spectacular Medieval buildings in france,

One of the spectacular Medieval buildings in france,

The ones that Inspired disneyland,

And just dropped it In the middle of philadelphia.

Narrator: taking up over 9.8 Acres of a whole city block,

There is over half A mile of 30-feet-high,

10-feet-thick stone walls,

Which contrasts against The homes and offices

That fill The surrounding streets.

With seven corridors Extending outward

With seven corridors Extending outward

From an octagonal Central towering hub,

This massive abandoned complex Is shaped like a wagon wheel.

Dr. Dickrell: it's decaying And moldy and dark and damp,

A haunted place where you Definitely don't want

To spend any time.

Gough: it's really spooky.

You can smell the paint Peeling off the walls

And the damp concrete.

And the damp concrete.

It's really, really eerie.

Narrator: but what was the Purpose of this strange site,

And why was it abandoned?

In the early 1800s, the state Of pennsylvania has a problem.

The prisons they control Are overcrowded,

Hard to keep orderly And inhumane for the inmates.

For decades, prisons were cold, Crowded buildings,

For decades, prisons were cold, Crowded buildings,

Where inmates were just crammed In like chickens in a coop,

Inviting disease,

Violence, even death.

Narrator: so officials plan A bold new site

For the rehabilitation Of prisoners --

The eastern state penitentiary.

The aim is to create A state-of-the-art prison

That revolutionizes The criminal-justice system

And puts all others Around the world to shame.

And puts all others Around the world to shame.

You can see that this was a real Reaction to a social reform,

And at the time, Very revolutionary indeed.

Narrator: in 1822, work begins On america's biggest

And most expensive Prison project,

Costing the modern Equivalent of $20 billion.

Architect of this prison, John haviland,

Architect of this prison, John haviland,

Had to think of all The daily needs of a person

While they were by themselves.

So consequently, this prison Was built with central heat,

Central plumbing, ventilation.

It was the first Environmentally controlled place

For human life.

Narrator: it's a drastic change From the chaos

And violence of ordinary Communal prisons,

Which experts believe give Inmates no chance to reform.

And in 1829, this humanitarian Prison opens.

And in 1829, this humanitarian Prison opens.

The purpose behind the design

Is to give the occupants Individual rooms.

Each inmate has their own cell.

They also have their own Little skylight,

And this is interesting

Because the whole thinking Was about social reform.

Megs: the idea was, we're not Just going to punish prisoners.

We're going to allow them time To reflect and repent.

We're going to allow them time To reflect and repent.

The word penitentiary Comes from repent,

So they isolated each prisoner By himself in a cell.

They didn't get to talk To each other.

They were supposed to Spend their days

In quiet contemplation Of their crimes.

Prisoners were let out Of their cells twice a day

For exercising in An individually open-air yard,

And the idea here Was the fresh air

And sunlight would Keep people healthy.

Narrator: the initial design Features 450 individual cells,

But to supervise so many In an ordinary prison

Would take an army of guards.

British architect john haviland Solved this problem

By introducing a unique Layout with a central hub.

With the really ingenious Design of having

What is effectively A wagon wheel,

A central hub where the guards Can look out in every direction

And see the cells Going off in the distance.

And see the cells Going off in the distance.

Megs: The design of the penitentiary

Was actually Extremely innovative.

It meant that a small group Of guards could keep an eye

On the whole prison From that one location.

Narrator: but creating a model Prison to revolutionize

The treatment Of offenders is not cheap.

With a price tag of the modern Equivalent of $20 billion,

It is one of the most expensive Public building projects

It is one of the most expensive Public building projects

Ever carried out in The united states of america.

This is 1828.

Now, each inmate has their own Central heating,

Their own wash basin,

Their own flush toilet.

Now, let's put that in Perspective.

The white house, the president,

He doesn't have His own flush toilet.

These guys do.

Megs: prisoners were in Solitary confinement,

But they did have enough food.

But they did have enough food.

They weren't threatened by Violence from other prisoners.

You can see why the founders Of the prison

Thought it was a step forward.

Narrator: so will this Revolutionary prison design

Actually rehabilitate The inmates?

And why was it abandoned?

*

Narrator: In the heart of philadelphia

Lies a forsaken complex Specifically designed

To rehabilitate prisoners, The eastern state penitentiary.

But after only a few years Of operation,

Problems begin to surface In the 1830s.

To accommodate a growing Number of prisoners,

Engineers must expand The penitentiary

Engineers must expand The penitentiary

And alter the original design.

They had to double the cells.

They had to bring in A whole lot more prisoners.

So all those nice design Features about,

"Solitude would foster Reflection,"

That was gone.

The prison kept working.

It kept functioning, but it was No longer the idyllic prison

Of the future it once was.

