Original subtitles

Narrator: coastal structures In latvia

That succumbed to a Relentless assault.

They're so shattered And splintered,

It appears almost as if Some vast explosive force

Has taken them all out In a chain reaction.

Narrator: a chilling site that Contains a burning secret.

I'm instantly Seeing experiments.

I'm seeing torture, And I'm seeing horror.

Narrator: and an epic Construction project

In the mountains Of southern africa

Built on deadly material.

Barratt: the thing that made it Such an amazing material

Also turned it into a killer.

*

Narrator: decaying relics, Ruins of lost worlds,

Forged through years of toil, Now haunted by the past,

Forged through years of toil, Now haunted by the past,

Their secrets waiting To be revealed.

*

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

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

In a picturesque town North of berlin, germany,

Lies the charred Remains of a site

With a deeply troubling past.

*

*

Wawro: it's hard to discern What it is.

It's a big kinda Hangar-like structure.

It looks like it was For the production

Of something important.

It's all very secure.

It's gated and cut off.

You're wondering why.

Narrator: the clues To the dark past of this site

Are found on the inside.

As you come indoors, you see These big halls and spaces,

And you've got These massive ovens.

And you've got These massive ovens.

Corum: clearly, There was intense heat.

Certainly, there's evidence Of a fire having taken place

Because of the scorch marks On the walls and ceiling.

When I see old soulless german Engineering rusting away

With bricks that have got Gas piping in them and taps

And I think the Most horrible things

About what might Have happened here,

But what you think About this place

Isn't what happened here.

Isn't what happened here.

It's a little bit of A different story.

Narrator: so, what horrors Did this site witness?

And why is it still Standing today?

The key to unlocking The story of this place

Is found less than 2 miles away

At sachsenhausen Concentration camp.

Built by the nazis

In the year leading up To the second world war,

Here, the seeds were Sown for a brutal system

Here, the seeds were Sown for a brutal system

That would change The lives of millions.

Wawro: sachsenhausen is placed In the outskirts of berlin

Because it's hoped That the german people

Won't know too much About its existence.

As the nazis start To tighten their grip

On german political life, More and more people

Are being pulled off The streets of berlin

And the surrounding cities And locked up in this place.

Narrator: but the camp Wasn't the only part

Narrator: but the camp Wasn't the only part

Of this gruesome crusade.

That decaying structure nearby

Also played a key part In fueling this mission

As a place prisoners Were sent to work.

Corum: you were worked Seven days a week.

Your ration was minimal.

And these weren't Specifically death camps,

But people were Worked close to death.

Narrator: this was The ss bakery,

The place built to Feed their captors.

The place built to Feed their captors.

But as local expert Horst seferens believes,

Working here meant an Extra layer of torture.

[ horst speaking In foreign language ]

Interpreter: these big stoves Or the remains of them

Had been producing Thousands of loaves of bread

Day after day.

What a misery it would Have been for them

To see all that food being Produced here in abundance

While all of them and their Fellow inmates in the camp

While all of them and their Fellow inmates in the camp

Were starving.

Narrator: even so, The bakery might have been

One of the few places to Offer a glimmer of hope

But at a potentially Deadly price.

Nusbacher: prisoners in german Concentration camps

Were systematically starved.

So even some crusts That had fallen off of bread

In those industrial ovens

Might mean the difference For them between life and death.

Might mean the difference For them between life and death.

Wawro: you might think that, oh, If you took the end of the loaf

That they were Gonna lop off anyway

Or a crust that fell on the Floor, it would be no big deal,

But of course, It was a big deal.

The germans were big on Insisting on obedience.

You'd be mercilessly beaten.

Narrator: despite the dangers,

A report from a former Prisoner shows that for some,

The desperate situation Left them no choice.

[ horst speaking In foreign language ]

Interpreter: he reports that They smuggled the bread

Into the camp by halving The loaves lengthwise

Into the camp by halving The loaves lengthwise

And tying them Around their calves

So that they were covered By their wide trousers

And could be smuggled Into the camp.

Of course, it was Very dangerous.

Narrator: the brutality Of these sites is undeniable,

But this wasn't just about Containing the local population.

The ss, one of hitler's Most feared organizations,

Was using these locations

As the first step in a Devastating campaign.

As the first step in a Devastating campaign.

