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History's Deadliest with Ving Rhames - Season 1 Episode 8 - Engineering Disasters
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00:10¡Suscríbete al canal!
00:47¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:09¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:12In 1912, the Titanic is billed as unsinkable, but that overconfidence dooms the luxury line.
01:24It's 1912, and the world is in the midst of great change.
01:28The airplane is invented, the automobile is becoming common, and into this comes the Titanic,
01:33the epitome of technology of its day.
01:36This celebrated ship can carry 2,200 passengers.
01:40At its unveiling, the ship is billed as practically unsinkable.
01:51The plan for this first voyage is to leave England and go to New York, and the path takes it
01:58through
01:58an area of the North Atlantic that's called Iceberg Alley.
02:04The ship is designed with 16 watertight compartments at the very bottom of the ship that will stop
02:10the ship from sinking.
02:12In the unlikely event Titanic takes on water, engineers say that the most amount of compartments
02:19I would take on water would probably be four.
02:21But the engineering feature meant to save the ship hides a fatal flaw.
02:27The bulkheads don't go all the way to the top of the ship, so if the water gets to the
02:31top,
02:32it's going to start slashing over into other compartments.
02:35Two days into the journey, iceberg warnings trickle in throughout the day,
02:40and the captain adjusts his course, but not the ship's speed.
02:45So you've got lookouts on top of a mast, and they are looking out for these icebergs.
02:50But in a very strange mistake of history, David Blair is the ship's second officer.
02:55Just before the ship sails, he is reassigned to another ship, and in the confusion,
02:59he forgets to pass off the key to the cabinet that holds the binoculars.
03:05And so the men are on top of there looking without the looking glasses.
03:10At 11.40 p.m., the Titanic is sailing along at this high range of speed,
03:16and the lookouts see this dark figure blooming in front of them.
03:20They start yelling and ringing a bell saying, iceberg, head ahead!
03:24But because the ship is going so fast, Titanic ends up scraping.
03:28The side of the seismic, what ends up happening is the scenario
03:33that engineers swore up and down would never happen.
03:36Where there are joints and ribbons, those places are especially vulnerable.
03:41So you have cracks all along the side that begin to let it water.
03:45In a hole built to withstand the flooding of only four compartments,
03:51six are now taken on water.
03:53At over 100,000 gallons per minute, suddenly, Titanic seems far from unsinkable.
04:01Because you have those six containers full of water,
04:04that causes the bow of the ship to start dipping,
04:08which means more of these supposedly watertight compartments
04:11start taking on even more water.
04:14The Titanic has 20 lifeboats on board.
04:16This means that 1,100 people can be accommodated by these lifeboats.
04:21The problem is, the Titanic has 2,200 people on board.
04:28By about 2 in the morning, the bow of Titanic has completely gone underwater,
04:32and the back of the ship is now vertical.
04:36With the ship sticking up into the air,
04:38it just can't support its own weight, and it cracks its head.
04:44At this point, it's over. It's going down fast.
04:48This water is so cold that if you go into the water,
04:51you die from hypothermia in minutes.
04:55When rescue ships finally arrive,
04:57over two hours later,
04:59more than 1,500 people have died.
05:01It takes almost 80 years to discover another engineering factor
05:07that explains the tragedy.
05:09When the brickage is found in 1985,
05:12it is analyzed.
05:14They discover that there is this high sulfur content in the steel.
05:19When that type of steel is in a very cold environment,
05:23like in the North Atlantic,
05:25it can become brittle.
05:26And instead of bending and recovering,
05:29the steel will break.
05:31Another thing that they see
05:32is that the quality of the rivets in the Titanic varies.
05:37There are about 3 million rivets
05:39that are holding Titanic together.
05:41Many of them are very, very good quality.
05:44Some of them, slightly less.
05:47Those rivets, combined with the fact that you have brittle steel
05:50in this colder water,
05:51that causes those rivets to pop,
05:54which causes those steel plates to tear away them,
05:56which causes that much more water
05:58to make its way into Titanic.
06:02The Titanic is an engineering marvel,
06:04but in the end,
06:05it is its engineering that dooms it.
06:07The iceberg by the bedwet broke the Titanic,
06:10but it was her engineering,
06:11her steel, her design,
06:13her bolt heads that doom the ship.
06:16The Titanic is one of the 20th century's best known disasters.
06:22But a dam project launched 40 years later in China
06:26results in a secret tragedy.
06:32Mao believes that he can transform China to a modern state.
06:36And so the Great Leap Forward is this series of programs
06:39that are intended to take them from the medieval peasant state
06:42to an industrialized superpower in a very brief period of time.
06:46And the Ban Chow Dam,
06:48it's simple to China,
06:49is one of Mao's great achievements
06:51during the Great Leap Forward.