Narrator: even the advanced Features of the cells

Narrator: even the advanced Features of the cells

Failed to work as planned.

There were furnaces at the end Of the cell blocks,

And they were to heat the Tunnels underneath the cells,

And then the air was to flow in,

But the people closest To the furnaces

Were getting Carbon monoxide sickness,

And the people on the other ends Were getting frostbite.

Gough: the flush toilets Were flushed twice a week

By the prison guards, Twice a week!

And hence, the stench that this Created, it was legendary.

Narrator: On a practical level,

The whole idea of rigid Separation of prisoners

Proves impossible to maintain.

Cells designed for one man Soon have to house two or three.

By the end of the century, after Numerous decades of operation,

The notion of solitary Confinement,

Originally intended to make Prisoners reflect and reform,

Has been replaced With overcrowding

And harsh, Unsanitary conditions.

And harsh, Unsanitary conditions.

But in 1929, the prison Still manages

To employ solitary confinement

To try to rehabilitate

One of the most Notorious criminals

Of all time.

The eastern state Penitentiary actually

Had quite a few famous Prisoners in it,

The most famous Being al capone,

Who spent a few years There for a minor charge.

Now, he was serving 8 months,

Now, he was serving 8 months,

Although his original Sentence was longer.

He described his time There as easy.

Well, it would be easy When you have your own sofa,

Your own bookcase And your own record player

That you play waltzes on.

It couldn't have been That easy, though,

Because we know he spent a good Deal of his bootlegging income

Trying to get that sentence Even further reduced.

Narrator: for four more decades, The prison continues to operate

Despite its notorious Conditions.

But in 1970, because Of overcrowding,

But in 1970, because Of overcrowding,

The once revolutionary prison

Finally closes Its doors for good.

Today, the dilapidated Eastern state penitentiary

Lies deserted in the middle Of bustling philadelphia.

Gough: after it was closed, The whole site became abandoned,

But then a consortium Of concerned citizens

Got involved and said,

"No, this is A historic landmark.

We need to make it Into a museum."

We need to make it Into a museum."

And that's what it is today, And that feels about right.

Narrator: Despite its many drawbacks,

Its groundbreaking design Was copied all over the world.

More than 300 central Hub prisons are built.

But the whole concept Of solitary confinement

Comes to be seen not as a way Of reforming criminals,

But as punishment in itself.

At the time, it was thought To be this very enlightened,

At the time, it was thought To be this very enlightened,

Gentle way to treat These prisoners,

Give them time to reflect,

But in fact, it was Solitary confinement,

A very cruel punishment To isolate people.

You're spending months and years In these cells all by yourself.

It's really hard to imagine.

Narrator: over 4,000 miles away Across the atlantic

In schipkau, east germany,

South of The capital city of berlin,

An abandoned, corroding mass of Steel towers over the landscape.

An abandoned, corroding mass of Steel towers over the landscape.

Surrounding this monster machine

Are empty fields And silent pine forests,

Which veil the purpose of This extraordinary structure

Or why it's here.

You're just completely Flabbergasted

At the enormity Of this thing in front of you.

Megs: this thing looks like Something out of "Star wars."

It's a giant superstructure.

It's a giant superstructure.

It's 160 feet high.

It's got this evil-looking Wheel at the front of it.

Narrator: the vast bulk Of this rusting hulk

Stretches for more than 500 feet

And is made of up Of three grid-like arms

All connected by a spider's web Of steel cables

Stretching over the Towering superstructure.

It's very science fiction.

You'd be forgiven for thinking, "This is definitely

You'd be forgiven for thinking, "This is definitely

Some kind of contraption Built by an evil genius

Planning to take over The world."

It's just unbelievable.

Narrator: incredibly, this metal Leviathan was once mobile.

Two tank-like continuous Tracks support

Around 4,000 tons of weight.

And control cabins perched Among the girders show

And control cabins perched Among the girders show

That it even carried a crew.

But what was this Mysterious machine?

Who built it, and why Was it abandoned

In the middle of nowhere?

In the 1960s, the communist Country of east germany

Is changing Its economic policies

To boost its industrial growth.

But to fuel its power stations And meet energy demands,

But to fuel its power stations And meet energy demands,

This communist dictatorship

Must tap into its Key energy deposits --

Brown coal.

Without increasing Its mining efforts,

The country will come To a standstill.

But getting at the huge deposits Lying just below the surface

Is costly and incredibly Labor-intensive.

So in 1964, the heavy Engineering east german firm

V.E.B. Lauchhammerwerk Developed something radical.

V.E.B. Lauchhammerwerk Developed something radical.

When designing structures At such a scale,

Engineers face many challenges, Mostly due to the sheer size.

Things weigh so much That modern materials

Are almost at their limit.

