Original subtitles

*

Narrator: a toxic facility In the british countryside,

Off the beaten track.

Wawro: they're far from Any urban center workforce,

They're making Something so dangerous

They want it far away From other people.

*

Narrator: a deceptively-alluring Ruin in malta,

Bell: nobody wanted to be here, And there was always the risk

That you'd never Make it out alive.

That you'd never Make it out alive.

Narrator: and the sight of A biblical disaster

In the valleys of pennsylvania.

Nusbacher: the local mill owner Started to say

That this was never Going to fail,

And he was lying Through his teeth.

*

Narrator: Decaying relics.

*

Ruins of lost worlds.

*

Sites haunted by the past.

Sites haunted by the past.

*

Their secrets waiting To be revealed.

*

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

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

*

In north wales are the remains Of a secret facility,

Now a wasteland.

*

*

Nusbacher: this is a wild place,

And it is far from civilization.

Wawro: just seeing these kind of Scrubby, bracken-covered hills,

And we're seeing a couple Of concrete buildings

Protruding from this scrub.

Narrator: the surviving signage Suggests a dirty history.

Nusbacher: north wales is a Mining area of great britain,

Nusbacher: north wales is a Mining area of great britain,

But there is nothing

Of the infrastructure Of mining about this place.

Wawro: wouldn't make no sense To put a factory here

Without workers nearby,

So this seems to have some Classified official purpose.

*

Narrator: hollowed-out buildings In a remote location

Point to a history That's been erased.

[ water dripping ]

[ water dripping ]

So you look Inside these buildings

And it's very sort of bare, Austere, concrete walls --

Clearly intended to store Something or make something

That was combustible, Sensitive, fragile.

*

You don't see remnants Of wallpaper.

This place has been emptied Systematically

And scrubbed from top to bottom.

And there's this kind Of lunatic graffiti

And there's this kind Of lunatic graffiti

All over the walls Of one of the structures.

Narrator: messages from The long-departed

Tease a deeper history Hidden beneath the surface.

If I know anything about The archeology of the abandoned,

I know that what's important Here is not these buildings --

What's important here Is what lies beneath.

*

*

Narrator: colin barber First came here 10 years ago.

Barber: 'tis a beautiful place.

I think it reminds us Of how bad things could be,

And, thank goodness, we never Used what was produced here.

Narrator: in one building,

He found the strange Writing on the walls.

Barber: well, I thought It was a graffiti,

Barber: well, I thought It was a graffiti,

But it's mixed up with personal Comments and comments

Upon the general state Of the world at that time.

And as we look at it More carefully,

Wawro: I mean, I'm not great at math,

But these are clearly Mathematical equations --

Formula of a very Advanced nature.

Well, this here Is magnesium carbonate.

The one below That is sodium chromate.

The one below That is sodium chromate.

Wawro: this might have had Some military lineage

Because, you know, Classification was so strict,

They would tell scientists Often,

"You can't write these things Down on paper

Because the paper could go Astray. Write it on the wall.

We can police up the walls.

We can't police up every scrap Of paper in the wastebasket."

*

Narrator: secrecy was paramount, Because here, they were working

On a deadly chemical --

Mustard gas.

Used in the first world war To clear out enemy trenches,

This weapon was A toxic sulfur compound.

Mustard gas has nothing To do with mustard,

And it's not a gas --

It is sprayed into the air As a mist.

And if you get it on your skin Or, god forbid,

You get it in your lungs, It causes blisters

You get it in your lungs, It causes blisters

Wherever it goes -- Blisters, burning, and pain.

[ cannon blasts ]

[ commander shouting orders ]

Narrator: mustard gas killed 90,000 soldiers

In the first world war --

This was the beginning Of large scale chemical warfare.

Mustard gas was definitely

One of the most horrific weapons Of the first world war --

So horrific that people Talked about banning its use

So horrific that people Talked about banning its use

After the war.

But they were also viewed, By the government in the 1930's,

As an essential part Of british deterrence,

So they manufactured A lot of mustard gas

In the interwar period

To be prepared, in case They needed it in world war ii.

