7 Wonders of the Industrial World
This BBC series is one of my all-time favorites. The frustrated engineer in me has always enjoyed these types of programs which show how huge engineering problems have been solved. I mention the series because I just watched the episode on the transcontinental railroad for the 5th or 6th time. Not all of the stories take place in the USA but they are all worth watching if you have an interest in this kind of thing.
- The Bell Rock Lighthouse *
- The ‘Great Eastern’ *
- Bazalgette’s London sewers
- The Transcontinental Railway
- The Brooklyn Bridge *
- The Panama Canal *
- The Hoover Dam
The asterisks mark my favorite episodes but they are all excellent.
For details on the episodes go here.
The railroad episode covers tycoon Thomas Durant who is played by Colm Meany in the television series Hell on Wheels.
By the way the National Geographic also does some superb programming of this type. The episode on the construction of the stunning Milau bridge in France is one of them. If you watch and like it, check out NatGeo’s episodes on the various construction projects in Dubai such as the Palm Islands and the great boondoggle, “The World” islands project, which appears to be slipping below the waves.
I could watch this episode once a year forever.
Hope that you enjoy them.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the subject of The Great Eastern, is considered by many to be the greatest civil engineer of all time. Most of the structures he built over 150 years are still standing and in active duty. Consider watch this one hour program on the great man.