When you take a closer look At some of the elements

On the extremities On this giant monster,

You can slowly figure out What the purpose of it was.

Narrator: This is schaufelradbagger,

Or bucket-wheel excavator 258.

It is one of the largest Machines ever built.

Nicknamed bagger 258, This is a strip-mining excavator

Designed to efficiently Remove the layer of earth

And rock above veins Of brown coal

Running close to the surface.

There is nothing delicate about Strip mining with bagger 258.

This thing removes yards Of earth at a time

This thing removes yards Of earth at a time

In this great big, long trench Following the coal

Underneath the earth's surface

Until you get down To what you're after, the coal.

Narrator: though the company

Manufactures 13 types of these machines,

They only make one bagger 258,

And they unleash it in 1965.

The key element of the bagger Is its immense cutting wheel.

The key element of the bagger Is its immense cutting wheel.

40 feet in diameter, Each of its 10 buckets can hold

Over 50,000 cubic feet Of earth and rock,

Allowing it to cut deep into the Surface at astonishing speed.

This thing is shoveling up Thousands of tons of earth

And rock at a time

Before dropping it Onto its own conveyor belt

To shift it away,

All the while trundling Along on its tracks

All the while trundling Along on its tracks

To continuously eat up The earth in front of it.

Machine doesn't do it justice.

This thing is a factory On tracks.

Dr. Dickrell: bucket-wheel Excavators are amazingly complex

In terms of their abilities To move, function

And otherwise just do their job

With a minimal amount Of human involvement.

Bell: when you see the size And the complexity of bagger,

You'd imagine it would need An army of people

You'd imagine it would need An army of people

To actually operate it.

That's not the case.

It only takes Five people to run,

And all of them Are situated onboard

In its own little control room.

So whilst it might have cost The earth to build,

Running it comes Relatively cheap.

Megs: there's a trade-off Between building one machine

That's really big And using dozens

Or hundreds of trucks And shovels.

Obviously if something breaks, You're in trouble,

Obviously if something breaks, You're in trouble,

And you need to shut down,

But overall the Bucket-wheel excavator

Is so much more efficient That it's worth the risk.

Narrator: but will bagger 258 Be able to deliver enough coal

To fuel the needs Of communist east germany?

And why is it abandoned?

*

Narrator: rusting away

In a remote field In rural east germany

Is the massive bucket-wheel Excavator bagger 258.

Under communist rule, It begins work in 1968,

And though it's designed to Extract coal with efficiency,

It's slow.

At around 4,000 tons, It's only able to move

At around 4,000 tons, It's only able to move

At 6 yards a minute,

And moving is no simple matter.

That's hardly going to beat Any world land speed records,

But it's actually Extremely impressive

When you consider the size And the weight of this thing.

In fact, it weighs so much, As it moves,

Any ground ahead of it Needs to be specially prepared,

And any roads it crosses Needs to be prepared

So it doesn't just Pulverize the surface.

So it doesn't just Pulverize the surface.

Yes, bagger is mobile, But mobility comes at a cost.

One of the big challenges is,

You've got to move the bucket Constantly

So it's always digging into Fresh soil or fresh coal.

The bucket excavator Has to pivot as the wheel

Is turning into fresh soil.

Then the whole thing also Has to creep forward

In order to move into New areas to be excavated.

Narrator: however, that's not The only operational hazard

Narrator: however, that's not The only operational hazard

This engineering Giant must face.

What strikes me about bagger Is the number of appendages

That it has sticking out From its main body.

You've got a spoil arm Sticking out of the back

That then spits out All of that earth into trucks

Waiting to take it away.

But crucially, you also need A counterbalance arm.

Now, this counterweights The forces and the stresses

At the front of the machine

At the front of the machine

As it digs through the earth.

Otherwise, the whole thing Would just topple over.

Narrator: for decades, bagger 258 successfully mines coal

Across eastern germany,

And even after german Unification in 1990,

It's still used to fuel The country's energy

Needs until 2002.

Then it simply runs Out of things to dig,

So operation is halted, And the machine is abandoned.

Today, bagger 258 is Rusting away in a remote

Today, bagger 258 is Rusting away in a remote

And empty field.

And in more ways than one,

It's left an indelible Mark on the landscape.

The problem with large Bucket-wheel excavators

Is that they're made Of man-made materials, metals,

That do not weather very well,

So preserving them For future generations

Would be very expensive, Very costly,

So just leaving them In the field

Is probably the only True solution we have for us.

Bagger 258 has been left to rot.

Bagger 258 has been left to rot.

It has been abandoned.

But maybe that's not Such a bad thing.

Rightly or wrongly, we're still Massively dependent

On fossil fuels today,

And bagger 258, for me,

Is a reminder And a monument to the effort

And the ingenuity Requited to exploit

The earth's resources In the way we do.