Well, they built these tunnels Because in 1939,

When the first factory Came online,

They were producing 216 tons a week,

And they only had storage For 100 tons.

Narrator: At the onset of world war ii,

Narrator: At the onset of world war ii,

The government dug New depots underground,

Safe from german bombing.

*

The largest depot was here At the ms factory.

[ water dripping ]

Barber: in these tunnels, Mainly, it was storage.

65 ton tanks were brought in,

And, eventually, you could store 4,000 tons in there.

Nusbacher: this facility was So well-hidden and so secret

That throughout the whole war,

The nazis never knew It was here.

Narrator: facilities like The ms factory

Made enough mustard gas To retaliate

In another chemical war.

But one building on the site Had an even deadlier purpose.

*

*

This is building p6.

This place was built to Manufacture pyro -- mustard gas.

But it transpired that, With improvements in technique,

They didn't need this particular Building to do that.

Right down here, both sides, Were the offices

Of all of the scientists, The chemists --

Nobody could come into here Unless they passed the guard.

*

*

Narrator: here they began work On a new weapon

That would be Infinitely more lethal.

*

Narrator: at a chemical weapons Factory in northern wales,

One building was given A special assignment.

Nusbacher: you think mustard gas Is dangerous,

Building p6 is a facility For making u235 --

Enriched uranium,

The stuff you use To build atom bombs.

The stuff you use To build atom bombs.

Narrator: behind the scenes During the second world war,

Scientists on both sides Were in a race

To build A thermonuclear warhead --

Whoever could build The atom bomb first

Would likely win the war.

But both sides were missing A key ingredient.

Barber: at the beginning Of the second world war,

We were looking at a way To remove the isotope

We were looking at a way To remove the isotope

Uranium 235 from uranium 238 Because this substance

Was essential in the manufacture Of any atomic bombs.

That was the bit That made you go bang.

*

Narrator: to make that bang,

They needed 33 pounds Of radioactive material,

An impossible-sounding task.

But here in building p6,

But here in building p6,

They tested a new process --

By heating uranium and putting It through a filter,

It would become enriched.

It was a discovery that Transformed nuclear science.

Nusbacher: here in north wales,

And the allies Achieved something

That no one Had ever achieved before --

They're able to produce Enriched uranium, with u235,

On an industrial scale.

On an industrial scale.

Narrator: The quest for the atom bomb

Was nearly complete,

But for wales's ms factory, The story was over.

Wawro: it's to say, when america Comes on board,

First in the war and then With the manhattan project,

They're going to consolidate All of this american, canadian,

And british work In the united states and canada.

Narrator: In less than four years,

The manhattan project tests Its first nuclear bomb,

The manhattan project tests Its first nuclear bomb,

And a month later, Two were dropped on japan.

The second world war ended

With a fierce display Of scientific might.

Nusbacher: the japanese Population would have resisted

An invasion of the japanese Home islands tooth and nail.

It was carefully considered that Using nuclear weapons in japan

Would save allied casualties And save japanese lives as well.

Would save allied casualties And save japanese lives as well.

Nuclear weapons ended The second world war quickly,

And if it had been necessary,

They'd have been used To end the war in europe too.

*

Narrator: At the close of world war ii,

The ms factory Was decommissioned

And its materials Were disposed of.

Nusbacher: The mustard gas stocks

That were held here In north wales

That were held here In north wales

Had to be decanted into barrels,

And then those barrels had to be Taken out over deep water

And dumped into the sea.

Barber: everybody now Appreciates the importance

Of the use of The atomic bombs --

It is the thing Which has defined our lives.

And to think that it's happened Here in a little welsh village,

I think most of them were Very impressed with that.

I think most of them were Very impressed with that.

*

Narrator: On the island of malta,

In the calm waters Surrounding the capital,

Lies a marooned site With hidden depths.

*

Auerbach: this building sits Right on the waterfront,

Catching the sunshine,

And in many ways, it looks like An idyllic place to be.

And in many ways, it looks like An idyllic place to be.

But parts of it are In real disrepair.

Bell: it's overgrown in places, And on the stairs,

This creeping plant Has taken over.

The balconies look like they Could collapse at any minute.