Interpreter: we are now On the second floor

Of the central watchtower, The so-called tower "A,"

Through which the inmates Entered the concentration camp.

A machine gun was Stationed here,

As well as two guards who were Standing here day and night.

One of the model Features of sachsenhausen

Was that the guards Standing up here

Were able to control The entire camp

From this central point.

Narrator: sachsenhausen was The first of its kind,

Narrator: sachsenhausen was The first of its kind,

The template for future Concentration and death camps.

While other sites would Use a rectangular model

Rather than this Triangular shape,

The key feature was Evident in both,

Clear lines of sight To prevent escape.

You would be gunned down either By that guard at the apex

Or in the guard towers Scattered around the facility.

There was a need that People wouldn't escape

Because their labor was needed, But also,

They didn't want people To escape and spread the word

Of what was going on Inside these camps.

Interpreter: the concept had A psychological effect, as well.

Interpreter: the concept had A psychological effect, as well.

Wherever the prisoners Moved in the camp,

This watchtower was to Be seen from everywhere.

They basically looked directly

Into the hole of His machine gun,

Symbolically expressing The total power of the ss.

Narrator: as the prototype camp, In the early years,

This place held An additional role

Of vital importance To the regime.

Nusbacher: in the mid '30s, the Nazis were just starting

To figure out how to build A concentration camp.

To figure out how to build A concentration camp.

The nazis are hiring Ordinary police officers,

And they're hiring Ordinary tradesmen.

And sachsenhausen is the place Where an ordinary german

Can be turned into an ss killer.

Narrator: helping fuel This nightmarish system

Was the bakery,

And its success meant the next Stage in a tragic legacy

Would soon begin.

Would soon begin.

*

Narrator: at the bakery

Outside of sachsenhausen Concentration camp,

Prisoners were being forced To bake their own rations.

But there real Importance of the site

Was to feed the swelling Ss ranks

And help fuel the spread Of their barbaric rule

In more ways than one.

When world war ii begins In 1939

And germany massively mobilized,

And germany massively mobilized,

Calls all the reserves, Expands its conscription,

You suddenly have a need For bread, you know,

To feed the big Garrison around berlin.

At the beginning, Production is moderate.

We're talking 10,000 loaves a day.

Later on, you're talking Of a much greater expansion

Of four to five times of The original factory output.

Narrator: the brutal systems Of the camp

Were soon replicated at sites All across the german reich,

Were soon replicated at sites All across the german reich,

And the nazis' success

In exploiting the inmates For slavery here

Meant that, too, was expanded On a devastating scale.

Because this is one Of the early attempts

To set up a large Ss industrial enterprise,

This is used as a model for Other large ss facilities.

By the middle of world war ii, The ss is one of the largest

Industrial operations In the third reich.

Industrial operations In the third reich.

Narrator: Slavery had become a key part

Of the nazi war machine.

The statement on the gate, "Work sets you free,"

Was far from the truth.

Interpreter: in fact, Working in a concentration camp

Had a completely Different function.

Work here had always been An instrument to abuse,

Torture, and even Put prisoners to death.

Of course, that slogan was Used to conceal the reality.

Of course, that slogan was Used to conceal the reality.

Narrator: But in a final twist of fate,

The bakery that had Helped supply

The vicious regime of the ss

Would turn out to be the Lifeline for those few inmates

Fortunate enough to See the end of the war

And the camp being Liberated by the soviets.

Wawro: the soviets find This bread factory,

And they press it into service To feed their own troops,

To feed the 3,000 or so Surviving inmates.

To feed the 3,000 or so Surviving inmates.

And for these camp inmates, It must have been fantastic

Because they had Been looking hungrily

At these thousands of loaves Of bread made everyday,

And suddenly, they have The opportunity to eat them.

Nusbacher: the fact that people Remained alive

In this concentration camp Was almost miraculous.

The fact that there Was a bakery nearby

That could feed them Was a blessing.

Narrator: with its Darkest years behind it,

The bakery remained In use until the 1990s

The bakery remained In use until the 1990s

Before a fire tore Through the site.

But as those years of horror Recede further from memory,

Today, the two sites remain As important as ever.

[ horst speaking In foreign language ]

Interpreter: they testify The very existence

Of these camps and crimes,

And that cannot be denied.

