This is How Humans Have Changed the World | Generation Earth | BBC Earth Science

Summary

The script explores the world's largest engineering feats, from China's massive aqueduct project that will supply water to millions by 2030, to Bingham Canyon Mine's vast copper extraction crucial for modern technology. It delves into the intricacies of constructing mega-ships, the efficiency of container shipping, and the bustling underground transit systems of London and Tokyo, showcasing the scale and precision behind these monumental human endeavors.

Takeaways

• 🌏 The Chinese are building the world's largest aqueduct, a massive engineering project that is being constructed in 50m-long sections.
• 🏗️ Each section of the aqueduct starts as a steel rod framework, weighing 1,200 tonnes, and is moved into place by powerful cranes.
• 🚜 The positioning of the aqueduct sections is critical to allow water to flow naturally to Beijing without the need for pumps.
• 🕰️ The aqueduct project is expected to be fully operational by 2030, providing water to millions in northern China.
• 🏭 Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest open-pit mine globally, producing enough ore annually to rewire every home in the USA and Mexico.
• 🔨 The mine's operations involve massive machinery, including trucks weighing more than jumbo jets, to remove waste rock and extract copper.
• 🚜 Copper is essential for modern life, used in wiring, plumbing, cellphones, and hybrid cars, and Bingham Mine has been mining for over 100 years.
• 💡 The construction of a new super sewer in Mexico City highlights the challenges of managing sewage in densely populated urban areas.
• 🤿 Professional scuba divers like Julio face dangerous and vile conditions, diving in raw sewage to unblock pipes by hand.
• 🚢 The construction of mega-container ships requires a massive workforce, immense engines, and precision crane operations.
• 🚢 The scale of shipbuilding is immense, with shipyards producing approximately 100 mega-ships a year, each capable of holding 13,000 shipping containers.
• 🚅 The London Underground and Tokyo's subway system exemplify the complexity and efficiency of urban transportation, moving millions of people daily.

Q & A

What is the significance of the giant raised canal or aqueduct being constructed by the Chinese?

The giant raised canal or aqueduct is the largest engineering project on Earth, being constructed to build a man-made river across the landscape to carry water north to Beijing without the need for pumps, benefiting millions in northern China.

How are the sections of the aqueduct being constructed?

The sections are constructed on site, piece by piece, in separate 50m-long sections. Each section starts as a giant framework of steel rods, built by a team of 20 men, and then encased in concrete before being moved into position.

What is the weight of each aqueduct section and how is it moved into position?

Each section weighs 1,200 tonnes, which is more than three jumbo jets. It is moved into position with one of the world's most powerful cranes operated by a 25-year-old crane driver named Guang Ah Fung.

What is the critical aspect of positioning the aqueduct sections?

Positioning the blocks is critical because the water has to flow north to Beijing of its own accord without pumps. The gradient must be set perfectly, with one end just a centimetre lower than the other.

When is the aqueduct expected to be fully operational?

The aqueduct is expected to be fully operational by 2030.

What is the scale of Bingham Canyon Mine and why is it so large?

Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest open-pit mine in the world, producing enough ore each year to rewire every home in the USA and Mexico. It is so large because the ore contains only a tiny amount of copper, requiring the mining of a vast amount of material to extract enough pure metal.

What is Matt Lengerich's role at Bingham Canyon Mine?

Matt Lengerich is the operations manager in charge of the mine.

How long does it take to reach some of the deeper copper seams in Bingham Canyon Mine?

Some seams of copper are so deep that it takes seven years to dig through waste rock just to reach them.

What is the role of professional scuba diver Julio in Mexico City's sewer system?

Julio has one of Mexico's dirtiest jobs, diving in raw sewage to unblock pipes by hand, ensuring that the city's sewage continues to move out.

What is the Tube and how does it relate to the London Underground?

The Tube is a nickname for the London Underground. It is the oldest subway system in the world and during morning rush, over half a million people use it to commute to work, with over 500 trains running on 250 miles of track moving nearly three million people daily.

