September 24, 2009

Tons of Steel and Limitless Determination: MEGA BUILDERS Explores Extraordinary Feats of Engineering, October 14 on Discovery Channel

– Original Canadian series returns for Season 4 with seven extreme engineering projects –

Toronto, ON (September 24, 2009) – Can engineers save Venice from sinking, in the middle of a flood? How does a crew of 8,000 build a city within a city on the Vegas strip? Will the ambitious Led Zeppelin roller-coaster impress die-hard thrill seekers? Just because it’s never been done before, doesn’t mean it isn’t possible – or does it? Meet the master builders who thrive on solving these engineering riddles. Engineering the near-impossible, MEGA BUILDERS captures the biggest, most complex, most stressful and most dangerous engineering projects around the world. Premiering Wednesday, October 14 at 9 p.m. ET/11 p.m. PT, each edge-of-your-seat episode of MEGA BUILDERS tracks the most awe-inspiring construction projects in modern engineering and the building teams behind them. From the 300,000 pieces of steel used to construct the ultimate cargo ship to a rare five-lane floating bridge, this original Canadian series returns with projects so enormous and challenging, you will be compelled to ask “how will they ever pull this off?”

With seven new builds highlighted in Season 4, MEGA BUILDERS circles the globe in search of the world’s biggest engineering projects. Episode highlights from the first episodes of MEGA BUILDERS include:

MEGA BUILDERS: “King of the Container Ships”
Wednesday, October 14 at 9 p.m. ET/11 p.m. PT
Go behind the scenes of Europe’s biggest shipyard as the world’s largest container ship is assembled. As long as four football fields, as tall as an apartment building, and too wide to fit through the Panama Canal, the crew has just one year to build this mammoth vessel. Built to carry more than 11,000 containers – a freight train would have to be over 70km long to carry the equivalent load! – the ship is propelled by horsepower equal to 1,200 car engines and designed to travel a distance of 7.5 times around the world every year. And though this ship is massive on every scale, its assembly requires extreme precision with no room for error – not even by a millimetre. Follow the process step by step – or block by block – as it’s constructed in classic Danish style, like 300,000 pieces of Lego!

MEGA BUILDERS: “Hard Rock Park”
Wednesday, October 21 at 9 p.m. ET/11 p.m. PT
Get ready to rock your ride as MEGA BUILDERS takes the inside track on creating the thrilling rides and marquee attractions that will define a new theme Myrtle Back theme park based on the Hard Rock Café franchise. The first new American theme park to be built in over a decade, the Hard Rock Park has more than a few challenges to overcome before they open the gates, including – among others – the fact that the park is situated in a location that’s both an earthquake zone and prime hurricane area… and in the flight path of a major airport! Nothing about this park is ordinary. The plunges and twists of the park’s flagship musical roller-coaster, “Led Zeppelin: The Ride,” is designed and choreographed to ride in time with the band’s song “Whole Lotta Love.” And to make it more exciting for coaster enthusiasts – and challenging for the engineers – part of the ride is being built over a lagoon.

Other MEGA BUILDERS episode highlights this season include:

Engineers attempt to build a “bridge of last resort” – an expensive and risky floating five-lane bridge – across Lake Okanagan in “Floating Bridge” (Oct. 28). Then, the largest privately financed project in U.S. history, the dazzling MGM CityCenter in Las Vegas, takes the spotlight in “Glitz City” (Nov. 4), a project that boasts multiple high-rises, a 4,000 room hotel/casino, a 2,000-seat theatre and its own power plant, fire station and monorail system. MEGA BUILDERS travels to Seoul, Korea, to chronicle the construction of the Incheon Bridge, a 12.5km bridge linking the bustling mainland with its island airport – one of the longest sea crossings in the world – in “Blockbuster Bridge” (Nov. 11). Also this season, follow the construction of the world’s largest oil rig – a semi-submersible giant weighing in at 71,000 tons – in “Big Rig” (Nov. 18); and finally, engineers devise some innovative solutions to save some of Europe’s most precious art and antiquities in Italy’s soggiest city in “Venice Code Red” (Nov. 25).

MEGA BUILDERS is produced for Discovery Channel by Barna Alper Productions Inc.

About Discovery Channel
Bold and leading edge, while informing and entertaining, Discovery Channel is Canada’s leading source for factual programming, as it puts a new spin on exploring adventure, science and technology. This award-winning channel covers the scientific beat, from animals to the animalistic side of humanity, from the sea to space, and the latest in innovation. TV Trends and Quality (TVQ) Survey consistently ranks Discovery Channel Canada first among all English-language Canadian specialty networks for overall quality of programming. Discovery Channel is one of the first Canadian specialty channels to offer programs in HDTV and its production house, Exploration Production Inc. (EPI), continues to be internationally recognized as a producer of cutting-edge programming with distribution to more than 150 countries. The channel's website may be found at DiscoveryChannel.ca.

-DISCOVERY-

For more information:
Jodi Cook, Discovery Channel, 416.384.4603 or jodi.cook@ctv.ca
Shannon Hall, Discovery Channel, 416.384.5903 or shannon.hall@ctv.ca

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