We think that these Architectural witnesses

Will be all the more Important in the future

Will be all the more Important in the future

Because the people Who once survived the terror

Of the ss in these camps

Will soon no longer Be amongst us.

*

Narrator: in the arid lands Of nevada,

Miles from the nearest Form of civilization

Are the dusty remains Of a scorched site.

*

*

Somara: this is a harsh place To live.

It's in the middle Of the desert.

The sun is beating down on it.

But it's not clear

What exactly would have Caused such devastation.

Meigs: everything is almost Completely dismantled,

Kind of like what you see In a very ancient ruin.

But when you look more closely,

You can see it's not Actually that old.

You can see signs of concrete.

Something swept through here.

Something's happened to Take away the structure.

Something's happened to Take away the structure.

Narrator: upon close Inspection of the site,

Strange features begin to Reveal the chain of events

That brought this place To its knees.

Barratt: we're looking for Clues, and one of the details

That stands out is the tree Trunks just all kind of cut off.

Another detail is that

Everything's incredibly Weathered.

There's no sharp edges. There's no right angles here.

Everything's been rounded off.

Somara: what's really strange Is that

You're in the middle Of the desert,

But there are shells, Which might actually be the clue

But there are shells, Which might actually be the clue

That describes exactly What happened here.

*

It's really hot out here.

We're in the mojave desert,

And temperatures can get up To 115 degrees in the summer.

The most important Thing being out here

Is to have a lot Of water with you.

Narrator: Working as an archeologist With the national park service,

Erin eichenberg has scoured The land near the ruins.

Erin eichenberg has scoured The land near the ruins.

And despite the heat, The draw of this site is clear.

This is a pretty Inhospitable place to live,

But because we're Near the confluence

Of the virgin And the muddy river here,

People were able to make it work

And lived here For over 70 years.

Narrator: Focused on agriculture,

This settlement once blossomed,

But it wasn't the first To suffer a tragic fate.

Originally, a group of mormons

Hoped to establish a town here.

When the first settlers Arrived here in 1865,

When the first settlers Arrived here in 1865,

This was the middle of nowhere In the middle of nowhere.

They thought they were still Within the boundaries of utah,

But it turned out they had Moved into nevada.

And when the tax Inspector turned up

And informed them that They weren't in utah,

They actually decided to move on And burn the town to the ground.

So what we see here today is The next stage of this town.

This is a following story.

This is a following story.

Narrator: while the cause Of this site's destruction

Couldn't be more different, It, too, would ultimately feel

The impact of outside forces Encroaching on its borders.

This is the ghost town Of st. Thomas.

*

So, after the mormons moved out, Other settlers moved in.

They started farms, They built a village,

And they were able to establish

A pretty self-sufficient Community.

They were pretty remote, In the desert,

They were pretty remote, In the desert,

But they had Everything they needed.

They had built a really Nice life for themselves.

They didn't need for anything.

Narrator: But while it began life Hidden away deep in the desert,

Evidence of an old rail track On the edge of town

Shows it wouldn't remain Isolated for long.

At the beginning of The 20th century,

The world is getting smaller.

America is turning a corner At this point.

Railways are spreading across. The population was growing.

Opportunity is out there.

Opportunity is out there.

And this brings great hope For the people living here.

Narrator: Initially, at least,

Modernity brought prosperity,

But the ruins today show That something catastrophic

Was about to roll into town.

*

Narrator: in the early decades Of the 20th century,

St. Thomas was growing steadily.

And once the railroad Had come to town,

The highway soon followed.

We're on main street Of st. Thomas,

And as you could see, It's a big wide road,

Enough for a horse and carriage, And later, automobiles.

St. Thomas was one of The stopping points

St. Thomas was one of The stopping points

Along los angeles To salt lake city.

And so on the other side Of these stumps,

We would have buildings And businesses

That would have Supported the tourists

That were coming into town,

Not just the people that Lived here at st. Thomas.

Narrator: the town was spread Over almost 200 acres.

It had everything from Stores, to garages,

To an ice cream parlor.

Surrounding this was farmland,

Fields of wheat, Cotton, and fresh produce.

At its height, Around 500 people lived here,

At its height, Around 500 people lived here,

And the prospects of the town Looked certain.

St. Thomas is an established Community at this point.

It has a school. It has a graveyard.