06:53Built in 1952,
06:55it's there to provide irrigation,
06:57it's there to provide flood control,
06:59it's there to provide energy.
07:01It's supposedly a perfect dam,
07:03a dam that cannot break.
07:05The Ban Chow Dam is designed to withstand
07:08the 1,000-year flood.
07:12The idea is that we're going to try to calculate
07:14what's the worst storm we might get in 1,000 years.
07:18In this case,
07:19calculations show that a 1,000-year storm
07:23should release about 12 inches of rain in a day.
07:27The dam's original design
07:30calls for 12 sluice gates to manage overflow.
07:33These are huge barriers
07:35that are raised or lowered
07:37to control the flow of water.
07:40But in a cost-cutting measure,
07:42only 5 of the 12 sluice gates are built.
07:47The engineers plan for
07:49once-in-a-thousand-year flood.
07:51The thing that they don't plan for
07:53is Typhoonina.
07:56In August of 1975,
07:59the typhoon brings a deluge
08:01of 40 inches of rain
08:03in just three days.
08:04That's averaging 13 inches per day.
08:08And now,
08:09the decision to construct
08:10only 5 sluice gates
08:12turns out to be
08:13a massive design error.
08:16When they finally go
08:17to open the sluice gates
08:18that they have,
08:19they're largely blocked
08:20by silt and debris
08:22so that they're not flooding out
08:23as quickly as they can.
08:24The dam simply can't hold back
08:27the pressure
08:27of all that
08:29158 billion gallons of water.
08:33On August 8th of 1975,
08:36the dam collapses.
08:41It creates a wall of water
08:44that's 30 feet high
08:46that is running
08:4640 miles an hour.
08:48It goes rushing
08:49down this valley.
08:50There's 61 other dams
08:52beneath it,
08:53and those are all
08:53politically overwhelmed.
08:54So it washes out
08:55not just the back of the chow
08:56dam,
08:57but it washes
08:587 miles wide
08:59more than 50 miles more.
09:03Imagine 150 billion gallons of water
09:06barreling down a valley
09:08at 30, 40 miles per hour.
09:11Nothing is going to stand
09:13in its way and survive.
09:18It takes days
09:20for the floodwaters to recede.
09:22So the Chinese government
09:23can only respond
09:25by air-dropping supplies
09:27to the stranded survivors.
09:29But this is nothing more
09:31than a Band-Aid
09:32on a truly fatal wound.
09:35Government sources
09:36report 26,000 dead.
09:39But independent estimates
09:41suggest that as many
09:42as 230,000 perish
09:44from flooding,
09:46from disease,
09:47and from famine.
09:51When civilians run
09:53from an approaching army,
09:54it should help them survive.
09:56But that's not the case
09:58in a key city in Portugal.
09:59during a terrible war.
10:05In 1809,
10:07Porto, Portugal
10:08is a key strategic objective
10:10for Napoleon
10:11and his French troops
10:13as they conquer
10:14their way through Europe.
10:16Napoleon's forces
10:17are marching toward the city
10:19and the people of Porto
10:20are in a frenzy.
10:22The French
10:22are known to
10:24slaughter
10:25and terrorize
10:26the Portuguese
10:27for seemingly
10:28no reason whatsoever.
10:29So the people of Porto,
10:31it's more about the fear
10:32of what happens
10:33if we surrender.
10:34They feel that
10:34escape is ultimately
10:36going to be
10:37the best option.
10:38The French army
10:39is attacking
10:40from the north,
10:41so thousands of locals
10:42try to flee
10:43to the south.
10:45If they can cross
10:46the Douro River,
10:47they just might live.
10:49They know the river
10:50will be a natural barrier
10:52that separates Porto
10:54from the French troops.
10:56The way to get across
10:57that river
10:58is by crossing
10:59this,
11:00at the time,
11:01pretty ingenious invention,
11:03this pontoon bridge.
11:04The bridge
11:05is a temporary marble
11:06made from
11:0720 boats
11:09tied together
11:10with steel cables.
11:11With thousands
11:12fleeing Napoleon's army,
11:15the bridge faces
11:15an impossible test
11:17of its strength.
11:18One vulnerability
11:19of the bridge
11:20from an engineering standpoint
11:22is its lack
11:23of redundancy.
11:24Redundancy refers
11:25to the multiple ways
11:27in which the weight
11:28or the load
11:30can be supported
11:31if there is a failure
11:32at a single point.
11:33It just so happens
11:34that this bridge
11:35has a weak point
11:37because of its need
11:38to be able to open up
11:39at the center span.
11:41to allow water traffic
11:43to pass through.
