Original subtitles

Narrator: a devastated ruin In a pockmarked landscape

That turned the tide Of the second world war.

Many believe This was a suicide mission.

Narrator: An impossibly high monolith

Stretching to infinity, Which became the tower of death.

Dickrell: ever since man has Been building things,

There's always been a contest

To see who could build The highest.

Narrator: And a concrete structure

Stranded at sea That had a gruesome ending.

Stranded at sea That had a gruesome ending.

It's creepy. There was really no escape.

This is a tomb.

*

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?

And why were they abandoned?

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

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

*

*

On a headland In normandy, northwest france,

There's a strange And unexpected sight

At the top of Dangerously high cliffs.

At the top of Dangerously high cliffs.

*

Selwood: through the mist,

A large concrete Structure emerges,

Set on the point Of the peninsula.

And on top of The building is a vast,

Phallic-like structure Reaching up into the heavens

And entirely Dominating the region.

Narrator: Beneath the concrete,

Corridors lead to empty rooms.

Corridors lead to empty rooms.

Nusbacher: there's no feeling Of humanity about them.

These could almost be chambers

Designed by machines For machines.

Narrator: And the pockmarked fields

That surround it Only deepen the mystery.

Selwood: around it, there are Ominous-looking craters

In the ground as far As the eye can see.

The landscape is almost lunar.

This is a place where something Has gone dreadfully wrong.

This is a place where something Has gone dreadfully wrong.

Narrator: but what has caused Such devastation?

*

The answer lies in a single day

That would change The course of history,

When the allies invaded france

To liberate europe From the nazi scourge --

D-day.

Nusbacher: germany knew that it Could not win a war

On two fronts.

On two fronts.

It could not face Both the onslaught

Of the soviet union From the east

And an attack in the west.

Narrator: so the germans,

As a matter Of strategic necessity,

Had to fortify france At all costs.

The nazis started to build An extended defensive wall,

As tour guide Anthony lewis explains.

As tour guide Anthony lewis explains.

Lewis: the atlantic wall, which Is a system of defense measures,

Started in north norway And went along a coastline

Of france for some 1,670 miles,

All the way down To the spanish coastline.

Narrator: But how did the germans decide

Where to concentrate Those defenses?

And how successful would they be At repelling an allied invasion?

Selwood: German high command was split

As to where The attack would come.

As to where The attack would come.

Hitler was personally convinced

It would come across The shortest route,

From dover to calais.

But more experienced minds knew

That actually there Were better attack sites

That would also have The element of surprise.

Narrator: The most important fortification

Along this critical stretch Of the normandy coast

Was here at pointe du hoc.

It had an unobstructed View of the english channel

And a clear line of fire Onto the beaches below.

And a clear line of fire Onto the beaches below.

Perched at the top Of an impossibly high cliff,

It was the perfect position For a coastal battery.

Lewis: this was one of two German covered casements

Which housed one of the Six 155-millimeter cannons.

And each one averaged Some 660 tons of concrete,

And at the same time Strengthening it

With some 50 tons of metal bars.

If incoming shells Impacted on the building,

If incoming shells Impacted on the building,

Then only a small part Of it would be destroyed.

Narrator: these six guns

Were a serious threat to Allied invasion plans.

They were sandwiched Between utah and omaha,

Two of the five beaches on Which allied troops would land.

Gough: utah beach was Eight miles to the west.

Omaha beach, Five miles to the east.

Now, these 155-millimeter guns Had a range of 12 miles.

Now, these 155-millimeter guns Had a range of 12 miles.

So imagine the carnage

That they would have Wreaked on those beaches.

The allies had no choice But to take them out.

Narrator: The task of destroying the guns

Fell on an elite combat unit -- The u.S. Army rangers.

Nusbacher: the rangers were Young, immensely physically fit,

And very bright, Motivated people

Who could be given An immensely difficult task

Who could be given An immensely difficult task

And could be counted on To perform it

Against overwhelming odds.