Why is the Tokyo subway system considered the busiest in the world?

The Tokyo subway system is considered the busiest because it handles eight million commuters daily, resulting in an astonishing three billion journeys a year.

How do modern container ships facilitate the efficient loading and unloading of goods?

Modern container ships facilitate efficient loading and unloading through the use of standardized shipping containers, which are easy to get on and off ships. Cranes at ports can handle a large number of these containers in a short amount of time, such as 35 containers per hour per crane.

Outlines

00:00

🏗️ Massive Engineering Projects

This paragraph introduces viewers to the largest engineering project on Earth: a giant raised aqueduct being constructed in China. The aqueduct is being built in 50m-long sections, each weighing 1,200 tonnes and requiring a team of 20 men to assemble a steel rod framework before encasing it in concrete. Guang Ah Fung, a 25-year-old crane driver, is responsible for positioning these sections with precision to ensure water flows naturally to Beijing without pumps. The project is expected to be completed by 2030, benefiting millions in northern China. The script then shifts to discuss the need for large-scale projects to feed the world, exemplified by Bingham Mine, the largest open-pit mine, which produces enough ore annually to rewire every home in the USA and Mexico. Matt Lengerich, the operations manager, explains the mine's expansion and the importance of copper in modern life. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the scale of mining operations required to extract even small amounts of copper from low-grade ore.

05:01

🚜 The Colossal Scale of Mining and Infrastructure

The second paragraph delves deeper into the mining process at Bingham Canyon Mine, where it takes seven years to dig through waste rock to reach copper seams. The mine's operations are massive, with giant trucks weighing more than jumbo jets working around the clock to remove rubble. Frosty, a truck driver, describes the experience and the high fuel consumption of these vehicles. The paragraph then transitions to discuss the challenges faced by engineers and workers in maintaining infrastructure, such as the super sewer being built in Mexico City. Professional scuba diver Julio is introduced, whose job involves diving into raw sewage to unblock pipes, highlighting the dangerous and dirty nature of such work. The growing world population and the need for efficient transportation of goods lead to the discussion of container ships, the largest vehicles on the planet, and the immense resources required to construct them, including a workforce of 50,000 and engines with over 100,000 horsepower.

10:05

🛳️ Building and Operating Mega-Ships

This paragraph focuses on the construction of one of the world's largest ships, detailing the immense scale of the effort. It requires tens of thousands of tonnes of steel, massive engines, and the use of a colossal crane capable of lifting 1,300 tonnes. Ju Seong-jong, an experienced crane operator, is highlighted for his precision in assembling ship components. The completed ship is described as a colossal structure, over 50 meters high from its keel, three times longer than a football field, and capable of holding 13,000 shipping containers. The shipyard's productivity is emphasized, with approximately 100 mega-ships produced annually. The challenges of loading and unloading such large ships are addressed, illustrating how the invention of the shipping container and modern cranes have revolutionized the process, allowing for the rapid handling of hundreds of containers per hour. The efficiency of ports, exemplified by Ulsan, the fifth-largest port in the world, is noted, with 14 million container boxes handled in a year.

15:08

🚇 The Complexity of Urban Transportation Systems

The final paragraph examines the intricate urban transportation systems, particularly focusing on the London Underground and Tokyo's subway system. It describes the London Underground's scale, with over 500 trains running on 250 miles of track, moving nearly three million people daily. The paragraph highlights the system's age as the world's oldest and contrasts it with Tokyo's, which, despite being the busiest, moves an astounding eight million commuters daily, totaling three billion journeys annually. The importance of efficient management is underscored, with 25 officials like Yūhei Mitsuhashi on each platform to ensure smooth flow. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the expectation of punctuality and the critical role these systems play in facilitating daily commutes in densely populated urban areas.

