Loading...
Mega Movers is a television program on The History Channel. It first aired on April 18, 2006. The program details the preparations and inside problems and details of large moves, such as historical buildings being relocated to new sites miles away, oil derricks and such like difficult moves.
2006
From the Earth to the moon and beyond, NASA has made some of the most spectacular Mega Moves in history. They have the option to transport huge cargo through a route unavailable to most movers: the air. In Florida, the crew of one of the world's most unusual looking airplanes will move a piece of the International Space Station to a facility in Alabama. And in Colorado, NASA will use one of Russia's largest cargo jets to transport sections of the Atlas satellite rocket for an upcoming launch. Do these engineers have the right stuff to get the job done?
Everyday Mega Movers are asked to move some very strange structures. In Mississippi a crew tackles century old 150 ton oak trees. These eight story tall trees with root extending 60 feet survived Hurricane Katrina. Now they must survive this Mega Move. In Maryland a veteran Mega Mover will confront a 146 year-old Victorian house that is thought to be jinxed. For years many have tried to move it, and all have failed after facing major issues with utility lines, clearances, property, and accessible routes. In this episode Mega Movers prove that no matter how strange or eerie or haunted they will get the job done.
A large brick building constructed in 1906 is moved. A shoreline is reinforced with 2.7 million cubic yards of sand. A 60 ton steam shovel is moved 5 miles. A 30 ton rocket is transported inside an airplane.
Suppose the world's largest aircraft carrier, the 1,092 feet USS Ronald Reagan, came under enemy attack and was crippled at sea. There's not a ship big enough to rescue it and move it back to the U.S. for repairs. Watch as engineering theorists design and build the largest heavy-lift submersible vessel ever to lift it out of the water and haul it halfway across the world. Then, as war rages in the Middle East, the U.S. Naval fleet is at increasing danger of being destroyed by enemy deep-sea mines. Orders are issued to move a 224-foot long, 1,300-ton minesweeper halfway around the world. It's a job that can only be done by using an enormous heavy-lift ship to move this mighty war ship.
World War II aircraft...lost for more then 50 years, they are discovered in some of the most hostile locations imaginable. Driven by a desire to preserve these relics, Mega Movers risk their lives and go to extremes to salvage four aircraft. Braving sub-zero temperatures, they free a P-38 entombed 260 feet below a glacier. Working on the floor of the frigid North Sea they recover a rare Nazi Focke-Wulf 190. A B-24 on a remote island has to be hauled down towering cliffs and dragged aboard a recovery boat 250 feet off shore. And in a move that will claim the life of a crew member, a rare P-61 "Black Widow" is recovered from nearly 7,000 feet up a mountainside in a snake infested jungle. Braving the horrors of their surroundings this show is a testament to the spirit, courage and determination of Mega Movers.
They are miracles of engineering dating back thousands of years -- remains of ancient structures around the world that seem too heavy to move. From the towering 80-ton statues on Easter Island...to the Roman God of Thunder's Temple 800-ton trilithon stones...to the colossal 30-ton stone heads moved eighty miles over brutal mountainous terrain. Scientists and engineers search for clues and set out to solve the mysteries of how primitive Mega Movers pushed the limits of ingenuity and pulled off the impossible.
Their soaring height is imposing. Their narrow design makes them some of the most difficult and dangerous structures to move -- from the 100-foot-tall obelisks of Ancient Egypt to the 1,483 foot tall Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Those that dare try to move these tall structures face almost certain defeat. Yet, despite the risks Mega Movers prove it can be done - first by peering into the future to move two of the world's tallest skyscrapers, and then taking on a present-day challenge never before attempted - simultaneously moving two towering silos connected by a common wall.
It's a scenario right out of a science fiction movie. What if in the future the Pentagon - the world's largest office building - had to be moved, while operating at full-capacity? That's 3.7 million square feet of office space and nearly a million tons of weight. Could it be done? One Mega Mover theorist lays out his plan for this extraordinary move. Then these same principles are put to the test when two thriving businesses -- a general store and a funeral home - must be moved with all its contents inside. For the general store, that means moving priceless antiques. For the funeral home, it's keeping caskets and embalming equipment from being destroyed. Will it be celebration or sorrow for the owners who put their trust in Mega Movers?
Ships are purposely sunk for different reasons - scuttled to keep out of the hands of enemy forces, or decommissioned and transformed into artificial reefs. But in the future it might not be only ships that are sunk. Imagine if a towering skyscraper was facing the wrecking ball and instead of demolishing it the owners brought in a Mega Mover to lower it onto a barge, float it out to sea and sink it as an artificial reef! In Brownsville, Texas a World War Two attack transport ship, the U.S.S. Queens - later renamed the Texas Clipper - needs to be scuttled to create a desperately needed artificial reef. But placing a 500-foot long ship at a precise spot 130 feet down on the bottom of the ocean presents enormous challenges. One mistake... one miscalculation and an ecological wonder becomes an ecological nightmare.