The rangers' mission was Very specifically to land,

Scale the cliffs,

And take out the german position On pointe du hoc.

Narrator: but these cliffs

Were 100 feet high And almost vertical.

And the rangers would be facing Over 200 german troops.

And the rangers would be facing Over 200 german troops.

What were their Chances of success?

Many believed this Was a suicide mission.

Narrator: Early on june 6, 1944,

160,000 allied troops set off Towards nazi-occupied france.

D-day had begun.

Gough: this was an armada Of 7,000 ships,

The largest amphibious Invasion in history,

The largest amphibious Invasion in history,

And it was coming their way.

Nusbacher: as those ships Started to get closer,

The germans were being Bombarded from the air,

Bombarded from the sea.

The flashes from all those guns Lit up the june morning.

Narrator: The rangers' original plan

Was to land at pointe du hoc...

But there was a problem.

But there was a problem.

Lewis: unfortunately, because of The very high tides that day,

The very strong tide which Was running from west to east,

From left to right, It dragged the boats down

Beyond the pointe du hoc.

Narrator: by the time the Rangers reached pointe du hoc,

They were 40 minutes late,

And the u.S. Bombing Of the battery had stopped.

Nusbacher: they've stopped Bombarding pointe du hoc

To let the americans land Without being blown up,

To let the americans land Without being blown up,

But there's so much Delay in landing

That the germans are able To come out of hiding,

Get out of their bunkers, and Man their defensive positions.

Narrator: will the u.S. Rangers Succeed in taking out the guns,

Or is their mission Doomed to failure

Before it's even started?

*

Narrator: perched on a cliff top In northern france

Are german guns firing On allied troops.

For the d-day landings To succeed,

It's vital that The u.S. Rangers take them out.

Selwood: the rangers had to Shoot ropes and rope ladders,

Heavy and drenched with Water, into the cliffs,

Climb those ropes, themselves Wearing sopping clothing.

Climb those ropes, themselves Wearing sopping clothing.

They were under constant fire As they climbed the cliff.

It must have been A terrifying prospect.

Nusbacher: the germans were Throwing down

Potato-masher grenades, And those are shock grenades.

They're designed to Deafen and stun people.

And the americans Are climbing up,

Holding on with Their fingertips and toes

To tiny rock outcroppings.

To tiny rock outcroppings.

Narrator: when one ranger fell, Another took his place.

When his rope was cut, He found another.

They even used daggers To claw their way up.

Selwood: It's hard to envisage now.

The scene is so calm,

Looking out over the gentle Waters of the channel.

But then the scene would Have been unimaginable.

Climbing up a wet cliff face With all of the noise

And the incredible chaos Of warfare.

And the incredible chaos Of warfare.

It was one of the most dangerous

And spectacular missions Of world war ii.

Narrator: When they reached the top,

The rangers fought fiercely With the germans,

But they were totally Unprepared for what they found

When they finally made it Into the bunkers.

Nusbacher: do they see 155-millimeter french guns

With german sights Ready to shoot down?

No.

They see trees, Phone poles painted black.

They see trees, Phone poles painted black.

And they must instantly Have been concerned

That the entire mission, All of the death and effort

That they put in To get onto pointe du hoc,

Had all been for nothing.

Narrator: it was a huge blow.

Why were the guns not there?

Selwood: the allies' aerial Bombardment of the region

Had been so intense In preparation for d-day

Had been so intense In preparation for d-day

That the germans had moved The guns out of harm's way.

Narrator: in fact, the guns were Hidden down a dirt track nearby.

The rangers hunted them down And they were destroyed.

Selwood: The mission didn't end cleanly.

Reinforcements were supposed to Arrive, but they never came.

The rangers were left to Defend the position for days.

Narrator: in the end, There was a high cost to life.

Narrator: in the end, There was a high cost to life.

Out of 225 men, Only 90 survived.