11:44The problem, though,
11:46is that these bridges
11:47are not designed
11:48for the weight
11:49of thousands
11:51and thousands
11:51of people
11:52crossing simultaneously.
11:54As thousands
11:55cram onto the bridge,
11:57the structure
11:58built for orderly passage
12:00begins to grow
12:02under the weight
12:03of the masses.
12:04The middle section
12:05of the bridge,
12:05which is the weakest point,
12:07gives way.
12:13Boats tethered
12:14on either side
12:14of the opening
12:15can no longer
12:16hold on to their positions
12:17and the entire bridge
12:18just unravels.
12:23Thousands of people
12:24are thrown
12:25into the Doru River.
12:29Most people
12:30who fall in
12:31can't make it
12:32to the riverbanks
12:33and they just drown.
12:37By the time
12:38Napoleon's troops
12:39arrive at the river,
12:40they end up
12:41encountering
12:41the largest
12:43bridge disaster
12:44in history.
12:474,000 people
12:48end up dying
12:49trying to escape
12:51from Napoleon's troops.
12:52Unsurprisingly,
12:53Napoleon's forces
12:54capture Porto
12:55with almost
12:56no resistance.
12:57But the human cost
12:59of victory
12:59is staggering.
13:02War can expose
13:04engineering problems
13:05like it did
13:06in Porto.
13:07Now let's turn
13:08to Italy
13:09and a problem
13:10revealed in a tunnel.
13:17By 1944,
13:19World War II,
13:21Italy
13:21has taken
13:22the brunt
13:24of
13:25the Allied
13:26rage
13:26and Mussolini's
13:28fascist state
13:29has paid
13:30the price.
13:31People are struggling
13:32just to get by
13:33and the amount
13:35of internal
13:35refugee and
13:36black market
13:37movement
13:38within Italy
13:39is staggering.
13:40Under these conditions,
13:42it's not easy
13:43to get around.
13:44The train
13:45is the primary
13:46method
13:46of transportation.
13:49One particular
13:51freight train
13:52in the 8017
13:53is originating
13:54out of Naples
13:55and heading
13:56through the hill
13:57country
13:57towards Balvano.
13:59The Balvano train
14:00is essentially
14:01a bunch
14:02of different
14:02carriages
14:03that have been
14:04cobbled together
14:05to make
14:06one mediocre
14:07train.
14:08The 8017
14:09is being pulled
14:09by two steam
14:10engines,
14:11one a modern
14:12new model
14:13and the other
14:15older
14:15and less
14:16reliable.
14:17The 8017
14:19is a freight
14:20route.
14:20It's a freight
14:21train.
14:22Yet,
14:22at this time
14:23in the war,
14:24people are
14:24desperate for
14:25opportunity.
14:26So the 8017
14:27is loaded
14:28with refugees
14:29trying to
14:30shepherd their
14:31own goods
14:32in this new
14:33black market
14:34economy.
14:35There are more
14:36than 600
14:37storeways on
14:38this train.
14:38They've climbed
14:39in cars,
14:40they've climbed
14:40on top of cars.
14:42So given the
14:42freight and all
14:43the people,
14:44this train
14:45is way
14:45overlocked.
14:47At this point
14:48in the war,
14:49all the high
14:49quality coal
14:50is going to
14:51support the
14:51war efforts.
14:52So to
14:53operate this
14:54train,
14:55they're really
14:55using the
14:56lowest quality
14:57coal,
14:58called late
14:58night.
14:59It doesn't
14:59produce as
15:00much energy
15:01when burned.
15:01It also
15:02produces a
15:03lot of
15:03byproducts,
15:04including
15:04carbon monoxide.
15:06The train
15:07approaches the
15:08one-mile-long
15:09army tunnel,
15:10but the
15:10combination of
15:11the weak
15:12engine,
15:12poor quality
15:13coal,
15:14overloaded
15:15compartments
15:15and hilly
15:16terrain making
15:17a difficult
15:18climb.
15:19So here you
15:20have these
15:21engines working
15:22extra hard.
15:23They're in this
15:24confined space
15:25of a tunnel,
15:27belching out
15:28deadly carbon
15:29monoxide.
15:30It's a little
15:31after midnight
15:32and the train
15:33comes to a
15:34halt inside
15:36the army
15:37tunnel.
15:38The engines
15:38haven't stopped.
15:39They're still
15:40working hard
15:41trying to
15:41move this
15:42train.
15:43In an
15:44attempt to
15:44try to
15:45get the
15:45train out
15:46of the
15:46tunnel,
15:47one of
15:47the engines
15:48tries to
15:48move backwards.
15:49However,
15:50the problem
15:50is the
15:51two engine
15:52operators
15:53are not
15:53able to
15:54speak to
15:54each other.