The world's oceans are graveyards for some of the greatest ships ever built. But thanks to Mega Movers some of them have risen from the dead. During the mid-1500's the English warship Mary Rose was sunk by a French cannon. Many times it was attempted to be recovered but they all ended in heartbreak. Finally, more then 400 years after it sank, its massive 580-ton hull would be raised from its watery grave. In the Baltic Sea the 17th century warship, The Vasa, was heralded as the greatest ship ever built at that time. On the day of her maiden voyage she sank. After early salvages failed, Mega Movers spent more then a year battling dangers to raise her to the surface. When the huge French liner Normandie capsized in New York Harbor, it created a deadly toxic cesspool. A team of Mega Movers with the Navy Salvage Service braved deadly conditions and pulled off the dangerous mission of bringing her back up. At the end of World War II in the shallow area of Scapa Flow a captured German Admiral gave the orders to scuttle 72 captured ships. Experts said they could never be raised. One man proved them wrong and raised 28 of them in what still remains the largest salvage operation in history.
Mega Movers salvages a submarine.
The team defy convention as they move a famous 1879 schooner - not through the sea, but rather the narrow city streets of Charleston
The task of relocating part of the Denver International Airport, and physically moving the TWA terminal at JFK International nearly a quarter of a mile
2007
Follow the massive move of the USS Intrepid from its New York City pier to Bayonne, New Jersey. This legendary carrier helped to destroy Japan's Imperial Navy and survived five kamikaze attacks. A New York real estate developer opened it as a museum in 1982. Watch as it gets stuck in the mud when attempts are made to move it for much needed repairs, then ultimately freed by Navy divers.
The world's oceans are graveyards for some of the greatest ships ever built. But thanks to Mega Movers some of them have risen from the dead. During the mid-1500's the English warship Mary Rose was sunk by a French cannon. Many times it was attempted to be recovered but they all ended in heartbreak. Finally, more then 400 years after it sank, its massive 580-ton hull would be raised from its watery grave. In the Baltic Sea the 17th century warship, The Vasa, was heralded as the greatest ship ever built at that time. On the day of her maiden voyage she sank. After early salvages failed, Mega Movers spent more then a year battling dangers to raise her to the surface. When the huge French liner Normandie capsized in New York Harbor, it created a deadly toxic cesspool. A team of Mega Movers with the Navy Salvage Service braved deadly conditions and pulled off the dangerous mission of bringing her back up. At the end of World War II in the shallow area of Scapa Flow a captured German Admiral gave the orders to scuttle 72 captured ships. Experts said they could never be raised. One man proved them wrong and raised 28 of them in what still remains the largest salvage operation in history.
War inspires ingenuity... some of the greatest battles have been won or lost based on the work of Mega Movers. In 218 B.C. the Mega Movers' tool was 37 elephants that transported men and cargo across the Alps, ensuring victory for Hannibal at the Battle of Trebbia. In 304 B.C. the famous 160-ton Helepolis siege tower, which required 3,400 men working in relays to move it, was used for the Siege of Rhodes. And in 1944, at D-Day, the battle turned on the work of military Mega Movers who built two massive harbors in just two weeks. It's not only on the battlefield where the military has earned their Mega Mover stripes but also during times of crisis. October 8, 2005 - Pakistan is hit by a major earthquake. With the death-toll climbing, aid is desperately needed to prevent thousands more from dying. In one of the fastest mobilizations of Army helicopters ever used for relief, four CH-47 choppers were loaded into two mammoth C-5 Galaxy cargo planes and flown from Hawaii to Pakistan, delivering life-saving supplies to thousands of refugees.
Imagine trying to move a 475,000 pound structure from Texas to Minnesota. Forget freeways, it'll never clear bridges or overpasses. Flight is out of the question. The only way to do it--lift it by crane, load it onto a barge and float it up the mighty Mississippi River... an amazing move that will travel past 10 states and cover more than 2400 miles.
2006
Join us on two treacherous trips as we follow two separate structural moving families in their struggles to relocate and save a 100-year-old homestead and an 1890 Queen Anne Victorian house. In Colorado, a father and son have to fight fierce weather and the fragility of a purported haunted log cabin and decaying barn to move them two miles across a rugged mountainside. In Illinois, three generations of movers are pushed to their limit when they are hired to transport a 180-ton monster house across town. Will these historic homes reach their final resting places in one piece and find peace?
