Beat The Ancestors

Gothic Mega Crane (1x4)

: 14, 2013

The team work on the biggest build of the series – the Gothic Mega Crane. Its invention changed the skylines of Europe, enabling the building of towers higher than the world had ever seen. The team's blueprint is based on the design of the crane that built Salisbury cathedral, the tallest medieval spire in Europe. The crane is driven by two workers walking side by side to revolve a massive tread wheel housed within an even bigger frame. As the wheel turns, rope winds around the wheel's spindle, lifting the weight suspended from its arm. This technique allows the machine to lift blocks weighing as much as 700kg. The crew must build their crane in just three days and can only use materials to which the ancestors had access at the time. They are not merely matching the design, however, but also improving on it. Today, cranes have much more manoeuvrability and can reach further to pick things up, so the team decide to add the capabilities of a modern crane arm to their device. They also need to decide who is going to walk inside the wheel when the crane is complete in order to find out whether it works. No one seems keen... Almost as soon as the build is underway, Jamie and Owen disagree over whether speed or accuracy should take precedence when a sketchy chalk outline on the floor ends up being used as a template for the wheel. The enormity of the task ahead is becoming clear. While the workers battle on, Dick visits Salisbury cathedral itself for a spot of inspiration. This astonishing building was constructed from over 66,000 tonnes of stone and stands over 400 feet high. Halfway up the spire, he even finds the treadwheel that helped to build it. As the project progresses, the team discovers that the slightest miscalculation can lead to disaster. Danger is uppermost in their minds as two of them are locked inside the treadwheel powering the giant crane way above the ground – a job that lead to countless deaths centuries ago. Can the team r