Auerbach: the walls here are Covered in carvings --

Names, dates, pictures.

Names, dates, pictures.

There's hundreds of years of History etched into the stone.

Narrator: as inviting as it May have first appeared,

The true nature of the site Is obscured.

Bell: those rooms upstairs Are light and breezy.

It feels like it had An air of luxury about it

Back in the day.

Auerbach: it looks like it Could be a palace

Or a rich person's home,

But it's something far, Far different.

Bell: on the surface, this place Seems to have been one thing

For most of its life,

But if you then take a walk Behind the staircase,

Something surprising Creeps up on you.

Narrator: Carved from the rock behind

Is an entrance to an underworld.

Some of these tunnels are very Small, very claustrophobic,

And the farther you go in,

You get to these Dungeon-like spaces,

You get to these Dungeon-like spaces,

And these rooms full Of rusting equipment --

You start to wonder What was really going on here.

*

*

Narrator: traveling from afar,

The first arrivals To this mediterranean site

Landed here in 1643.

They found themselves lined up

Outside the doors Of the main building,

Later referred to As "The old palace."

Alex torpiano is an architect

Who worked for the firm That manages this site.

Who worked for the firm That manages this site.

This is the courtyard of the Oldest palace of the complex,

And people would arrive from The ships through this entrance.

Their goods would be taken To the two warehouses

On either side or at the back,

And then they would go up This grand staircase

To their living quarters.

Once you are brought into here,

There's no way you can get out Of this place

Before a set period Of time is over.

Before a set period Of time is over.

Narrator: the elaborate design Of the site,

With its grand courtyards, Large rooms

And breathtaking views,

Immediately makes clear This was no ordinary prison.

The people staying here Weren't necessarily the kind

That you would normally lock up.

There had to be a reason Why they were being isolated,

Even in these relatively Nice conditions.

Torpiano: This is the first floor

Torpiano: This is the first floor

Of the 17th-century building.

These are the accommodation, The living quarters,

Of the people Confined in this building --

Nice, airy, high ceilings, Well-ventilated, well-lit --

Not a poor place To be confined to.

Narrator: But despite the visitors' Relative wealth and status,

Still the locals had Reason enough to fear them

And locked them inside Under armed guard.

And locked them inside Under armed guard.

Torpiano: but the people who Were confined here

Were not confined because They were criminals,

But because they were traveling To malta

From other countries In the mediterranean,

And they needed to be isolated From the population

Just to make sure That they didn't carry diseases

And wouldn't spread And affect the population.

Narrator: This is the lazzaretto,

Malta's first line of defense Against plague and pestilence.

Malta's first line of defense Against plague and pestilence.

We've seen recently just how Quickly infection can spread.

Even in the modern world, It's extremely difficult,

If not impossible, To control an outbreak.

Back then, people didn't even Know that cleanliness

Helped keep you safe.

Auerbach: The only measure they knew about

Was to quarantine people --

To isolate them from The rest of the population.

You quarantine the people Upstairs

And you quarantine The goods downstairs.

And you quarantine The goods downstairs.

Narrator: Throughout the middle ages,

A number of outbreaks of disease At ports led to deadly pandemics

Sweeping across europe And beyond.

The worst of these, The black death,

Had struck three centuries Before this place was built.

It killed as many as 75 million People across the world.

The island itself had been used As a quarantine site

The island itself had been used As a quarantine site

For more than 100 years before They built this structure,

But they needed something a bit More secure as time went on,

And that's where they start To build this facility.

One of the reasons this place Is so large

Is once you were there,

The quarantine, the isolation, Was absolutely unbreakable.

*

Narrator: derived from the Italian word for the number 40,

A quarantine typically Lasted 40 days --

Enough time to see If any symptoms appeared.

Enough time to see If any symptoms appeared.

Torpiano: well, you didn't know That they were sick --

They could be sick.

So they were kept in a period To see whether

The signs of the plague Would come out

Within that 40-day period.

There were guards making sure

That people did not go in And/or out --

Effectively, a death penalty If you broke that rule.

Narrator: no matter your status Or level of wealth,

Enduring the isolation period Was par for the course

Enduring the isolation period Was par for the course

For all those wishing To set foot in malta.