It's about the past And the future.

And then suddenly, That's all about to change.

Narrator: Walking the barren streets today

Gives a sense of what life Was once like here,

But it also reveals the clues To the town's demise.

Eichenberg: these shells Aren't something

You'd normally Find in the desert.

You'd normally find Them near the ocean.

You'd normally find Them near the ocean.

But these shells are found All over the site here,

So it's actually a clue To what happened to this town.

One of the key things to Surviving in the desert

Is water, But it was actually water

That led to the downfall Of this settlement.

Narrator: A dramatic transformation

Was about to take place.

The dry and dusty Streets of st. Thomas

Would soon be swallowed

By an incoming tide of Biblical proportions.

By an incoming tide of Biblical proportions.

Meigs: the rising waters reached St. Thomas in 1938

And filled the streets And covered the buildings.

And ultimately, It reached a height of 60 feet

Above where the town had been.

Narrator: the desert town of St. Thomas was no more.

Somara: it must have been a Really bizarre thing to watch

Because here you are in The middle of the desert

And suddenly, You're being flooded by water.

Narrator: but this fate Was no surprise

To the town's residents.

To the town's residents.

They'd had years of warning.

In the 1920s,

Plans for one of the largest Construction projects

Of the 20th century Had been announced --

The hoover dam.

Hentzner: we're in Lake mead, nevada.

We're near hoover dam, At the bottom end of the lake.

It stretches 85 miles Today to the upper end

Where the colorado river Dumps in.

Narrator: local resident Christopher hentzner

Has been navigating these Waters for 40 years.

Has been navigating these Waters for 40 years.

When they dammed hoover dam,

Of course, It filled up the lake,

And basically, it covered The mountains and the valleys.

Right now, we're pushing 400, 450 feet deep.

The lake contains approximately

200,000 to 300,000 acres Of covered water.

Narrator: work began in 1931

With a plan to build The world's tallest dam.

The idea behind hoover dam

The idea behind hoover dam

Was to harness the power Of the colorado river.

They would use it To make electricity.

They would also use The water for irrigation.

They would make The desert bloom.

Somara: the hoover dam project Was gonna benefit

So many people In different states,

But it came at a very High price to some.

Barratt: for the people Of st. Thomas,

This was a disaster on A very personal level.

Their homes were going to Be literally washed away,

Ancestors, their history, Their stories

Ancestors, their history, Their stories

Just covered up By feet of water.

Narrator: The trees were cut down.

Anything salvageable was Removed from the town.

And as the waters rose,

The final inhabitants Rode away from their homes.

But if this town was Lost to the deep,

Then why are its streets today Filled with sand and not water?

The answer is revealed by The water marks on the cliffs.

Hentzner: 100% full is the top Of the white line.

Hentzner: 100% full is the top Of the white line.

And today, we're at 42% full, 129 feet below that line.

The last time it was full At the top of the water mark

Was in 2000.

Since then, it's been In a steady decline.

Narrator: years of drought And increasing demand for water

Has put pressure on the supply

With the result of Those waters receding

And exposing St. Thomas once again.

*

*

St. Thomas has risen From the deep before,

But its current prolonged Exposure stands as a reminder

Of the difficulty in Regulating water usage

In an expanding modern world.

Hentzner: the bottom line -- There's not enough water.

It's a finite supply.

It's gonna require conservation On the people's part.

Today, water's the most Valuable resource in the desert.

It's the new gold.

It's the new gold.

*

Narrator: in the eastern European country of latvia

Is a disintegrating set of ruins Falling into the sea.

*

Wawro: it's very strange, You know.

You arrive here in The baltic cast of latvia,

Beautiful and very natural, And then you see these objects

Littered around the beach That look almost like ufos

Littered around the beach That look almost like ufos

That just kinda Dropped onto the beach,

These big wheels And slabs of concrete.

Here, you see large Concrete buildings,

And they have broken in half.

It looks as if it's been Struck by a major catastrophe.

But whatever this was, they Spent heavily and extensively

To build something vast.

To build something vast.

Narrator: strange towers, Overgrown bunkers

And other forts are found Nearby, but there is still more.

Further inland,

There are an entirely Different style of buildings

With very different Architecture, much more ornate,

But they're also crumbling, Also destroyed.