*

This battle-scarred area Has barely changed

Since the rangers Took pointe du hoc.

And the statue of A dagger pays tribute

To the men who clawed their way Up the cliffs against all odds.

Selwood: the site is deeply Impressive for its vastness,

Selwood: the site is deeply Impressive for its vastness,

But underneath that, There's a very simple story,

And it's a very Common story in war,

About one person Facing another person,

And the sheer courage And determination

To see the mission through.

*

Narrator: in england,

In the northeast Of the country,

Just outside leeds,

Is a completely unexpected Industrial site.

Is a completely unexpected Industrial site.

*

Meigs: if you come on this thing Through the morning mist,

It looks like some kind Of a giant factory

Sitting on these two platforms With a huge crane out front.

Dougal: all of a sudden There's metal everywhere.

This huge, gigantic Bit of engineering.

What's it doing there?

What's it doing there?

Meigs: it's got an almost Primitive, animalistic quality,

Like some kind of Extinct dinosaur.

Narrator: out in a remote field Is a tangled confusion

Of heavy-duty metal, Pulleys, and rusting wheels.

Agrawal: it's got this big long Arm at the front of it,

Triangle bits of steel All composed together,

And it's got these slightly

Strange-looking features On either side.

And it sort of Leaves you wondering

What was that machine Actually used for?

What was that machine Actually used for?

Narrator: what's even stranger

Is that this machine Was made for america,

And it ended up In the north of england.

Was it used in the u.S. Before it was shipped here?

Or sold to britain cheaply?

But most importantly, How is it connected

To an environmental disaster Here in northern england

That changed The landscape forever?

*

The answer lies in the dark days Following the second world war.

The answer lies in the dark days Following the second world war.

When britain was Struggling to recover

From a devastating Global conflict,

Its ally, the united states, Came to its aid.

After world war ii, The economies of europe

Were really in shambles.

And the u.S. Did something Really quite visionary.

We recognized that These countries

Had to get back On their feet economically,

So a lot of the investment In helping build roads

And bridges and railroads Came from the u.S.,

And bridges and railroads Came from the u.S.,

And so did a lot Of the equipment.

Narrator: this leviathan was An essential part

Of the rescue plan.

It became known as "Oddball."

This colossal machine arrived From the u.S. In 1953.

At 1,200 tons, It was the second-largest

Machine of its kind Anywhere in the world,

But would it help to kick start

One of britain's most Important industries?

Agrawal: oddball is a piece of Machinery that's used in mining,

And what it does is that It drags the layers of soil

Off the top of coal reserves.

So it exposes The seams of the coal.

Dougal: when you have coal Near the surface,

It's usually Covered by some soil

And some rock that's uneconomic.

It's stuff you don't want Actually in your ore.

So in order to get rid of that, You use this drag-line system.

While it might look like Quite a complex

While it might look like Quite a complex

Piece of machinery,

What it's doing is Actually really simple.

'cause in simple terms,

It's using a bucket To drag material up,

And then using ropes and chains

To then dump that material In a different place.

Narrator: But could this u.S.-built

Mining leviathan Put britain back on its feet?

*

Narrator: The u.S.-manufactured oddball

Was sent to britain after The second world war

To help its struggling Coal industry.

For the next 19 years,

It heaved itself from One mining area to another.

Roy lee is oddball's Only surviving driver.

While it might look cumbersome,

Oddball was a very effective Piece of machinery.

It took 30 seconds To scoop up and dump

Each bucket of soil and rock.

And it could move the equivalent Of its own weight

In just half an hour.

Dougal: it's a very efficient Way of mining,

Dougal: it's a very efficient Way of mining,

Because you can drag Away the material,

Mine it, and then dump it Behind as you go along.

So you can fill up The gap that you're leaving

As you excavate the coal In your open-cast mine.

Narrator: Such an unwieldy machine

Took a deft pair Of hands to move it safely.

