Through their superlative buildings, the legacy of the Egyptian empire continues to enthrall people to this day. Yet these incredible structures were made over 4,000 years ago. Historian Bettany Hughes explores what drove the people of this ancient civilisation to build on such a massive scale. The story is told through the reigns of two pharaohs - Khufu and Ramesses II. Separated by 1,200 years, they both ruled during periods of incredible architectural ambition. Under Khufu, the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed; while under Ramesses II the temples of Abu Simbel came into being. But what drove this ambition? This documentary attempts to get into the hearts and minds of these early Egyptians in their unstoppable pursuit of immortality via great feats of engineering.

Richard Hammond reveals how engineers made one of the longest bridges in the world earthquake-proof. Building a structure almost 3 kilometres long in water 65 metres deep was almost the least of the engineering challenges of bridging the Gulf of Corinth in Greece. The construction would cross one of the most active seismic fault lines in Europe. Defying disaster called for solutions inspired by fragrant Indian incense, the ring-pull in a soda can, a tobbogan, a hammock, and some shiny steel chimneys.

Richard Hammond reveals the engineering connections in NASA s Space Shuttle - the world s first re-usable space craft. He goes backstage at Kennedy Space Centre, in Florida, to discover how an organ pump, tram tracks, a WWII anti-sonar device, a camera iris and a cannonball all helped create the most technologically advanced machine ever engineered by man. Conceived in the early 1970 s as the successor to the Apollo Moon missions, the Shuttle is a delivery system, designed to transport payloads such as the Hubble Telescope, and most of the International Space Station, into orbit, and return for its next cargo. The delivery van is the Orbiter - what most people call the Shuttle - which is mated with a huge external fuel tank and rocket boosters which are all jettisoned. Surviving the huge destructive forces of travelling to space and returning in usable form called for ingenious engineering compromises. The Shuttle is a rocket for the first part of its life, then morphs into a plane for the return journey.

Richard Hammond reveals the engineering connections in NASA s Space Shuttle - the world s first re-usable space craft. He goes backstage at Kennedy Space Centre, in Florida, to discover how an organ pump, tram tracks, a WWII anti-sonar device, a camera iris and a cannonball all helped create the most technologically advanced machine ever engineered by man. Conceived in the early 1970 s as the successor to the Apollo Moon missions, the Shuttle is a delivery system, designed to transport payloads such as the Hubble Telescope, and most of the International Space Station, into orbit, and return for its next cargo. The delivery van is the Orbiter - what most people call the Shuttle - which is mated with a huge external fuel tank and rocket boosters which are all jettisoned. Surviving the huge destructive forces of travelling to space and returning in usable form called for ingenious engineering compromises. The Shuttle is a rocket for the first part of its life, then morphs into a plane for the return journey.

What does it feel like to build the largest aircraft carrier on earth - a floating city that will serve as a combat airport, defending American security around the world? The $4.5 billion USS George Bush is now midway through its four-year construction period in the Western Hemisphere s biggest dry dock at Newport News, Va. The critical superlifts are now underway. These cranes can lift 900 tons, and need every pound of that strength to hoist 160 massive sections of completed flight deck sections into place. The pressure is on as every lift must happen with metronomic accuracy - any delay sets the entire project back.

The tallest skyscraper in Spain is now under construction in Madrid. The 700-foot-tall Torre del Espacio ( Space Tower ) is an insane piece of engineering, unlike any other tall building. It s the only skyscraper in the world where every single floor plan is completely different - a design feature dictated by the spiraling shape of the structure. The bizarre form makes building this thing a nightmare! Unlike run-of-the-mill skyscrapers, building a floor can t be accomplished with traditional construction techniques. Nothing is rectangular, support columns tilt at weird angles, and the concrete forms used to lay out each floor constantly change as the building rises. And the kicker is when a floor is done, there s no easy way to judge if it s been properly built. Only when the emerging shape of the rising building becomes clear will the team know if they ve made an error - and by then, it may be too late to do anything about it.

After the fall of Rome, Italy slowly fell into a dark sleep. It wasn t until the 11th century when the Holy Roman Empire loosened its grip on Italy, that it reawakened. Autonomous city-states emerged, and though ravaged by waves of the plague, these tiny republics began to revitalize their cities and build on a massive level not witnessed since the rise of the Rome. In the late 15th and 16th centuries, alliances among various city-states continually shifted as foreign superpowers tried to sink their claws into Italy. France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire fought out their battles with each other on Italian soil, while the threat of the Turks lurked off the shores of Venice. The masters who are most known for creating the works of art and architecture of the Renaissance, were also the greatest military and civil engineers of the time. With a knowledge of the ancients and a thirst for new invention, engineering rose to heights not seen since the Roman Empire - advancing methods in everything from civilian projects, to architecture, and finally - to war. Some of the epoch s greatest feats of engineering were: The creation of a vast underground aqueduct system in Siena. The Building of the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore by Brunelleschi. The advancement of fortification and firepower by engineers like Sangallo and di Giorgio. And, the renewal of Rome s glory as a city from the repairing of the Roman aqueducts to the moving of St. Peters mammoth obelisk.

Richard Hammond reveals the surprising engineering connections between Japan s Bullet Train, the world s first high-speed train, and ancient charioteers, a crowbar, a medieval clock, the electric telegraph and a 19th-century luxury racing car. Nearly fifty years old, the Bullet Train is still pioneering new high-speed technology. Richard builds his own train to show how engineers reinvented the train wheel to prevent it violently shaking at its top speeds of close to 200mph (300kph). Things start to heat up when he visits a high voltage lab to find out how engineers eliminated the danger of 10,000 degree electrical arcs by devising an ingeniously levered pantograph - the connection between the train and the overhead power lines. They also made the train light to maximise acceleration, but as Richard finds out on a skid pan, this created a slippery problem only solved thanks to the world s first four-wheel-drive car - the Lohner Porsche. Obviously, four driven wheels were not enough for a Bullet Train, so engineers made it a 112-wheel-drive.

Burj Al Arab: The Burj Al Arab (Arabic: ??? ??????,Tower of the Arabs) is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 321 m (1,053 ft), it is the fourth tallest hotel in the world. The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 m (920 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure whose shape mimics the sail of a ship.

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