With this level of destruction Across both sites,

Clearly, something went Very horribly wrong here.

*

Narrator: 100 years ago,

Narrator: 100 years ago,

A defining battle unfolded Violently on this land,

But the record of this was Then wiped from history.

Finally, now, the ruins Have begun to reveal

That forgotten secret.

*

Narrator: at the end Of the 19th century,

This coastline Of modern day latvia

Sat on the fringe Of the russian empire,

And these structures were Built with the intention

Of cementing that position For years to come.

Corum: 1890, the old alliance, Russia is starting to fall apart

And the russians are clearly Looking at the germans

And the russians are clearly Looking at the germans

As likely future enemies.

The russian empire

Is completely reorienting Itself strategically.

So you see a complete focus On defending the baltic sea.

Narrator: for this new Defensive structure,

The russian tsar chose The port of liepaja,

A position close to The ever-growing german threat.

But in time, that decision Would prove to be a fatal error.

Local expert kristers krafts

Local expert kristers krafts

Has explored every inch Of this site,

And on the surface, at least,

It once appeared to be a Formidable artillery position.

Narrator: the repetitive Nature of the design

Narrator: the repetitive Nature of the design

Meant a huge force Would be stationed here,

With the guns trained upon The waters to the west.

The aim was to create the mother Of all coastal defenses

That no one in their right mind Would ever attack.

Narrator: these are The northern forts of karosta,

The russian naval war port Of the city of liepaja.

But this was just one section Of a far larger plan

To defend against the Inevitable german attack

To defend against the Inevitable german attack

Wawro: you see the creation Of a big breakwater

That juts a mile into the sea.

That was created so that You can then

Shelter big warships behind it.

And then all of these ports Ran out by the breakwater

And then all along the beach So that no enemy fleet

Can come in, get close Enough to bombard the port,

To blockade the port, To try to attack the port.

Narrator: From here, the defensive Lines then ran inland.

The tsar's aim was to turn the Port into a fortified city.

The tsar's aim was to turn the Port into a fortified city.

The area was vast -- 14 or 15 square miles,

With coastal defenses On the seafront

And on the rest, Walls and moats,

All of it protected by some Of the most powerful weaponry

That he had access to.

Narrator: at the heart of this Grand fortress complex

Was everything needed to Keep the port operating

And to keep the walls defended.

Narrator: but not everything About this place was ideal.

The main attraction of the site

Was that the port was Ice free all year round.

The danger, though, And the vulnerability,

Even though it's one of the Reasons for its existence,

Even though it's one of the Reasons for its existence,

Was its proximity to germany.

Corum: the fundamental problem With this is only about 50 miles

From the closest German port at memel.

You are right on the front lines If a war occurs,

And you don't wanna risk Too much of your fleet

Right on the front lines.

Narrator: constructed Over 13 long years,

By the time of its Completion in 1906,

By the time of its Completion in 1906,

Regrets about the location

Were now only one part Of the problem.

Built without metal Reinforcement,

Larger, more destructive Artillery

Could now easily tear apart These structures.

Could now easily tear apart These structures.

So after just two years of use, It was suddenly abandoned.

When they rethought Their strategy

And they realized that This was not going to work,

This is reduced to a Relatively unimportant

Military installation by The time world war I begins.

Narrator: but if the site was Deserted by the russians,

Then what crucial battle would Finally strike this place?

And would it be the cause Of this destruction?

And would it be the cause Of this destruction?

*

Narrator: in 1908, On the coast of latvia,

Having decided to Abandon this fortress,

The russians attempted to Dismantle it but couldn't,

So left it deserted.

In 1915, german forces Waltzed through liepaja,

Taking hold of the city And the fortifications,

But the russian empire soon Faced far larger problems.

This period was the Beginning of the end

Of the russian empire.

The vast losses Sustained in the war

And the tsar's inability To manage the war effort

Led to sweeping Changes back home

And the russian revolution.

Narrator: the german loss In the first world war

Narrator: the german loss In the first world war

Soon followed and suddenly,

Latvia had a chance At independence.

The movement began In the capital

But the battle soon came to The old fortress of liepaja

As it did here at The redan fort.

Wawro: this little latvian army

That's fighting this kind Of triangular conflict

Against the soviets On the one front

And these german troops Coming out of germany.