Auerbach: If you had 40 days to kill,

This wasn't The worst place to be --

I mean, you had the views And the sunshine,

You had plenty of company.

It's almost like A holiday retreat.

But with the hazard of A potentially-deadly disease.

Narrator: many centuries' worth Of visitors

Were locked inside here,

And their presence Is still evident.

What's amazing about This place, though,

Is that its history

Is that its history

Is carved into the walls Of the building, literally.

*

Torpiano: on either side of The living areas,

There were these terraces Which people could use to

While away the time

With the view of the sea And of valletta,

And some -- and many of them Left a mark on the walls.

Narrator: among the countless Numbers quarantined here

Narrator: among the countless Numbers quarantined here

Was a famous novelist,

A future prime minister Of the united kingdom,

And the scandalous Romantic poet lord byron.

Here we have what is attributed To be lord byron's graffiti,

When he was here.

Difficult to read,

But experts tell us That that's what it is.

I think the graffiti mark The history of the people

Who came here and some of them Wrote their story.

There's one who talks about Coming from constantinople,

There's one who talks about Coming from constantinople,

The other one etched the ship That he was on.

To me, it's four beautiful walls

Which contain all these stories Which need to be deciphered.

Narrator: but away from The sunshine and sea views,

The site cradles A far darker secret.

What about these other areas,

Not the nice areas For holding wealthy travelers,

Not the nice areas For holding wealthy travelers,

But these darker areas, The more claustrophobic ones,

The hidden spaces?

If the people were being locked Up in the nice part

Of this site, then what exactly Was going on back there?

*

Narrator: standing beside The waters in valletta,

The capital of malta,

Is an old renaissance-era Quarantine site.

But at its heart Is a portal to another world,

Another time, And a very different use.

*

Now, the islands have been Important for centuries

Because it's at a strategic Position in the mediterranean,

Because it's at a strategic Position in the mediterranean,

But in world war ii, It became even more important.

So this was the nerve center Of operations

For submarines In the mediterranean

With the royal navy, With the allies.

So this was A very important place.

Narrator: in 1940, italy joined Forces with nazi germany,

And soon the axis powers Would dominate

More than just The mediterranean waters.

Malta, under british rule

Malta, under british rule

Was to become a thorn In the enemies side,

And the lazzaretto itself Was drawn into battle.

*

Torpiano: so to this, the heart Of the submarine depot.

Now, submarine depot Means basically two things --

One is the control Of operations,

So it's a communication center For submarines.

And the second use Was to have somewhere

Where submarines could refuel From the oil tanks

That were stored underground.

That were stored underground.

Bell: this place was all About repairing

And refueling the submarines --

Getting them ready to be sent Back out on patrol

In the mediterranean.

Torpiano: the two sides used Submarines very extensively

To attack, especially, Supply ships and also,

Of course, the battleships.

The battle of the submarines In the mediterranean,

I think was crucial In the way the war developed.

I think was crucial In the way the war developed.

Narrator: The above-ground buildings

Were requisitioned For operations,

But they weren't enough On their own.

Auerbach: If the allies are going to use This as a staging point,

That's also going to make malta One big target --

If you're going To put facilities here,

They have to be facilities

That can withstand A heavy bombardment.

Narrator: during the war, Malta sustained 3,343 air raids.

Narrator: during the war, Malta sustained 3,343 air raids.

[ cannons firing ]

Use of this underground complex Allowed work to continue here

Despite the bombs,

But the full picture Of how it all ran

Is still hard to piece together.

*

Torpiano: The whole system of these rooms,

These chambers, partly to Contain equipment

And power supply,

And also to have habitation For the soldiers.

Difficult to understand exactly

What the purpose Of each room was,

What the purpose Of each room was,

Because, first of all, we don't Find much documentation --

Presumably all of this Was secret.

Suppose, somewhere, There is an explanation.

Bell: from here, allied Submarines went out into the sea

And caused untold amounts Of damage to the german

And italian navies And their supplies.

This island Was absolutely crucial

In winning the war In the mediterranean,

And this place played A key role in it.

And this place played A key role in it.