*

Oddball's bucket Was a lethal weapon,

Particularly when it was full.

Meigs: the challenge with These massive cranes

Is once they've dug All the coal that's in reach

Of their boom Or their bucket, then what?

You've got to be able To move them.

Every few hours Or every few days,

This thing's got to Move to a new location.

Dougal: You can see it's got these,

It looks like a couple Of feet, really.

And actually these are The key to how it moves around.

And actually these are The key to how it moves around.

It actually lifts The whole of the unit up

On these flat feet and Then sort of shuffles back,

A little bit like you were Trying to move yourself back

On the ground If you were lying down.

Narrator: even though It moved only backwards,

Six feet at a time,

At a speed of 0.2 miles per hour,

Its driver struggled To see what was going on.

Dougal: it's totally like Nothing you've seen before.

It's like star wars and Thunderbirds meets coal mining.

That's how I would describe it.

But it's a very, Very elegant thing.

It just lifts it up On these little legs

It just lifts it up On these little legs

And shuffles around.

Very, very ingenious way

Of being able to do Open-cast mining.

Narrator: By 1988, oddball had moved here,

To st. Aidan's in The northeast of england.

But it wasn't a lake then.

It was the biggest Open-cast mine in yorkshire,

Producing in total Six million tons of coal.

What catastrophic event happened To flood such a huge site?

And how did oddball Escape a watery grave?

And how did oddball Escape a watery grave?

Meigs: the mine was very close, Probably too close,

To a river.

So they were digging this Mine in a lowland area,

A wet area, and then As they dig out the coal,

Of course they're Making this massive pit.

Narrator: They had protected the riverbank

With a wall of Interlocking steel.

But was it enough?

As they were mining, water Started coming out of cracks

As they were mining, water Started coming out of cracks

In the side of One of the coal seams.

And a river They'd actually diverted

Then started to also contribute To the water coming in.

Narrator: it took just hours

For the steel wall To collapse completely.

Four billion gallons Of water flooded the site.

Oddball survived.

But it was 10 years Before they were able

To mine the area again.

To mine the area again.

Agrawal: by the time The flood had subsided

And the mine was actually Ready to be excavated again,

Technology had moved On pretty quickly,

And so modern technology Basically replaced

The drag line, and the drag line Became redundant.

Narrator: on a misty morning In january 1999,

Oddball took its final walk.

Today it sits here,

Today it sits here,

On the site of the former St. Aidan's mine,

One of only a handful of Machines of its kind ever built.

Meigs: I'm a big fan Of preserving the legacy

Of our industrial Technological history,

Especially these Massive pieces of equipment,

Because I think so many of us,

We don't think about All the hard work,

All the ingenuity,

The technology it took To build this modern world.

The technology it took To build this modern world.

*

Narrator: Out at sea, in southeast asia,

At the mouth of manila bay In the philippines,

Is an extraordinary Warship-shaped structure.

*

Dickrell: this military behemoth Is impressive,

Immense, and completely Mind-blowing.

Immense, and completely Mind-blowing.

Gough: This huge concrete structure

Is pierced with slits And openings

That reveal Incredibly thick walls.

And you can see it's all Reinforced with steel bars.

Nusbacher: Why is this ancient warship

That looks like It's carved from stone

Sitting in the water At the entrance to manila bay?

Narrator: Once inside this huge structure,

Narrator: Once inside this huge structure,

The mystery deepens.

Its dark interior is littered

With crumbling concrete And rusted steel,

And its charred walls hint

That something Catastrophic happened here.

You can see where the Wall's beginning to buckle.

And then over here you can see

Where the entire floor Has just given way.

And the sea is just Starting to pour in.

Gough: there's twisted metal And rubble everywhere.

Gough: there's twisted metal And rubble everywhere.

Whatever happened here, You can't imagine

That much could have survived.

Narrator: what is the purpose Of this concrete warship?

And what connection does it have

To one of the grisliest events Of the second world war?