Narrator: with the odds Stacked against them,

They chose to retreat.

The germans took the fort

But many of their troops Were soon moved on

Offering the latvian Fighters an opportunity.

Offering the latvian Fighters an opportunity.

A year after the Armistice was signed,

Fighting across liepaja Draws an historic chapter

Fighting across liepaja Draws an historic chapter

To a close.

Corum: the latvians win, Germans withdraw

And the last act of world war I Is actually finished

The last battle is Actually liepaja.

Narrator: ultimately, War did little

To cause the damage Seen at these sites.

Time, neglect, and nature Have been the true forces

Of destruction here.

In the end, it's 100 years of erosion

That has destroyed these forts.

That has destroyed these forts.

The ground has been ripped Away from under them by the sea

And now they're simply Crumbling into the water.

*

Narrator: unfortunately For latvia,

Independence was short lived.

The country fell Under soviet rule

For much of the 20th century

And the story of independence Was stricken from the record,

Giving these structures an Even greater importance today.

*

In south africa, 200 miles east

Of the country's biggest City, johannesburg,

Is dramatic mountain country.

Is dramatic mountain country.

*

Barratt: this desolate landscape Is border region.

This is the mountain range Between swaziland, south africa

And there is nothing Here apart from nature.

Somara: the mountains Are craggy.

It's remote.

It's difficult to access.

So if you want to be there,

There has to be a Pretty good reason.

There has to be a Pretty good reason.

Barratt: but if you look Very, very carefully,

Tucked away in places, Mankind has left its mark.

And it's not just Planting a flag.

Narrator: Dotted along the valley

Is surprising evidence Of human engineering.

All of a sudden this Incredible construction

Comes into view.

And we have these pylons, We have these tall, thin

Lattice towers Supporting a cableway.

Just a few places, you can Actually see the remains

Just a few places, you can Actually see the remains

Of some form of carriage.

Auerbach: there are objects Hanging from the cables,

Cars for holding something but Where were they coming from

And where were they going to?

Narrator: at one end,

The cables lead up to a Sprawling mountaintop site.

Amongst the battered buildings And rusting machinery,

Numerous carriages Hang eerily still.

When humanity makes Its mark on the planet,

We always do it for a reason.

And here, it's just Hard to make that out.

And here, it's just Hard to make that out.

It doesn't look like A leisure setup.

It doesn't look like a Military installation.

Whatever it was that merited This incredible effort

Of construction,

Has to lie at the end Of this cable line.

But if it was so valuable,

Why was it abandoned

And why does this Machinery now stand still

In the landscape?

Narrator: In the late 19th century,

Gold and diamond Prospectors struck lucky

Gold and diamond Prospectors struck lucky

Across southern africa.

It's impact was Instant and dramatic.

The discovery of gold and Diamonds changed everything

Especially in the Interior of south africa

Which was very Sparsely populated,

Mostly by various Indigenous african groups.

All of a sudden, You have europeans

Flooding into the interior To export this new resource.

They're gonna build mines.

They're gonna build Railroad lines

And the population Of the entire region

And the population Of the entire region

Is going to boom as a result.

Narrator: saloon bars, Music halls, and hotels

Accompanied the Swelling population

Of the new boom Town of barberton.

However, the gold rush Here was short lived.

The population quickly Deserted barberton,

Searching for gold Further afield.

The few diggers left behind

Began encountering Something strange.

The miners were looking For telltale signs of gold

The miners were looking For telltale signs of gold

But they found something else,

This white, fibrous material.

It would be another Quarter century

Before they realize Just how important

The strange fiber would be,

And their lives would Be changed forever.

Narrator: this previously Unknown material

Would bring fortune To the region

But with deadly consequences.

*

Narrator: in the 1880s,

Near the border between South africa and swaziland,

The havelock gold mining and Exploration company was founded

They were sitting on a fortune, But not from gold.

Barratt: havelock mine had one Of the wonder materials

Of the 20th century.

Just sitting there underground, Waiting to be extracted.

Just sitting there underground, Waiting to be extracted.

Narrator: the mysterious Fibrous material

That, for decades, miners had Cast aside was asbestos.

The actual asbestos is up The top of the mountain.

It could be extracted Quite easily

But getting it to a point Where you could transport it,

It's 20 kilometers away.

Water's not an option For transportation.