Keywords

💡Aqueduct

An aqueduct is a bridge-like structure that carries water across a valley or road. In the video, the aqueduct represents a significant engineering project in China, being constructed in 50m-long sections with each section weighing 1,200 tonnes. The aqueduct's purpose is to transport water to Beijing without the need for pumps, illustrating the video's theme of massive human-made structures designed to meet essential needs.

💡Engineering Project

An engineering project refers to a large-scale endeavor that requires the application of engineering principles to design and construct a structure or system. The video showcases various engineering projects, such as the giant aqueduct in China and the Bingham Canyon Mine, emphasizing the scale and complexity of human endeavors to shape the environment for societal needs.

💡Gradient

Gradient is the rate of change of a physical quantity with respect to another, often used to describe the slope of a surface. In the context of the aqueduct, the narrator mentions the critical positioning of the blocks with a perfect gradient to ensure water flows naturally to Beijing. This concept is crucial for the aqueduct's functionality and ties into the overarching theme of precision in large-scale projects.

💡Bingham Canyon Mine

Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest open-pit mine in the world, known for its vast size and copper production. The video describes how the mine's operations are essential for extracting copper, which is vital for modern life, from wiring to hybrid cars. The mine exemplifies the theme of resource extraction on a grand scale to support global needs.

💡Copper

Copper is a reddish-brown metal known for its high thermal and electrical conductivity. It is a key material in various applications, as highlighted in the video with its use in wiring, plumbing fixtures, cellphones, and hybrid cars. The Bingham Canyon Mine's copper production is a prime example of how mining operations contribute to the infrastructure and technology that society relies on.

💡Open-pit Mine

An open-pit mine, also known as an open-cast mine, is a type of mining where a large pit is excavated to extract minerals. The Bingham Canyon Mine is presented as an example of such a mine, with its size expanding continually and its operations requiring massive machinery and infrastructure to extract low-grade ore.

💡Container Ship

A container ship is a large vessel designed to transport goods in standardized shipping containers. The video discusses the construction of one of the biggest container ships in the world, requiring a massive workforce and materials. These ships are central to global trade, illustrating the video's theme of the immense scale of modern transportation and logistics.

💡Shipping Container

A shipping container is a large standardized box used to transport goods by ship, rail, and truck. The video explains how the uniformity of these containers has revolutionized the loading and unloading process at ports, allowing for the efficient movement of millions of containers annually, which is integral to the theme of optimizing global trade.

💡Crane Operator

A crane operator is a professional who controls crane machinery to lift and move heavy objects. In the video, the crane operator, Ju Seong-jong, is highlighted for his precision in assembling large ship components, showcasing the skill and expertise required in operating heavy machinery for massive construction projects.

💡Subway System

A subway system is an underground rail network that provides rapid transit within a city. The video mentions the London Underground as the oldest and Tokyo's system as the busiest, emphasizing the critical role these systems play in moving millions of commuters daily and the theme of transportation infrastructure on a massive scale.

💡Sewage Pump

A sewage pump is a device used to move wastewater and sewage through a system. The video describes the challenges faced by professional scuba divers like Julio, who must dive into raw sewage to unblock pumps in Mexico City. This highlights the theme of the unsung heroes and the extreme measures taken to maintain urban infrastructure.

Highlights

The construction of the world's largest engineering project, a giant raised canal or aqueduct in China.

Aqueduct sections are built on-site, 50m-long and weighing 1,200 tonnes each, more than three jumbo jets.

25-year-old crane driver Guang Ah Fung operates one of the world's most powerful cranes to move these massive sections.

The aqueduct's critical positioning requires a perfect gradient for water to flow naturally to Beijing without pumps.

The aqueduct is expected to be fully operational by 2030, benefiting millions in northern China.

Bingham Mine, the world's largest open-pit mine, produces enough ore annually to rewire every home in the USA and Mexico.

Matt Lengerich, operations manager, discusses the necessity of mining for essential materials like copper.

