Strip the City

New York City sits on one the world’s largest natural harbours, but this asset is also its greatest danger. It makes the city vulnerable to deadly superstorms from the Atlantic. So how does New York fight back and survive these deadly forces? Stunning CGI animation peels back the stone off the Grand Central Station and the steel off the Verrazano Bridge to reveal their inner workings. Leading engineers and geologists reveal how the new One World Trade Centre will remain standing whatever the weather, as its deeply rooted into super strong bedrock. Also we’ll see how they’re also designing ingenious techniques to stop the next superstorm flooding New York’s bustling Subway System using giant inflatable plugs.

Chicago is a city of intense temperatures. This sprawling metropolis sits on a flat landscape carved out by ancient glaciers – but these plains also create deadly heat waves. As summer temperatures rocket to an atonishing 110 degrees, the buildings come close to meltdown. How do the city’s skyscrapers survive this extreme environment? Stunning CGI animation strips the glass and concrete off the famous Willis building and peels back O’Hare airport’s runways …revealing their inner workings. The city’s leading engineers and geologists reveal the secrets inside Chicago’s skyscaper that heatproof them, protect the city’s bridges and rail tracks from melting and keep residents alive in the searing heat.

Sitting in a lagoon on the edge of the Adriatic Sea, Venice is made up of 118 islands, connected by over 400 bridges. More than 16 million visitors are drawn to this Italian destination each year – but the city is under siege. With rising sea level it is gradually sinking and parts of the city flood 250 times every year. How did Venice come to thrive in such an inhospitable place – and how will it survive today? This film looks beneath the city’s skin to discover the engineering wonders that allowed the city to grow. Stunning CGI animation peels bricks and stone from its historic buildings and drains its waterways. The city’s leading engineers and geologists reveal the secrets that keep Saint Mark’s bell tower from toppling. We join a team of divers on the first underwater inspection of the 400 year old Rialto Bridge and explore how Venice’s new flood barriers are being built.

Tokyo is under attack from the Earth’s most devastating forces with the threat of tsunamis from the East, mega-quakes emanating from miles below and an active volcano - Mount Fuji - to the West. How does the city’s buildings and infrastructure survive the onslaught of a destructive mega-quake? This episode explores the geology that shaped the city’s past and challenges its future, from the active volcano looming in the West to the fault lines that threaten tsunamis and the next mega-quake.

New Orleans is standing on the edge of disaster. Built along the banks of the mighty Mississippi this vibrant city of culture and jazz is completely surrounded by water. Loosing land fast to the Gulf of Mexico, sitting on unstable silty mud, it is also directly in the firing line of hurricanes every year. How do the city’s buildings and infrastructure survive the onslaught of these deadly forces? This film takes apart a hurricane, looks beneath the city’s great superdome to see how it can survive 1000 mph winds, we reveal how its skyscrapers stop themselves sinking and how there is now a plan to build the biggest network of pump stations in the world, which will prevent the city flooding, however big the hurricane.

Beneath the streets of Paris lies a parallel universe – a maze of tunnels and ancient quarries stretching for over 180 miles. These quarries provide the building blocks for the city, but now they threaten it with collapse. The film strips away Paris’s most famous icons to reveal their secret inner workings and the ingenious technology that allowed engineers to build the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Sacre Couer. We peel back the boulevards to reveal the threat that lies just 60 feet below ground. We descend into the city’s caverns to meet the engineers and geologists working to prop up the streets above and join the team constructing a brand new metro line in the city’s already crowded underground world. CGI animation strips away the Eiffel Tower’s and exposes its foundations that drop just 17 feet below the surface. We join the team building Paris’s newest skyscraper to see how this same ‘light touch’ design is helping them transform the city’s skyline.

Perched on slopes 11,000 feet up in the Andes, Machu Picchu was home to over 1000 people. Built as a royal retreat for the emperor it took a thousand stonemasons almost a hundred years to complete. Constantly under threat from earthquakes, landslides and floods how did this ancient city survive for over 400 years? This film strips it temples, buildings and terraces to reveal their secret inner workings and the ingenious techniques that allowed the city to be built without modern tools in one of the most inhospitable regions on earth. The engineers and archaeologists who know this place best reveal how the Inca’s quake proofed their walls with precision cut granite blocks and built a sophisticated canal system which fed its residents water all year round. Stunning CGI animation peels back it terraces and reveals the stonework that made Inca roads one of the most advanced highway systems in the ancient world.

Los Angeles is standing on the brink of a catastrophic earthquake as this entertainment capital of the world sits on one of the world’s most infamous earthquake hotspots – the San Andreas Fault. How does the city’s buildings and infrastructure survive the onslaught of a destructive earthquake? The city’s leading surveyors and geologists reveal the secrets that keep LA’s skyscrapers standing, protect its roads and aqueducts and prepare its residents for ‘the Big One’. The film explores the geology that shaped the city’s past and challenges its future, from the oil reserves that attracted the first settlers to the fault line where a massive earthquake is long overdue.