*

Narrator: having suffered damage In the war,

The wounded site was used as An infectious diseases hospital

For the next 30 years.

But once vacated, Neglect, vandalism, and time

Each had their way with it.

*

Today, the stunning architecture On display here

Is now the focus Of a major restoration project,

Is now the focus Of a major restoration project,

Hoping to return the buildings To their former glory.

It's a unique building and it Should find its place again

In the glory in the middle Of this harbor.

I think it's a place Where we could learn

The very complicated history Of this place,

Which reflects The history of the island.

*

Narrator: in rural pennsylvania Lies a forest valley

Narrator: in rural pennsylvania Lies a forest valley

And a trail of destruction.

*

Across the valley, you can see These jagged structures --

Very well weathered, torn apart.

*

Nusbacher: Whatever somebody did here

Was some mass industrial process

Somewhere in the backwoods

Somewhere in the backwoods

Of the allegheny mountains Of pennsylvania.

Jerram: They're almost completely Subsumed by mother nature --

They're overgrown.

They've been clearly there For some time

And not been used For a long while.

Narrator: Following the trail north

Is another piece Of the puzzle --

The remains of a wall.

*

Jerram: they were once In some sort of line,

But that got misaligned, and it Almost, like, sort of dominoes

But that got misaligned, and it Almost, like, sort of dominoes

That have fallen In funny shapes.

Nusbacher: it could be one of The hundreds of dams

That we see in the runs And streams of pennsylvania.

But if this was a dam, What smashed it to pieces?

*

Narrator: At the bottom of the valley

Is the quiet town of austin,

Is the quiet town of austin,

But it wasn't always This peaceful.

*

Fourness: 110 years ago,

This town had a population Of about 3,000 people.

Narrator: alvie fourness grew up A few miles from here.

Fourness: this would have been A very busy town,

All types of businesses here --

There would be schools And hospitals,

Movie theaters, restaurants.

Movie theaters, restaurants.

Back in the early 1900's, Austin was a boomtown.

Narrator: But something happened here

That made this boomtown go bust.

Jerram: when this region was Famous for its trees,

And so the lumber market Was a big thing.

But soon enough, Too many people working,

The place was Effectively deforested,

And the bottom had fallen out Of the lumber market.

Narrator: but one entrepreneur Found a way to make money.

His name was george bayless,

His name was george bayless,

And here he built The bayless paper mill.

Barratt: bayless' paper mill was A huge, huge complex.

It took the raw material, All the wood,

Turned it into pulp, Cleaned it, dried it,

And then made it into paper.

A massive operation, And specialized buildings

Spreading out across the valley.

The pulp product Would come into this area,

Be placed in these digesters Or vats.

Be placed in these digesters Or vats.

Certain chemical processes Were occurring,

Give the final pulp product.

Narrator: the mill produced

Almost 500 tons of paper a week.

But something on this scale

Needs reliable, Cheap power source.

1900, water is the key to that.

Narrator: to power the mill, Bayless commissioned this,

Narrator: to power the mill, Bayless commissioned this,

The austin dam.

It was a decision That would prove fatal.

*

*

Narrator: in the year 1909, In a pennsylvanian valley,

A paper mill powered By a reservoir

Was about to get A major upgrade.

*

Barratt: the first dam was just An earth-built one,

And that absolutely worked,

And it showed What could be achieved.

And then, of course, The factory got bigger,

The demand for power Got bigger --

The demand for power Got bigger --

You're going to need A bigger reservoir,

And bigger dam to hold it back.

Narrator: To upscale the enterprise,

Factory owner george bayless Hires an engineer

To draw up a design.

It's going to take 4,300 cubic feet of concrete

And a dam that was 50 feet high --

This was going to be An epic engineering feat,

But it was also going To be expensive.

Narrator: bayless commissioned The biggest gravity dam

Narrator: bayless commissioned The biggest gravity dam

In pennsylvania.

Jerram: a clear problem Building a dam in any valley,

Particularly in these types Of valleys

Where you've got vegetation In the soil,

Is the problem of the soil being Eroded in and around the valley.

Narrator: the gravity dam Relies on weight --

32,000 tons of concrete resists The push of the water,

But underneath, It is ordinary soil,

Which water Can pass right through.