Bingham Canyon Mine's low-grade ore contains only a small amount of copper, necessitating massive excavation.

Over 100 years of mining at Bingham Mine has produced 19 million tonnes of copper and billions of tonnes of material.

Giant trucks at the mine, each weighing more than a jumbo jet, work around the clock to remove waste rock.

Professional scuba diver Julio has one of Mexico's dirtiest jobs, unblocking city sewage pipes by hand.

Mexico City's sewage system is overwhelmed, with a single sewer handling waste from industry, homes, and hospitals.

The construction of the world's largest ships requires a workforce of 50,000 and massive resources.

Crane operator Ju Seong-jong assembles ship pieces with millimeter precision, using a crane capable of lifting 1,300 tonnes.

A single mega-ship can hold 13,000 shipping containers and is constructed with engines the size of houses.

Ulsan, the fifth largest port in the world, handles about 14 million container boxes annually.

The London Underground, the world's oldest subway system, moves nearly three million people daily.

Tokyo's underground system is the busiest, with eight million commuters traveling underground daily.

In Tokyo, 25 platform officials manage the smooth flow of commuters, ensuring trains run on time.

Transcripts

[Narrator] And this is it.

A giant raised canal, or aqueduct,

currently the largest engineering project on Earth.

The Chinese are constructing the aqueduct on site

piece by piece as they go,

in separate 50m-long sections.

Each one starts off as a giant framework of steel rods.

A team of 20 men build this bird-nest-like skeleton.

The whole structure is encased in concrete.

Then it's ready to be moved into position

with one of the world's most powerful cranes.

Each section weighs 1,200 tonnes,

more than three jumbo jets.

The 25-year-old crane driver, Guang Ah Fung,

isn't daunted by it all.

[Narrator] Building a man-made river across the landscape

takes more than just brute force.

Positioning the blocks is critical.

The water has to flow north to Beijing of its own accord.

There are no pumps.

So Guang Ah Fung has to set the gigantic block at the perfect gradient,

just a centimetre lower at one end than the other.

The aqueduct is so long,

it won't be fully operational until 2030.

When it's carrying water,

millions in northern China will benefit.

The need to move water to where people live

has led to giant engineering projects across the world.

But it's our need to feed ourselves that's really transformed the face of our planet.

[Narrator] This is Bingham Mine.

It produces enough ore each year to rewire

every home in the USA and Mexico.

It's the largest open-pit mine in the world.

[Matt] The size of Bingham Canyon Mine

continues to expand all the time.

Today, we're about 2.5 miles wide at our widest point,

and we're nearly a mile deep at our deepest point.

As we get bigger, we move back in about 1,000ft cuts.

Those 1,000ft cuts will take us seven years to get to ore

and we'll continue to mine ore after that

to produce the copper that we need.

[Narrator] Matt Lengerich is the operations manager in charge.

[Matt] The Earth does provide for everything that we need.

If it can't be grown, it has to be mined.

Whether you look at the copper that's in your house, in terms of wiring

or your plumbing fixtures, your cellphone, hybrid cars –

copper's essential to our way of life.

This is low-grade Bingham Canyon Mine ore.

In this case, it's a limestone ore.

The shiny spots that you see in there are pyrite material.

[Narrator] The ore itself only contains a tiny amount of copper,

so they have to dig up a lot of it

to get enough of the pure metal.

That's why Bingham Mine is so huge.

[Matt] We've been mining for over 100 years.

We've made 19 million tonnes of copper in that time

and we’ve produced about eight billion tonnes of material

with machines just like these.

[Narrator] Some seams of copper are so deep

that they have to dig for seven years through waste rock just to reach them.

Everything about the mine is massive.

These giant trucks each weigh more than a jumbo jet

and work round the clock to remove the rubble.

[Frosty] I've been driving this truck for about seven years now.

It's a good feeling driving these.

It's pretty exciting.

They burn about 100 gallons per hour

when they're driving up the hill, loaded.