15:55So one
15:56engine is
15:56going forward
15:57and one
15:58engine is
15:58pulling
15:58backwards.
15:59They're
16:00emitting
16:00vast amounts
16:01of carbon
16:02monoxide
16:02with zero
16:03ventilation.
16:04Carbon
16:05monoxide
16:05is absolutely
16:07odorless
16:08and
16:08absolutely
16:09deadly.
16:11It kind
16:12of displaces
16:13oxygen in
16:14your blood
16:14and if
16:15you're breathing
16:15that for
16:16several minutes
16:16your body
16:17isn't getting
16:18the oxygen
16:18you need.
16:19They just
16:19start falling
16:20unconscious
16:21and they
16:22start to
16:23die.
16:25One break
16:26man realizes
16:27the severity
16:27of the
16:27situation
16:28and attempts
16:29to make it
16:30to the tunnel
16:30entrance and
16:31eventually makes
16:32it to a
16:33station agent's
16:34office for
16:34support.
16:36Rescuers
16:37arrive around
16:375am and
16:39what they
16:39find is
16:40pure horror.
16:42There are
16:42500 bodies
16:45on the ground
16:46outside the
16:47train, inside
16:48the train, on
16:49top of the
16:50train, just
16:50people slumped
16:51where they
16:52succumbed to
16:53the carbon
16:53monoxide.
16:55It's not like
16:56we can point to
16:56one thing for
16:57why this accident
16:58occurs.
16:59There's the
16:59hill, there's
17:00the cobbled
17:01together train
17:02with two
17:02different types
17:03of steam
17:03engines, there's
17:04the lignite
17:05cool, it's
17:06all these
17:07different pieces
17:08that really
17:08show why
17:09engineering is
17:10important, why
17:11safety regulations
17:11are important.
17:12If we ignore
17:13any of those
17:14things, we
17:14can have
17:15these catastrophic
17:16accidents.
17:19When it opens,
17:21the Hyatt Regency
17:22Hotel in
17:23Kansas City
17:24is considered
17:25a marvel.
17:26It's best feature
17:27is a huge
17:28atrium with
17:29hanging walkways.
17:31A year later,
17:32it becomes a
17:33site of a
17:34shocking disaster.
17:36In July of
17:381980, the new
17:39Hyatt Regency
17:40Hotel opens.
17:41It is a grand
17:42building in the
17:43center of town,
17:44and it's notable
17:45because it has
17:46these hanging
17:47walkways.
17:48The walkways are
17:49stacked in the
17:50center of the
17:51atrium, and
17:52they're made to
17:52look like they're
17:53suspended in midair.
17:55It's a marvel of
17:56modern engineering.
18:00On July 17, 1981,
18:02the Regency is
18:03alive with the
18:04Kansas City
18:05tea dance.
18:06A local news
18:07crew was on
18:08hand that night
18:09covering the
18:09tea dance.
18:10This kind of
18:1119th century
18:12European get
18:13together with
18:14an American
18:15flair.
18:15So, of course,
18:16once it's in
18:17full swing, we
18:18want to go up
18:19on the walkways
18:19on the atrium
18:20and look down.
18:21But when you're
18:22looking at the
18:22flash and the
18:23glamour, you're
18:24not looking at
18:25the literal nuts
18:26and bolts that
18:27put this place
18:27together.
18:28In the original
18:29design, one rod
18:30was sustained
18:31from the ceiling
18:32with strength
18:33enough to carry
18:34the two walkways,
18:35walkway one
18:36on the second
18:37floor, and walkway
18:38two on the
18:39fourth floor.
18:40But during
18:41construction, the
18:42steel contractor
18:43suggests a
18:44design change
18:45to cut costs.
18:46Rather than
18:47using one
18:48continuous load
18:49bearing steel
18:50rod, two
18:51separate rods
18:52were created,
18:53one holding
18:54walkway one,
18:55the second holding
18:57walkway two
18:58from walkway one.
19:01Imagine if you
19:02had a pull-up
19:02bar.
19:03If you have two
19:04people hanging
19:05from it, the
19:06pull-up bar could
19:07support their
19:07weight.
19:08But if you have
19:09one person hanging
19:10off of the other
19:11one, then the
19:13weight point isn't
19:13the rod itself, but
19:15the wrists of the
19:16person on top.
19:17It's just too much
19:18weight.
19:19You found a cheaper
19:20carpet?
19:21Great.
19:22Go for it.
19:22You found a cheaper
19:23shade of paint?
19:24Great.
19:25Go for it.
19:26You found a cheaper
19:27way to hang two
19:28atrium walkways?
19:31Let's think about
19:32that one.
19:33Dancers and
19:34attendees crowd the
19:35walkways, oblivious
19:36to the strain
19:37beneath their feet.