*

*

Jerram: I mean, If you think about it,

If you build a swimming pool At home,

You don't just dig A hole in the ground

And pour water in Because it was seep through.

And that's kind of like The problem they've got here,

But it's on a much bigger scale.

*

Narrator: If water can get underneath,

Gravity won't be enough To hold back the reservoir,

And the dam will fail.

So the engineer designed A safety mechanism --

An underground wall, to prevent Water getting under the dam.

An underground wall, to prevent Water getting under the dam.

In december 1909, The austin dam was complete.

But something wasn't right.

Fourness: It became obvious early on

That the dam would be Troublesome --

Water was seeping up Out of the ground,

And also there was Cracks developing

In the structure itself.

In the structure itself.

Narrator: The townsfolk had called it

The dam that could not break,

But fate would prove them wrong On the worst possible day.

Barratt: september the 30th, 1911, is the key day.

The town was celebrating Polling day --

Everybody was out, It was very, very busy.

Narrator: A week of rainstorms had brought

An unprecedented amount of water Into the valley.

The reservoir at that point Was really high as well,

The reservoir at that point Was really high as well,

Just two foot below The overspill level --

That's incredibly full.

And at that point, Catastrophe happened.

The structure over here moved More or less like a door --

It swung open and allowed the Water to start gushing out.

The wall behind me Also slid about 50 feet.

Narrator: a torrent of water Crashes down the valley,

Narrator: a torrent of water Crashes down the valley,

Devouring everything In its path.

Jerram: when the water came Gushing down the valley,

The first thing it hit Was the paper mill --

It came crashing through, Destroying,

Entering almost every room.

Barratt: and it gathered up Everything in its path --

Including all the raw material, All the tree trunks --

And then it headed downstream Towards the town of austin.

*

*

Fourness: the east side Of the town got hit worst

Due to the slope of the valley

Pushed the wave More in that direction.

Jerram: and the scene was of Almost sheer devastation --

Almost every building Was submerged,

You could just see The steeple of the church,

That was the only thing that you Would have recognized

That there was a town there.

Narrator: in 15 minutes,

The town turned from celebration To disaster area.

No one saw it coming.

Well, almost no one.

Well, almost no one.

Bayless was determined to get His new expanded paper mill up

And working,

And if that meant he had to cut A corner, that's what he did.

Narrator: the underground wall Designed to protect the dam

Was deemed too expensive.

Bayless ordered the engineer To scrap it,

Turning the dam Into a ticking time bomb.

Nusbacher: The dam is built on the cheap --

It's built to take The minimum amount of money

It's built to take The minimum amount of money

To hold back The maximum amount of water.

The local mill owner Started to say

That "This is a dam That was never going to fail,"

And he was lying Through his teeth.

Narrator: 3,000 residents were In the town when the water hit,

But the people of austin Had an unlikely guardian angel.

*

Fourness: one of our most famous Citizens at the time

Fourness: one of our most famous Citizens at the time

Was cora brooks, Who had a boarding house --

Sort of a brothel Sort of environment,

Probably, although those type Of things were very illegal.

Cora was somewhat an outcast In the community.

Cora brooks is the town madame, And she runs a whorehouse,

And of course,

The good god-fearing people Of the town of austin

Are not going to allow her

Are not going to allow her

To keep her house Of prostitution

Right there in the town With the nice people.

Narrator: forced to set up Her establishment

To the north of the town, As luck would have it,

The brothel's location Made all the difference

On that fateful day.

Fourness: The boarding house

Was within visual distance Of the dam,

So the first-hand Sighting of the dam breaking

Was done from people who were at The boarding house.

Was done from people who were at The boarding house.

2:30 in the afternoon,

Word came in from The cora brooks boarding house

That the dam had broke.

The young ladies working at the Switchboard were quick to react

And came out on to main street To give a warning

To all the people That the dam had broke.

Narrator: the outcast Brothel owner's swift actions

Saved thousands of lives.

Saved thousands of lives.

Fourness: the phone call allowed

The people of austin 15 minutes' warning.