*

Narrator: guarding the mouth Of manila bay is

A concrete warship, Built into the tiny island

Of el fraile.

But who constructed it And why?

The answer lies in The united states'

Imperial expansion In the early 20th century.

In 1898, spain and The u.S. Fought a brief war,

In 1898, spain and The u.S. Fought a brief war,

And the u.S. Won.

Spain was forced to surrender Most of its empire,

Including the philippines.

It was the jewel In america's crown

And had to be protected At all costs.

And this concrete warship Was key to its protection.

Albert labrador Is a local historian.

Labrador: when the americans Took over the philippines

In 1898, They basically sailed

Right in and sank The spanish fleet.

Right in and sank The spanish fleet.

And so they realized that They needed a defense system

To prevent the same thing That they did to the spanish.

Narrator: A major part of the system

Was this concrete structure

Placed on the tiny island Of el fraile.

Corum: At the mouth of manila bay Are a cluster of islands,

Some of them fairly Large, like corregidor,

And some of them actually Quite small, like el fraile.

And some of them actually Quite small, like el fraile.

And these make, At the entrance of the bay,

Actually almost perfect Locations for this new art,

New development Of coast artillery.

Narrator: the plan was to Construct fortifications

On each of these five islands.

And this one was the toughest --

The heavily fortified Island of el fraile,

Known as fort drum.

But would it work?

But would it work?

Corum: they took an island,

And they essentially Just leveled the island

Down to the bedrock.

And they built a massive Concrete structure

With two what looked like, Essentially, battleship turrets,

Which are ship-killing guns.

You can see the huge Wire-wound 14-inch batteries.

You can imagine The diameter of the shell.

Each shell weighed More than a ton,

And it could be Lobbed five miles out.

And it could be Lobbed five miles out.

So you can imagine the reach

And cover of these guns Across the entire bay.

Narrator: Fort drum was formidable.

It was packed with searchlights,

Anti-aircraft batteries, And a fire control tower.

And hidden beneath The concrete exterior

Were another three Levels to house equipment

And up to 240 troops.

Labrador: We're looking right now At the third and fourth level.

This is where the living spaces And the mess would be.

This is where the living spaces And the mess would be.

Beneath this, Would be a further level

With generators and water.

Narrator: these corridors were Stocked with everything

That they would need In the event of an attack.

But who did the u.S. Consider To be their enemy?

And why is the fort in such An appalling condition?

Gough: there was this Perception in america

In the early 20th century

That the japanese Were going to invade.

That the japanese Were going to invade.

It was driven by a belief That the peoples of east asia

Were a threat To the western world.

It's inevitable that at some Point they're gonna collide.

Narrator: they did collide,

Cataclysmically.

*

On the same day the japanese Attacked pearl harbor,

They also invaded The philippines.

And all the fortifications Around manila bay

Came under attack, Including fort drum.

Came under attack, Including fort drum.

But would it hold Out against the might

Of the japanese navy?

Corum: For drum begins to play a part

At the very first day Of the war.

And so for the next five months, Until the 5th of may,

Fort drum will be Both a target of air

And gun attacks From the japanese.

Dickrell: I'm sure if you were Inside the garrison

At fort drum, the shelling And other bombardment

Would have been intense,

But perhaps you Would have felt safe

But perhaps you Would have felt safe

In the fact that the walls Were so thick and strong

That you knew that You weren't gonna die.

Narrator: Despite being under siege,

The troops on fort drum Were still able

To inflict heavy casualties On the japanese invasion fleet.

Nothing they did could Destroy the fort's guns.

Labrador: the turrets are made Of armored steel,

Basically the same Material that you would

Make battleships out of, since They're battleship turrets.

And over here the roof is Steel-reinforced concrete,

And over here the roof is Steel-reinforced concrete,

So nothing the japanese threw At this was able to penetrate.

Narrator: But on may 6, 1942,

When the battle For the philippines was lost,

The american troops Inside fort drum were

Finally forced to surrender.