19:39The walkways start
19:40to creak and
19:41grump, but nobody
19:42can hear it over
19:43the music of the
19:44band and people
19:45talking.
19:46The rain is
19:47simply too much
19:48for the hangar
19:48rods.
19:51They break.
19:53The fourth floor
19:53collapses.
19:54As it collapses,
19:55it falls onto the
19:56second floor.
19:56The second floor
19:57collapses under the
19:58weight of that.
19:59Both of them fall
20:00onto the atrium full
20:01of people.
20:0768 tons of metal,
20:10steel, glass,
20:12collapse in tandem.
20:14It's not just that
20:16you're falling 30 or
20:1740 feet, which is
20:18plenty enough to be
20:19a disaster, but it's
20:20then tons of debris
20:22falling on top of
20:23you, burying beneath
20:25the rubble.
20:25First responders
20:26arrive to find a
20:28horrific scene.
20:29People who moments
20:30earlier were having
20:32the time of their
20:32lives are now
20:33crushed under rubble.
20:35All in all, the
20:36rescue effort takes
20:37over 14 hours.
20:39By the next morning,
20:40as the dust is
20:41settling, the true
20:42extent of this
20:43disaster becomes
20:44clear.
20:45114 dead.
20:48More than 200
20:49injured.
20:50It is one of the
20:51deadliest structural
20:52collapses in American
20:54history.
20:56In the 1980s,
20:58builders in Jerusalem
21:00also changed the
21:01design of a structure
21:02during construction.
21:04And tragedy happens
21:06again.
21:09in Jerusalem, Israel,
21:11the Versailles
21:12wedding hall is a
21:13happening spot to
21:15throw an event.
21:18And on May 24th, 2001,
21:22Karen and Asaf
21:23Dior are getting
21:24married.
21:25This is a wedding
21:26hall.
21:27You bring 200 or 300
21:28of your closest friends,
21:29all of your drunk
21:30uncles, people are
21:31dancing, people are
21:32singing.
21:33It's a celebration.
21:34But the building's
21:36dance floor and its
21:37walls have been
21:38hiding engineering
21:39problems that take
21:41back 15 years.
21:43The wedding hall is
21:45constructed via a
21:46method using these
21:47very, very thin
21:48concrete slabs.
21:50That's called
21:51Palkal.
21:51And the reason for
21:52doing this is because
21:53it's a much more
21:54cost-effective way of
21:56building.
21:57As a result of being
21:58thinner and lighter
21:59weight, Palkal does not
22:01have the load-bearing
22:04capabilities of other
22:06forms of concrete.
22:08Another construction
22:09decision is even more
22:11concerning.
22:12The original plan is
22:13that the building is
22:14going to be two stories
22:15and that just a portion
22:16of the building is
22:17going to have a third
22:18floor.
22:19But during construction,
22:20they decide they're
22:21going to cover the
22:21whole building with
22:22the third floor.
22:23It's got the weight of
22:24a whole other story on
22:26top of it.
22:27And they've got
22:28partitions holding the
22:30second floor ceiling up.
22:32But a couple of weeks
22:33before the wedding,
22:34the owners of the
22:35building decide they're
22:36going to take those
22:37partitions out so they
22:38can open up the space.
22:40They don't realize those
22:41partitions are holding up
22:42the entire third floor.
22:45When you look up and
22:47you see cracks in the
22:49ceiling above you and
22:51the floors inevitably
22:53begin to sag, the
22:55owners decide to put a
22:58layer of ground over it
22:59to hide the cracks.
23:01Of course, just hiding
23:03engineering mistakes
23:05doesn't make them
23:06disappear.
23:08This is a big party.
23:09This is a big wedding.
23:10There's 700 people in
23:12this wedding.
23:13And it is simply too
23:15much weight.
23:17During the festivities,
23:19the floor, it buckles
23:21for about a microsecond.
23:22Everyone's like, what
23:23happened?
23:23Before anyone can react,
23:27the ground beneath their
23:28feet gives in.
23:38400 people instantly
23:40vanish into the void.
23:43They're sucked down into
23:45this gaping awe of
23:48nothingness.
23:49Those lucky to be on the
23:51periphery just see
23:52emptiness where hundreds
23:54of people were just
23:55standing.
23:56They don't just fall one
23:58story.
23:58They fall through the next
24:00floor to the ground.
24:01They fall three stories.
24:04356 people are injured.
24:0623 die.
24:09It's a series of bad
24:11choices that lead to
24:13progressive failure, that
24:15lead to disaster.
24:20engineering shortcuts are
24:22nothing new, but in a
24:24Roman arena that leads
24:26to death.