The Matyiko brothers are a legendary Mega Mover family. Their company Expert House Movers entered the record books when they moved the historic Gem Theatre in Detroit, The Schubert Theatre in Minneapolis and the Cape Hattarass Lighthouse. In this Mega Movers episode the brothers battle time and the elements. In Massachusetts, the clock is ticking to move a 900-ton brick building to its new location. Any delays will cost the veteran house movers thousands of dollars. And in North Carolina, three vacation houses must make a perilous journey across 8 miles of open beach to reach their new home. Will the homes arrive safely? Or, will the treacherous waters of the Outer Banks claim yet another victim?
Oil is the lifeblood of the world's economy, and it's up to the Mega Movers to make sure that this flow is uninterrupted. Off the coast of Singapore, one of the largest and most unusual ships ever built will transport an entire 22,000-ton oil rig to the Gulf of Mexico. Making the 14,000-mile trek across two oceans will test the skills of both man and machine. And in Alaska, the pressure is on to move an 80-by-60-foot pump station on the Trans-Alaskan pipeline. But an approaching winter storm threatens to stop this move cold. Will these vital oil industry components successfully reach their destinations?
In 1943, a B-25 Mitchell - the most versatile twin-engine bomber of World War II - Crash-landed in South Carolina. It sank 150 feet to the bottom of a lake and over time was forgotten. 60 years later, a local doctor is determined to raise the giant bomber intact and give it to a museum. A MEGA MOVERS team of divers, engineers and preservationists take on the job of moving the 20,000-pound bomber to the surface. They will have to over come the challenges of working in nearly zero visibility murky waters, an approaching hurricane and the belief the plane is breaking apart.
Travel back to the golden age of railroads in this episode of Mega Movers. A small Washington town is determined to save their cherished train depot from the wrecking ball. But time and Mother Nature have taken their toll on the aging structure. Will the old depot once again welcome tourists to the town of Morton? Meanwhile in two Texas cities Mega Movers are moving two unique locomotives using two different methods - one that's been used for more then 150 years. And another that's on the cutting edge of Mega Mover technology. Watch how these giant locomotives roll again for the first time in 50 years.
Mega Movers are called upon to lift two hidden treasures out of obscurity. In Pennsylvania movers must lift an entire historic 1938 diner out of a building that has covered it for more than 50 years. But moving the cherished landmark unscathed will pose quite a challenge for everyone involved. Meanwhile, a determined mining historian must rescue a gigantic 1923 steam shovel that has been hidden high up in the Colorado Rockies. Will 30 years of sludge and the rugged terrain stop this move before it even begins?
In America's heartland, few structures are as iconic as the country barn and the local church. In Nebraska, Mega Movers will attempt to transport an historic Gothic horse barn to a new farm. Working in sub-zero temperatures they'll have to maneuver the massive structure through 26 miles of extremely narrow unpaved country roads to reach their destination. And in Texas, a 115-year-old church will have to be cut into five pieces before being relocated to a new spot 2 miles away. Will the workers be able to reassemble this cherished chapel and preserve it for future congregations?
When it comes to working in extreme environments at the bottom of the Ocean or in a deadly rain forest Mega Movers are ready. In this episode we travel from Florida to Hawaii. In Florida, they battle the elements to preserve a hurricane-ravaged beach by moving nearly 3 million cubic yards of sand from the ocean floor to the coastline. In Hawaii an old plantation house is moved deep into a rain forest on the edge of an active volcano. You will see the ways pros who know the conditions get the job done.
Whether it's dangling from a tower crane 40 stories in the air or battling a flooded field packed with tree stumps to move an historic farmhouse if it's got to be moved, the Mega Movers are always up to the challenge. In this episode, we look at two very different moves. In California, Mega Movers must disassemble and move a tower crane in Los Angeles. And in North Carolina they struggle to move a pre Civil War house. In this episode you will see the unique methods and tools that these movers use to get the job done.
When it comes to moving giant structures, few moves are as impressive as those that take place at sea. These types of moves require a unique set of techniques and tools as well as careful, detailed planning. In Canada, a team of engineers will attempt to move a gigantic 702-ton ship-loading device from the coast of Vancouver to a small mining island 70 miles away. Meanwhile, off the coast of Virginia, Mega Movers will try to save an endangered island house by loading the entire structure onto a barge and sailing 5 miles to the mainland. But there is little margin for error in this chaotic environment, requiring all of the skill and ingenuity that the movers can muster.
Bridges move people and cargo everyday, but what happens when the bridge itself needs to be moved? In this episode of Mega Movers, we look at how two very different bridges are moved using two very different methods. In Missouri, local bridge preservationists will attempt to transport a 137-ton railroad bridge right through the heart of downtown Kansas City. And in Iowa, the National Guard is called in to save a 129-year old bridge using one of the most modern mega moving tools available: a Chinook helicopter. Will the Mega Movers succeed in preserving these beloved bridges for future pedestrians to use?