Labrador: It was able to withstand Constant japanese bombardment

Without a single major casualty.

There were no deaths, But this thing was

There were no deaths, But this thing was

So sturdy that japanese forces,

On either side, Lobbing heavy artillery

Onto it for months, Did no real damage to it.

*

Narrator: But if the japanese weren't able

To damage it, why is Its interior so destroyed?

*

Narrator: out in the mouth Of manila bay,

In the philippines,

Is a bizarre concrete Warship-like structure.

It was called fort drum,

An american military Fortification designed

To protect the area.

But under heavy bombardment From the japanese,

It fell on may 6, 1942.

The island's fighting days, However, were far from over.

The island's fighting days, However, were far from over.

For the next three years, Fort drum was

Under japanese control, Until april 13, 1945,

When two u.S. Landing craft Pulled up alongside

To take it back.

Nusbacher: American combat engineers

Very bravely approached This structure,

Which is bristling with guns,

And they pipe a Mixture of diesel fuel

And they pipe a Mixture of diesel fuel

And gasoline into it,

And they then fired Tracer rounds into the fort.

Gough: down below were Japanese soldiers

Who refused to surrender.

They must have known What was coming.

[booming]

Labrador: The explosion was so powerful

That one of the hatches Over here

That weighed about a ton Was thrown 300 feet in the air.

Narrator: Deep within the fort,

The charred walls are testament

The charred walls are testament

To the japanese soldiers' Horrific fate.

So we've now entered The third level down.

When the americans Poured gasoline

Down the hatches, On the surface,

Most of it would have Settled down here,

And that is the reason Why most of the dead japanese,

60 of the 68 bodies, were found Charred, in this area.

There was really no escape.

They couldn't have Fought their way out,

And so this is a tomb.

It's creepy, Knowing that 60 people burned

To their deaths, in here, With no chance of getting out.

It was four days before The americans could get in,

Because the heat was unbearable.

Narrator: Fort drum was abandoned.

Narrator: Fort drum was abandoned.

Now this concrete battleship, Stained by war,

Sits in these waters Off the coast

Of the philippines.

It has been stripped bare By looters,

And few people today Even know if its existence.

A sad end to a piece Of military history.

Labrador: defense of fort drum, As impressive

As it was, has basically Been forgotten

In the annals Of military history.

In the annals Of military history.

This is a story That really should be told.

*

Narrator: in the heart of russia Is yekaterinburg,

The country's Fourth biggest city,

And at its center Is an astonishing sight.

Agrawal: you see this very tall, Gray, concrete structure,

Towering over The rest of the city,

And it's very, very distinct, Because of its immense height.

And it's very, very distinct, Because of its immense height.

Meigs: What strikes you about it, it's Just impossibly thin and tall.

It's hard to believe That something

That seems that delicate Could actually stand up,

And not be at risk Of falling down.

Narrator: at 720 feet tall, It dominates the skyline.

Dickrell: giant towers appeal To the wonder in all of us.

Dickrell: giant towers appeal To the wonder in all of us.

Ever since man has Been building things,

It has always been a contest

To see who can Build the highest.

Meigs: it's hard to believe It didn't have some kind

Of symbolic intent behind it.

Narrator: Now, graffiti scars its walls.

The concrete is crumbling, And a gaping black hole hints

That something very Terrible once happened here.

And to the locals, It has a sinister reputation.

[ man speaking russian ]

[ man speaking russian ]

Interpreter: most of the people In the city refer to the tower

As being a kind of Abandoned ghost site.

Narrator: But what has happened here

To make this tower so infamous,

And why is it known To the people

Who live here As the tower of death?

*

The answer lies In the cold war battle

Between the west and what was

Between the west and what was

Then the soviet union During the last century.

Going back to the early days Of the soviet union,

Meigs: supremacy in science And technology was

Vitally important to them.

