Engineering Connections - Series 3

In a third series Richard Hammond investigates the engineering connections that lie inside some of the most iconic structures on the planet: • A Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker designed to carry an ultra-cold cargo with the energy equivalent of 50 nuclear bombs, • The ‘earthquake-proof’ Rion Antirion Bridge in Greece, • NASA’s Space Shuttle, the first re-usable space vehicle,... More »

In a third series Richard Hammond investigates the engineering connections that lie inside some of the most iconic structures on the planet:

• A Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker designed to carry an ultra-cold cargo with the energy equivalent of 50 nuclear bombs,
• The ‘earthquake-proof’ Rion Antirion Bridge in Greece,
• NASA’s Space Shuttle, the first re-usable space vehicle,
• The sail-shaped Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai,
• A Formula 1 car,
• The iconic Japanese Bullet Train, the first, and still the most technologically advanced high speed railway system in the world.

Richard reveals an amazing range of unexpected ideas and legacies hidden deep in their DNA. Through large-scale demonstrations he investigates the crucial technology that makes these structures possible. He shows how, thanks to a WW2 German submarine, the Space Shuttle protects itself from self-destruction at launch. He creates his own earthquake to see what’s required to save the Bullet Train from severe seismic shocks – proof even against the biggest earthquake ever to hit Japan. And with a steam ‘bomb’ he explosively reveals just how much power the apparently old-fashioned technology can deliver to power an LNG tanker. Richard makes the surprising connections that make possible the greatest miracles of modern engineering.

EPISODE 1: SUPER TANKER / LNG CARRIER
Richard Hammond reveals the ingenious engineering required to transport one of the most potentially hazardous cargoes in the world in some of the biggest vessels afloat, with solutions inspired by cutlery, mid-air refuelling, fire trucks, and a surprising discovery by Charles Darwin, the father of evolution.

EPISODE 2: THE RION-ANTIRION BRIDGE
Richard Hammond reveals how engineers earthquake-proofed one of the longest bridges in the world with solutions inspired by fragrant Indian incense, the ring-pull in a soda can, a tobbogan, the hammock, and some shiny steel chimneys.

EPISODE 3: NASA’S SPACE SHUTTLE
Richard Hammond reveals how NASA’s Space Shuttle – the world’s first re-usable space craft, and the world’s most technologically-advanced machine – could not exist without a church organ pump, tram tracks, a WWII anti-sonar device, a camera iris, and a cannonball.

EPISODE 4: FORMULA ONE CAR
Richard Hammond show how behind the glamorous appearances of the F1 car lie surprising engineering connections to a revolutionary cannon, an ancient sail, an innovative jet engine fan blade, bullet-proof armour and the same prehistoric blacksmith’s technique that produced fearsome swords.

EPISODE 5: BURJ AL ARAB
Richard Hammond checks out Dubai’s sail-shaped Burj al Arab, the world’s tallest and most distinctive hotel which relies on engineering solutions inspired by the game of jacks, a 19th Century coal mine, a camera flash, a new type of fire hose, and a moving part from a car engine.

EPISODE 6: JAPAN’S BULLET TRAIN
Richard Hammond reveals the surprising engineering connections in Japan’s Bullet Train – the world’s first high speed train which could not run without ancient charioteers, a crowbar or lever, the spring in a medieval clock, the electric telegraph, and a 19th century luxury racing car – the world’s first four by four.


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