Nusbacher: in the town below, Out of that town of 3,000,

Only 78 die in the disaster.

*

Narrator: The history of that flood

Is preserved In the austin dam memorial park.

In the early 20th century,

Anybody could build a dam In pennsylvania --

There was no regulation, There was no inspection --

And that was what led To a poorly-designed dam

Smashing the very people,

The very town It had been designed to power.

Jerram: A tragedy like the austin dam,

Like many sort of tragedies That involve humans,

Is there's often a mistake That's made or a decision

Is there's often a mistake That's made or a decision

That's made that ends up leading To something

That you didn't necessarily Predict was going to happen,

And that's exactly The case in austin --

Just cutting a few corners Or not doing

The right engineering mitigation To stop something like this

Happening ultimately led To the destruction of the dam

And to the loss of life.

Narrator: Today, construction is held

To a strict engineering code,

Perhaps the greatest legacy Of the austin dam disaster.

*

*

Kiev, ukraine's capital city,

Situated along The dnieper river.

*

Jerram: As you wander around kiev,

You can start to see some Strange things --

I mean, there's this one example

Can only be described As like a submarine in a park.

Meigs: you can actually walk Inside of it,

And then you can see How truly enormous it is --

It's 50 meters long, 15 meters across.

The walls are incredibly thick.

Wawro: my first thought is,

It's gotta be A typical example of,

You know, eastern european Soviet-era kitsch.

But then on the other hand, If it was kitsch,

It would be prettier, you know, It would be painted up,

It would look more Like a submarine.

It would look more Like a submarine.

It must have been built Where it is.

It must have been built For a purpose,

But what could that be?

Narrator: This object sits on the bank Of the largest river in ukraine,

The dnieper.

The dnieper is a big, Slow-moving, shallow river,

Swampy in spots,

And divides the city of kiev Almost right down the middle.

In the dnieper swamps Is a larger piece of the puzzle.

In the dnieper swamps Is a larger piece of the puzzle.

Jerram: Can see this weird kind of

Snake-like Concrete construction,

Which seems to be sinking down Into a swamp. What's that for?

Narrator: two sites, 11 miles apart --

Both clues to one of the Greatest engineering secrets

Behind the iron curtain.

*

Local historian Valery lysenko

Has come to kiev's natalka park To explore this curious object.

Has come to kiev's natalka park To explore this curious object.

Lysenko: [ speaking ukrainian ]

Interpreter: The locals gave it many names --

Some call it a train, Some call it a submarine.

The most accurate name Would be a caisson,

But not many people understand What the word means.

Narrator: it stood in this spot For 80 years.

Valery remembers coming here As a child.

Lysenko: [ speaking ukrainian ]

Interpreter: back then, You couldn't even ask about it.

Interpreter: back then, You couldn't even ask about it.

What was a state secret Half a century ago

Is now being uncovered.

*

Narrator: the story of this Structure starts with the river

That runs through the city.

Meigs: across this river, You have eight bridges,

And as you can imagine, These are essential for keeping

Goods and people moving back And forth across the river.

But 80 years ago, they were Recognized as a huge problem.

But 80 years ago, they were Recognized as a huge problem.

Narrator: In 1920, kiev was invaded

By a neighboring country.

Meigs: the poles attacked And took over ukraine

And captured kiev.

The red army drove them out After just a few weeks,

But it made lenin and The other soviet leaders realize

How vulnerable this area was.

*

What did the polish army do Before the retreat?

The obvious thing -- They destroyed all the bridges,

The obvious thing -- They destroyed all the bridges,

The large ones Across the dnieper.

*

Narrator: Kiev's bridges were rebuilt,

But the battle taught them

A valuable lesson For the future.

Meigs: one thing they'd learned

Is that bridges Were very vulnerable.

What if an enemy air force Came in

And knocked out These eight bridges?

They would be helpless, There'd be no way

To get supplies or troops back And forth across the river.

They needed a better system.

They needed a better system.

Narrator: To protect the city,

The soviets made An audacious plan,

But it will mean Wading into the swamp.

*

Narrator: in the years After the first world war,

Kiev's eight bridges Were a strategic weak point,

So the soviets started building A secret weapon.

