Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Arts & Culture

NOVA: Super Tunnel

Construction worker inspects completed tunnel beneath the Thames, London, England. (undated photo)
Courtesy of Crossrail (WGBH)
Construction worker inspects completed tunnel beneath the Thames, London, England. (undated photo)

Airs Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

Join engineers as they build a massive new railway deep beneath the streets of London.

Underneath the streets of London, a team of more than ten thousand construction workers race to build a brand new metro line – Crossrail. Costing almost $23 billion, it’s the biggest engineering project in Europe and must link into the existing metro system. As they burrow the 26 miles of tunnels, engineers battle to make sure historic buildings don’t crack, London Underground trains keep running, and an ambitious station roof made up of 2500 pieces comes together on time.

Crucially, they must drive one of their gigantic 1000-ton tunnel boring machines through the earth, passing within inches of escalators and an active subway tunnel, without the passengers on the tube platforms below ever knowing they are there.

Advertisement

Join NOVA to plunge into the tunnels of the London Underground and follow this high stakes, action packed engineering endeavor, and discover just how engineers are performing this delicate surgery through the heart of the historic city in "Super Tunnel."

The Crossrail Project is on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and you can follow @Crossrail on Twitter. NOVA is on Facebook, and you can follow @novapbs on Twitter.

Video clips and past episodes of NOVA are available for online viewing for a limited time after each broadcast. Extend your on-demand viewing with KPBS Passport, video streaming for members ($60 yearly) using your computer, smartphone or tablet. We offer Passport videos on ROKU! Activate your benefit now.