When you're up in these trucks driving,

you don't realise how big things are.

The mine wouldn't make any money

if it wasn't for the shovels trucks

carrying the ore and the waste out of here.

[Narrator] The giant diggers and trucks are just to take the rock away.

The only way to get it out of the ground

is with something a little more powerful.

Three blasts a day and 100 years of mining

has created the largest excavation in human history.

Engineers have begun work on a new super sewer.

But until it's ready, professional scuba diver Julio

has one of Mexico's dirtiest jobs.

Several pumping stations like this one

force Mexico City’s sewage uphill and out of the city.

But the pumps get blocked up so regularly,

Julio and his team are forced to dive in the raw sewage,

unblocking the pipes by hand.

[Narrator] The lack of applicants reflects the dangerous and vile nature of the job.

(Counts in Spanish)

[Narrator] Julio's job today is to inspect one of the giant pumps

that keep sewage moving out of the city.

[Narrator] Mexico City dumps all of its liquid waste from industry,

homes, even hospitals, into a single sewer

and the huge sewage pumps regularly become blocked.

[Narrator] Diving in some of the most toxic sewage in the world

can bring some rather unexpected encounters.

[Narrator] Today, the problem is no less than a horse’s head.

The growing world population has created huge new global markets.

The only way to get goods where they need to go

is in some of the largest vehicles on the planet –

container ships.

To construct one of the biggest ships in the world,

you need a workforce of 50,000,

buckets of molten metal heated to over 1,000° centigrade,

tens of thousands of tonnes of steel per ship

and engines the size of houses.

[Jae-Yong] The biggest engine of our shop,

the power of the engine is more than 100,000 horsepower.

Power of a new motorcar is about 100 horsepower.

[Narrator] The scale of the effort is hard to take in.

It takes the mother of all cranes to put the big pieces together,

capable of lifting 1,300 tonnes.

Ju Seong-jong is the crane operator.

27 years' experience puts him on the A-list of crane drivers.

He picks up pieces of ship the size of buildings

and puts them in place with millimetre precision.

[Narrator] The finished ship rises more than 50m from its keel,

is three times longer than a football field

and able to hold 13,000 shipping containers.

This one single ship is extraordinary by itself.

But in this shipyard alone,

they are turning out approximately 100 of these a year.

That's almost one mega-ship every three days.

With such big ships,

the problem becomes how to load and unload them.

Just 40 years ago,

it used to take 100 men over a week.

Today, it can be done in just a matter of hours.

The reason is the shipping container.

Boxes that are all the same are easy to get on and off ships.

[KY Kang] Our crane can handle 35 container boxes in an hour.

We have five ship-to-shore cranes.

That means we can handle 400 container boxes in an hour.

[Narrator] Allowing ports to move them in their millions.

Ulsan is the fifth largest port in the world.

In a year, about 14 million container boxes were handled in Ulsan.

[Narrator] Everyone knows it as the Tube.

It’s 8am. This is when the city really starts to move.

In the next few hours,

over half a million people will be going to work.

Morning rush is when the system is pushed to the max.

For the most part, all these journeys are invisible.

But imagine what you'd see if the London Underground ran above the ground.

In central London, some lines run so deep

that if they were above ground, they'd be 10 storeys high.

We take it for granted.

Nonetheless, every day, over 500 trains

running on 250 miles of track move nearly three million people.

London is the oldest subway system in the world.

The busiest system can be found

in the world's most populous city, Tokyo.

The number of riders dwarfs all others.

[Narrator] All those commuters add up to eight million people

criss-crossing the city below the ground every day.

That's an astonishing three billion journeys a year.

To get that many people from A to B efficiently,

on every platform there are 25 officials, like Yūhei Mitsuhashi,

to manage the flow smoothly.

[Narrator] The trains are not allowed to run late,

even if occasionally, the commuters do.

Here, the underground system is expected to work like clockwork.