*

You see these Concrete structures

Kind of winding Through the swamps --

It's not at all clear What these are for.

It's not at all clear What these are for.

*

Lysenko: [ speaking ukrainian ]

Interpreter: There are many local legends

That surround this place.

Some say that there's a train Hidden inside the tunnel.

Others claim that the water Doesn't freeze inside the tunnel

Because of the radioactivity.

Narrator: the only official name Of this structure

Was "Object one,"

But to the people of kiev, It goes by a different name.

But to the people of kiev, It goes by a different name.

Lysenko: [ speaking ukrainian ]

Interpreter: people call This place "Stalin's subway."

*

Narrator: Kiev had learned the hard way

That if an enemy Destroyed its bridges,

There was no way to get supplies Across the dnieper.

So here in the swamp, They began digging a tunnel

That would run Underneath the river.

*

They're going to be Railway tunnels,

They're going to be Railway tunnels,

But they're going to have Steel plates

That can be lowered into place Over the railway tracks

To accommodate Vehicle traffic as well.

*

Narrator: around 1938, Construction started in secret.

Lysenko: [ speaking ukrainian ]

Interpreter: the soviet union Was obsessed with secrecy --

They liked to hide everything.

Wawro: stalin decrees that If any of these

2,000, 5,000, 10,000, Eventually 12,000 workers

2,000, 5,000, 10,000, Eventually 12,000 workers

Enlisted in these sites ever Even breathe the word tunnel,

They'll get 10 years In the gulag.

*

Narrator: but digging from One side of the river

To the other was too slow.

In the 1930's, europe was on The brink of another world war.

Kiev faced invasion again.

To speed up the dig, They used caissons.

*

80 years ago, This park was a wetland.

80 years ago, This park was a wetland.

The caisson was constructed On the surface.

And then they would use High-pressure hoses

To remove the soft sediment Beneath it,

Thus sinking that tunnel into The ground beneath the river.

Narrator: A column of concrete rings

Would be built to the surface,

Creating a pressurized chamber From which the engineers

Could start digging In both directions.

Lysenko: [ speaking ukrainian ]

Interpreter: and so this tube,

When it was lowered To the relevant depth,

They constructed the so-called Manual tunnel boring machine.

Now it's done mechanically, but Back then, it was done manually.

It was a metallic construction

Which allowed them To move forwards.

Narrator: The work may have been tough,

But the dangers faced here Were terrifying.

Jerram: so, the conditions were Very difficult to work in --

You're under four atmospheres Of pressure,

You're under four atmospheres Of pressure,

It's like being under 30 meters of water,

And you could only actually work In those conditions

For about 40 minutes Before you had to change shifts.

So the whole way in which They're keeping the water away

Means the working Conditions themselves

Are actually very, very extreme.

Narrator: the soviets hoped The caissons

And this new approach Would turbo-charge the dig.

But by august 1941,

They'd run out of time

They'd run out of time

And the enemy was at the gates.

[ explosions, gunfire ]

Believing they could hold off The german army,

Soviet top brass orders The workers to keep digging.

But the nazi force Was overwhelming --

Kiev's bridges Were destroyed again.

With the tunnel Still incomplete,

The city fell.

*

They branch south To try to take kiev,

They branch south To try to take kiev,

Because it's such a big prize And it's such a big population,

And they bagged 650,000 red army troops,

One of the greatest Military victories of all time.

Narrator: with the city Completely surrounded,

Work on the tunnels Finally stopped.

*

It's believed that maybe They got 10% of it done

Before the war intervened And they had to stop.

Before the war intervened And they had to stop.

Lysenko: [ speaking ukrainian ]

Interpreter: they were afraid to Talk about it

Even years after.

There is a high possibility

That all the prisoners Who worked here

Were later exterminated.

*

Narrator: attempts were made To restart the construction,

But in 1949,

The tunnels were abandoned And the project covered up.

The tunnels were abandoned And the project covered up.

Lysenko: [ speaking ukrainian ]

Interpreter: Many years after the war,

The subway was built in kiev.

When this area was no longer Restricted for the people,

And they were curious As to what it was,

Only then the newspapers Started writing about it openly.

*