24:29It's 27 AD and the thing
24:31to do is the gladiatorial
24:33games.
24:34This is the Academy Awards.
24:36This is football.
24:37This is the big movie of
24:40the day.
24:40We're talking 20 guys
24:42against 50 lions.
24:44We're talking about
24:44flooding arenas and having
24:46naval battles.
24:47I mean, these are big
24:47shows.
24:50But in the reign of Tiberius,
24:52there is a major
24:53restriction in the number
24:55and spectacle of gladiatorial
24:56games that can be held.
24:58Tiberius is a stick in the
24:59mud and he has no time for
25:01Roman politics or Roman
25:03entertainments.
25:04Instead, he basically retires
25:05to the island of Capri,
25:07outside the site of the Roman
25:08elite.
25:09With Tiberius out of the
25:11picture, the Romans decide
25:13to quench their thirst for
25:15violent entertainment.
25:17Not far from Rome, there's a
25:19place called the Danai.
25:21And there's a man, a freedman,
25:22a former slave.
25:23His name is Atilius.
25:24And he sees money.
25:26He says, I am going to hold the
25:28best gladiatorial games ever
25:30and I'm going to get rich.
25:33So he builds an amphitheater about
25:36six miles outside of Rome to
25:38the north.
25:39When we think of arenas in the
25:40ancient world, we think of
25:41these giant stone amphitheaters.
25:43But that is not what Atilius
25:45builds.
25:45He builds an amphitheater of
25:47wood.
25:49Atilius is in this for the
25:50money.
25:51So he cuts more than a few
25:53corners.
25:54He doesn't properly prepare the
25:55foundation.
25:56He doesn't properly put up the
25:57cross beams that would allow the
25:59stadium to keep from shifting.
26:01Remember, this stadium is going
26:03to hold tens of thousands of
26:04people.
26:04It's a massive amount of
26:05weight.
26:06It is an unstable structure.
26:10On opening day, over 50,000
26:13spectators jostle for the best
26:16view of the bloody contest
26:18below.
26:20This gladiatorial arena, it's
26:22swaying a little bit and then
26:23it's swaying more and more and
26:26you start to feel unsteady on
26:28your feet.
26:29Imagine if you were at a
26:30baseball game and the whole
26:32thing started to tip over at
26:34once.
26:36This edifice with all of these
26:38people in it collapses.
26:43So you have people flying through the
26:45air, screaming, plummeting into the
26:47people below them.
26:49And then you have panicked people
26:50who are attempting to escape,
26:51clawing over each other.
26:53Imagine 50,000 people struggling
26:55under the weight of this structure
26:57that has fallen all around them.
27:01Ancient historians have a
27:03propensity to exaggerate, but it is
27:06not unrealistic on the low end of the
27:08estimate to think that about 20,000
27:09people were killed that day.
27:11It is the greatest engineering
27:13disaster of its time.
27:17Engineering disasters often come
27:19from poor planning.
27:21In 1947, at a port in Texas, that
27:25causes one of the most terrible
27:26accidents in American history.
27:32In the post-World War II world, America
27:35is the only country left standing
27:38with big manufacturing capacity.
27:41And that translates to a lot of
27:44business in the port of Texas City,
27:46south of Houston.
27:47The port of Texas City is meant to
27:49put in place new safety protocols
27:51because of the growth.
27:53The problem with that, though, is
27:54that these safety protocols are never
27:57actually put in place.
27:59On April 16, 1947, the SS
28:02Grand Camp is docked at Texas City
28:05with a cargo of 2,300 tons
28:08of ammonium nitrate.
28:10Ammonium nitrate as a material is
28:12very useful.
28:13It's a great fertilizer, as long as
28:15it's stored in the proper conditions.
28:18This means that engineers will have
28:20to design storage protocols to
28:23maintain safety.
28:24The SS Grand Camp's hold are set up
28:27in the worst way possible.
28:28They have twine next to ammonium
28:31nitrate.
28:32Something that is extraordinarily
28:33flammable should not be ever set
28:36next to something that is
28:37extraordinarily explosive,
28:39especially under hot conditions.
28:40It is literally a what not to do
28:43in the bottom of a ship.
28:45Engineers often enlist the aid of
28:47frontline workers to sound the alarm
28:50if something seems off.
28:51That doesn't happen in Texas City.
28:55The longshoremen who pack the
28:57ammonium nitrate say that it was
28:58hot to the touch.
29:00And this is especially problematic
29:01when we're talking about ammonium
29:03nitrate because it can go through
29:04rapid decomposition and break apart
29:06into nitrogen gas, oxygen gas,
29:09and water.
29:09And when that happens, it's
29:11essentially a bomb.
29:13When a fire starts in one of the
29:15Grand Camp's holds, the cargo
29:18begins to smolder.