Roads are very, very difficult

So they had to think In an imaginative way

And boy did they.

Man: there are 52 towers Supporting the steel roadway

Man: there are 52 towers Supporting the steel roadway

And the overall distance Is 20 kilometers.

When it was built, It was the longest cableway

Outside europe.

On a normal working day, Two and a half thousand bags --

That's about a 120 tons Of asbestos fiber --

Makes this journey To the outside world.

What a lovely way to go.

[ people singing ]

Narrator: exploring This sprawling site

Is local expert tony ferrar.

Is local expert tony ferrar.

The purpose was to Transport asbestos

To the rail head Here in barberton

And coal back to havelock mine To power the generators.

A critical aspect Of the cableway

Was that you had to balance The goods coming out,

Which was asbestos,

And the coal going back Had to be exactly equal.

Barratt: once you start using Your imagination

And you get your engineering Brain in the game,

And you get your engineering Brain in the game,

This is the obvious solution.

Pylons, nice lightweight,

You can carry them up the Mountain, bolt them all together

Kept them going And then the cableway,

String that up and suddenly, You have this moving roundabout.

Narrator: Around the 13-mile loop,

The materials were carried In cradles or cocopans.

Ferrar: the whole cableway Is about 52 pylons

And it would take a Single cocopan two hours

And it would take a Single cocopan two hours

To do the trip.

Behind me are the big sheds Where the asbestos was stored.

They'd all arrive In 50-kilogram bags

And was exported by rail truck To johannesburg.

*

Narrator: from johannesburg, It was exported worldwide

As demand exploded.

Insulation for homes And electric wiring,

Cement, brake pads, Pre-cast panels for buildings

And across manufacturing.

And across manufacturing.

It's uses were many and varied.

30,000 to 40,000 tons Of asbestos was shipped out

Around the world Every single year.

Narrator: for decades, It was the largest,

Single employer in swaziland

And all these workers Lived in the town close by.

Bilumbu, formerly Known as havelock,

With little idea of what They were

Letting themselves in for.

No one really knew the deadly Nature of this material,

Least of all the people who Were mining it at the time.

Least of all the people who Were mining it at the time.

Barratt: asbestos, the very, Very fine fibers.

The thing that made it Such an amazing material

Also turn it into a killer.

Somara: asbestos contains Microscopic fibers

That get into the lungs And cause cancer

And other really Deadly ailments.

So the miners were not Only being paid very low

But they were also paying with Their health and their lives

To keep this industry going.

Narrator: in fact, The dangers of asbestos

Had been known for some time.

Had been known for some time.

But in the 1960s, the evidence Became overwhelming.

Auerbach: Asbestos-producing companies

Had long suppressed The dangers of this material.

The knowledge that Microscopic fibers

Could get into people's Lungs and cause cancer.

And that was just the people Who are around asbestos.

You can imagine how dangerous It was for the workers.

Narrator: as public awareness Increased,

The british company That operated the mine,

Turner and newall, Were faced with a wave

Of compensation claims.

Of compensation claims.

But as one of the largest Asbestos companies in the world,

They simply couldn't keep up.

Barratt: suddenly, this amazing Boom town had no purpose.

The population went from 10,000 to about 600 people

Almost overnight.

And today, when we look around, This is what we see.

We see the legacy of a Huge scale mining operation

With no purpose anymore.

Narrator: after the mine Finally closed in 2001,

Turner and newall entered Voluntary bankruptcy

Turner and newall entered Voluntary bankruptcy

To avoid compensating The remaining miners

And their families.

It also absolved them Of their responsibility

Of paying to clean up the mine,

Leaving the hazardous Fibers blowing in the wind.

*

*

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The value of producing Gold and asbestos

Is now being surpassed by More recent discoveries.

Some of the oldest And best-preserved rocks

Dating back over Three billion years,

Are providing a window Into how the earth evolved

Into a green planet That could support life.

Barberton, born out of gold,

But now it's future

Is in the scientific value Of these rocks.

They will lay down at The time that life began

And there's no bigger Question in science

And there's no bigger Question in science

Than how and where Did life begin,

And that is barberton's future.

It's the scientific value Attracting visitors

From all over the world.

Narrator: these scientific Studies are promising

A very different and brighter Future for this region

Based on tourism.

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