They wanted to prove that

Their system could Produce better scientists,

Better engineering.

Narrator: And that includes the race

To build the world's Tallest structures.

By the early 1980s, The west was winning,

By the early 1980s, The west was winning,

And the soviet union Wanted to show

They were still in the game.

And this was Their answer,

Yekaterinburg's Television tower.

Propaganda was essential to Spreading the socialist message,

And television Its most important medium.

Tv is an enormously Effective way to communicate.

If you control The three or four tv channels

If you control The three or four tv channels

That are available In your country,

You really dominate The conversation.

Narrator: At almost 1,200 feet high,

The television tower Would be the tallest

In europe, according To engineer danil krisky.

Interpreter: it was to consist Of two main parts,

A 720-foot reinforced Concrete column,

And above that, A 460-foot metal antenna.

Narrator: this impressive tower Would have television

Studios and A revolving restaurant

At the top, And be visible for miles.

But with the risks involved In building such a high tower,

How did it finally fall?

*

Narrator: out in the heart Of russia is

Yekaterinburg's Television tower.

At 720 feet tall, It is the tallest structure

For miles around,

And its construction Faced many challenges.

Agrawal: you would need to build Some scaffolding tower

Agrawal: you would need to build Some scaffolding tower

In the right shape.

You would've had to build What we call formwork,

Which is bits of timber That are shaped,

And it's the mold within Which the concrete is poured.

So you need to be agile In thinking

About the design of the tower In different portions of it

Because it was so very tall.

Narrator: And for the men who helped

To build it, There was always the potential

For danger and disaster.

Meigs: they poured rings Of concrete,

Meigs: they poured rings Of concrete,

One on top of each other, Gradually working their way up.

Each tier would be about Two and half meters high,

And they would have to Let one begin to cure,

And then build The next one on top of it,

And gradually work their way up, As they went.

But you can imagine, As they got high,

The challenge of moving All that liquid concrete

Up to this Enormously tall structure

Must have been formidable.

Narrator: Even when there was a shortage

Narrator: Even when there was a shortage

Of building materials And extreme cold weather,

It didn't stop production.

Meigs: It wasn't just a tower designed To broadcast propaganda,

But the tower itself was Intended to be

A form of propaganda, An actual physical landmark

That represented the superiority Of the soviet system.

Narrator: but when so much Was invested in the tower,

What has happened To cause such devastation?

Could there have been A construction accident?

Could there have been A construction accident?

Could it be connected to The volatile political situation

In the soviet union In the early 1990s?

Or could the tower Have been the victim

Of a terrorist attack?

Meigs: so they worked on it For eight years.

They still only got about 2/3 of it done,

And the money ran out, and The society was no longer able

To function in a way to Build this kind of project.

Narrator: A symbol of soviet prestige was

Now a stark reminder Of its failure,

But if the local authorities Simply ran out of money,

Why was it known As the tower of death?

Shortly after construction Ground to a halt,

The tower took on A completely unexpected role,

And one that would have Fatal consequences.

And one that would have Fatal consequences.

Meigs: the tower became this Magnet for young people

To gather and Express themselves.

People climbed it Over and over again.

There was sort of a nonstop Party up at the top,

And then some daredevils Started climbing it blindfolded.

And of course, There were accidents,

And one young man died.

Others climbed The tower as a way

To commit suicide In a very dramatic fashion.

To commit suicide In a very dramatic fashion.

Narrator: the television tower Had now become

The tower of death,

And it was barricaded up, So that no one

Would ever die here again.

*

On march 24, 2018, The local authority decided

To demolish yekaterinburg's Most striking landmark.

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Now, there is nothing Left of the tower

That once dominated The city skyline.

That once dominated The city skyline.

In its place, They are building an ice rink.

I can understand why The tower was such a landmark,

And sort of beloved By some people in the city.

On the other hand, I don't Think anyone wants the symbol

Of their city to be something

That was a colossal failure, A white elephant.

*