29:19Once the fire gets going, the crew
29:21tries to do what they can to
29:23extinguish it, but they're not
29:24having success.
29:25So the idea they come up with is
29:27let's close the hatch and starve it
29:30of oxygen.
29:31Once again, an engineering solution
29:34should have protocols in place for
29:37hazardous materials fires.
29:39If this was a traditional fire,
29:42sealing the hold off would
29:43eventually extinguish the fire
29:45because there's a finite amount
29:46of oxygen in the hole, except in
29:49the case of ammonium nitrate, it's
29:51creating its own oxygen as it's
29:54burning.
29:55And so the well-known strategy of
29:57basically smothering a fire will
29:59work in this instance.
30:01By 9 a.m., the fire is burning
30:04out of control, and people start
30:05coming out to watch it, and someone
30:08calls the fire department to come
30:09put it out, but of course, they've
30:11never dealt with anything like this
30:12either.
30:13At 9-12, the pressure gets to a
30:16tipping point where it just can't be
30:18contained anymore, and it just
30:21explodes.
30:26The explosion of the Grand Camp is so
30:29massive that it registers on
30:32seismographs in Denver, Colorado.
30:35That's 800 miles away.
30:39As the blast wave travels through the
30:42port, it is causing destruction,
30:45toppling buildings, knocking over
30:47vehicles, and the ship's two-ton
30:49anchor is thrown a mile and a half
30:52headwind.
30:52It's at this point that engineering
30:55failures in the layout of the port
30:57make this disaster even worse.
31:01There are other fuel tanks in the
31:03port.
31:04There are other ships in the port
31:05also holding ammonium nitrate in its
31:08cargo hold, so that catches fire.
31:10That causes a secondary explosion.
31:14When all is said and done, you have
31:17over 500 people that end up losing
31:20their lives at the port of Texas City,
31:23including pretty much every single
31:25person on the volunteer fire brigade.
31:28A big part of engineering is
31:30engineering safety.
31:32So if you look at all the levels of
31:34failure that lead to this incident,
31:37store materials improperly, once they
31:40get burned, seal them off, and then
31:42attract the crowd to come and watch the show.
31:44It is one engineering failure after
31:47another.
31:50Chemical plants can be dangerous, and if
31:53they're not well maintained, they can
31:56turn deadly.
31:57That's just what happened in Bhopal, India.
32:04It's December 2nd, 1984, and the city of
32:08Bhopal, India, winds down for the night.
32:11But in the heart of the city, a pesticide
32:14plant is a ticking time bomb.
32:18In the 1970s, the Bhopal plant manufactured an
32:22immense amount of a pesticide called
32:24seven.
32:24In order to make seven, the Bhopal factory
32:28makes something called methyl isocyanate.
32:30Methyl isocyanate is a flammable, toxic
32:34liquid.
32:35If it gets into the vapor form, it has a
32:37very strong smell.
32:39But if you're smelling it, it's probably
32:41too late.
32:43Methyl isocyanate, or MIC, has to be
32:46stored in extremely precise conditions.
32:50It must be under pressure.
32:52It must be in a cool temperature.
32:53And it cannot be exposed to any sort of
32:57moisture.
32:58Not a single one of these precautions are
33:00met.
33:03Forty tons of toxic MIC is sitting in a
33:08pressurized storage tank called E610.
33:11But E610 is overpressurized, and it's
33:15beginning to leak.
33:18Despite these maintenance issues, there
33:21should still be a layer of safety precautions in place.
33:24The plant's design includes a critical safeguard.
33:28A jumper line meant to prevent water from mixing with the chemical.
33:32But the line has been replaced recently and
33:36cheaply.
33:38The jumper line becomes, through its poor engineering, the worst enemy of MIC.
33:46Rather than aiding in its cleaning and maintenance, it's actually injecting water into the system.
33:52When water reacts with methyl isocyanate, it produces carbon dioxide gas.
33:57The carbon dioxide gas builds up and the pressure starts to go up.
34:02Around 12-15 AM, workers reported the presence of a leak to their managers.
34:08But the managers were just about to start their evening tea break.
34:12And so they decided to wait until after their break before investigating the cause of the leak.
34:18That tea break is a death warrant for the residents of Bhopal.
34:23The carbon dioxide vents on its own.
34:26It is so highly pressurized that the emergency vent with the concrete underneath it cracks.
34:33Deadly methyl isocyanate gas escapes, and the plant's alarms remain silent.
34:39They are turned off weeks before to save money.
34:44There are several engineering factors attached to tank E610.
34:48Basically, sprinkler system is supposed to shoot up and over the tanks to take the gas down.
34:55But the engineering of the sprinkler system has a critical design flow.
