Heavy Lift I

An in-depth look at the science behind saving Venice from high water floods and the construction and engineering of one of the world’s largest mobile surge barriers, which aims to keep high water at bay in the Venice lagoon. As the last stages of this complex 40-year mega public works project are being completed, suspense builds as to whether or not this innovative but controversial maritime engineering gamble will actually work.

An in-depth look at the complex heavy lift process of taking an old ship, cutting it in half and stretching it – an operation called Jumboisation, increasingly common as the demand in the lucrative cruise industry for bigger ships that can haul more and more passengers.

The Antonov An 225 Myra is the world's largest plane, and only one example was ever built. Exclusively filmed in the Antonov factory in Kiev, this documentary tells the story of the development of the aircraft on the basis of the worlds second largest plane, the An 125. The Myra was built to carry Russia's version of the Space shuttle – the Buran. All this of course before the break-up of the Soviet Union. The program features exciting walk-around footage of the Mrya and interviews with the engineers who built it. We take the viewer back to the days when carrying military equipment far and fast was the key to success in a potential third world war. That conflict never happened but since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of an independent Ukraine, the Antonov desiogn bureau and factory, and Antonov Airlines company have provided some of the most impressive transport over the last decade, contracted by governments to move emergency relief supplies, military equipment and industrial parts.