35:00It's built too low.
35:01The curtain of water created by the sprinklers isn't high enough to contain the gas.
35:07With no safety apparatus in operation, the toxic plume of MIC blankets Bhopal.
35:16And it's midnight.
35:17The town is asleep.
35:19Around 1 AM, citizens of the city start realizing something's going on.
35:23They wake up.
35:24They're having a hard time breathing.
35:25They're choking.
35:27Some of them are even experiencing pulmonary edema.
35:29So essentially, their lungs are filling up with water and they're suffocating.
35:33MIC is called the silent killer for a reason.
35:36It's light.
35:37You can't see it.
35:39And it just floats around.
35:41Responders don't know that this deadly gas is the cause.
35:45So initially, doctors and nurses misdiagnose what is happening to these people.
35:50This wastes valuable time as victims continue to flood into emergency rooms.
35:57Within 72 hours, upwards of 5,000 people are dead, many of them elderly or children.
36:04But that's just the beginning.
36:06In the coming weeks, upwards of 20,000 people will die from secondary effects of the Union
36:14carbide plant's absolute negligence.
36:17And it started with bad engineering.
36:21When it's built in the 1970s, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is celebrated as the pinnacle
36:29in Soviet engineering.
36:32But the events of 1986 will put an entire continent at risk.
36:40Chernobyl is touted by the Soviets as being an engineering marvel that would provide energy
36:45to the masses and powers much of Ukraine.
36:49But underneath its imposing facade lies an uncomfortable truth.
36:55Its reactor design is deeply flawed.
37:00The reactor's graphite-tipped control rods, they are designed to slow the reactions during
37:07a shutdown.
37:09But when they are first inserted into the court, they can temporarily lead to an increase in
37:14reactions.
37:15And this can trigger instability, not safety.
37:19On April 26th, a routine safety test begins.
37:25The workers shut down half of the power plant's generators.
37:28Then, as they attempt to restart them, they discover they don't have the backup power to get them
37:35back online.
37:35They realize that they're in trouble.
37:38They decide they have to shut the reactor down, and they drop the graphite rods.
37:42The rods cause the reaction to go unstable, and this coolant inside immediately turns to
37:48steam.
37:48And there's a huge release of radioactive steam, so much force, that it blows the 1,000-ton
37:56cap off of the top of the reactor.
38:01Fires erupt across the plant as radioactive materials are ejected into the atmosphere.
38:10The amount of radiation, gamma radiation, that is being released is lethal.
38:14Incidentally, it will cause burns, and eventually will cause organ failure, which means that
38:20the first responders, they start to die within hours.
38:25Radioactive materials are still burning through the core of the reactor.
38:29If workers don't drain the water below the reactor, more radioactive steam will be produced.
38:37That could trigger an even bigger explosion.
38:40But the tunnels are full of lethal doses of radiation, so they have to ask for three volunteers who
38:48are going to go down into those tunnels, and they call them the suicide squad.
38:54And they give them wetsuits and very little protection.
38:58They send them down, presumably to die.
39:05So they wade through radioactive waters.
39:10They open valves and drain the water.
39:17And in doing so, they save thousands of lives.
39:24Everybody assumes that they died.
39:27The thing is, they didn't.
39:30Meanwhile, a much larger problem is unfolding.
39:34The radioactive cloud is spreading quickly and blanketing the nearby city of Pripyat.
39:40They don't start to give orders for evacuation until 36 hours after the accident.
39:46And of course, when they do, no one's prepared.
39:48There is chaos.
39:51Residents fight to get on buses that are leaving town.
39:55They are frantic to get out of this radiation zone.
39:59But by then, it's almost too late.
40:01They're starting to show symptoms of radiation poisoning.
40:05They have nausea and vomiting.
40:07Also, their hair falling out.
40:09Their arms are starting to feel like pins and needles.
40:11It's a bad situation.
40:13The damage isn't confined to Pripyat.
40:17Radioactive particles spread across Europe.
40:20They contaminate soil, water, and air.
40:23There's a lot of controversy over how many people died as a result of the Chernobyl explosion.
40:29But if you look at things like early death, cancer rates, across a wide swamp into Europe,
40:34the disaster might kill as many as 200,000 people.
40:39It takes three decades to bring some semblance of control back to the site.
40:46In 2016, a massive steel sarcophagus called the new safe containment is slid over reactor number four,
40:57safely sealing it once and for all.
40:59The new safe confinement is essentially a good engineering solution for a bad engineering problem
41:07that happened more than 30 years ago.
41:13Some engineering failures begin with a single mistake.
41:18Others are caused by years of neglect.
41:20But a few cause such shocking destruction.
41:24They rank among history's deadliest.
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