15 TV Shows Every Civil Engineer Should Watch

Home/ Others / 15 TV Shows Every Civil Engineer Should Watch

If you are a budding Civil Engineer or a construction enthusiast and you have the
urge to really understand what you are getting into, and visual representations of
complicated and sophisticated information serve better to your brain cells, this
article is meant for you.

Civil Engineering means nothing if you are not executing what you are studying.
Efficient execution of construction projects demands extreme poise, patience,
experience, and composure. This comes with time and getting to witness the
execution of immense projects vicariously by putting yourself into the
construction arena may give you a tinge of the feel and weather you a bit for the
future. There are multiple TV shows and documentaries out there capturing the
immensity as well as the niceties involved in the construction projects.

Here is a list of 15 TV shows curated punctiliously for you to leave you in awe
with the intricacies and sophistication involved in the construction arena :
1) Megastructures (TV Series 2004- )
With Jonathan Hart, Tom Goodman-Hill, Greg Stebner, Jay Simon. This
documentary series focuses on extreme construction projects — be they the
biggest, tallest, longest or deepest in the world — and the machines used to
create extraordinary structures.

2) Mega Builders (TV Series 2005- )

With Guy Grison, Bill E. Cunningham, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón. Capturing the
biggest, most complex, most stressful and most dangerous engineering projects
around the world, Megabuilders chronicles the most awe-inspiring construction
projects in modern engineering.

3) Big, Bigger, Biggest (TV Series 2008- )

With John Michie, Jem Stansfield, Eddie McCann, Andrew Szydlo. Each episode
explores the engineering breakthroughs that have enabled us to develop the
largest structures currently in existence. This is done by presenting multiple
landmark inventions.

4) Strip the City (TV Series 2012- )

With Kavan Smith, Thom Kikot, Helen Cheyne, Nick Eyles. Stripping major cities
naked of their steel, concrete, buildings, roads, rivers and bedrock – layer by
layer – to explore the secret technology and infrastructure that keeps them
running. What stops Dubai’s super tall skyscrapers – balanced on unstable sand
– from toppling over?

5) World’s Toughest Fixes (TV Series 2008- )

With Sean Riley, Florent Deplanche, Kyle Howe, Chris Lashua. World’s Toughest
Fixes goes inside some of the most daunting repair jobs imaginable. Each
episode follows host Sean Riley as he pushes himself to the limit while working
with some of the world’s top riggers.

6) Impossible Moves (TV Series 2005- )

With John Michie, Mark Keller, Qarie Marshall. A team of experts must deliver an
oversized object from point A to point B within the given timelimit.

7) Extreme Engineering (TV Series 2003- )

With Danny Forster, Joseph Giotta, Larc Spies, John Littlefield. Each episode of
Extreme Engineering features a major construction and engineering project.
Some projects are completed ones, like the new Hong Kong airport. Other
projects are those under construction like the Gotthard Base Tunnel under the
Alps.

8) Treehouse Masters (TV Series 2013- )

With Pete Nelson, Tory Jones, Christina Salway, Dana Klisanin. A man builds
one-of-a-kind treehouses.

9) How Do They Do It? (TV Series 2006- )

With Chris Broyles, Iain Lee, Michael Pongracz, Mike Goral. This program is
about engineering and scientific miracles and the people whose ability to solve
problems make them happen.

10) Dirty Great Machines (TV Mini-Series 2012- )

With John Michie, Denny Heide. Dirty Great Machines introduces us to the might
of the biggest, most awe-inspiring and technologically advanced drilling,
excavation and tunneling equipment known to man. From bucket wheel
excavators to monster maritime machines and mighty drills, witness these
incredible pieces of equipment in action as they take on some of the world’s most
challenging engineering projects.

11) Modern Marvels (TV Series 1993- )

Created by Bruce Nash. With Lloyd Sherr, Harlan Saperstein, William Atwater,
Alexander B. Rubinow. Fast-paced, fun and informative, Modern Marvels is The
History Channel’s signature series focusing on historical technology.
12) Rotterdam 2040 (2013)
Directed by Gyz La Rivière, Rotterdam 2040 is a film about a city’s future,
departing from the principle of Gyz La Rivière that you can’t look ahead without
considering your past (something that hasn’t always been Rotterdam’s strongest
feature).

13) Building Wild (TV Series 2014- )

With Patrick Tuffy Bakaitis. Paulie and Tuffy are 2 friends that own a construction
company named Cabin Kings. They travel across America meeting clients, and
with their help building amazing cabins for a cheap and acceptable price.

14) Mighty Machines (TV Series 1994- )

With Tee Schneider, Alan Bacchus, Edward Daranyi, Suzanne Hersh. Mighty
Machines focuses on footage of real machines (firetrucks, airplanes, freight
trains, snowplows) working. Voiceovers tell the story of how the machines work
together to get work done.

15) Objectified (2009)

Directed by Gary Hustwit. With Paola Antonelli, Chris Bangle, Andrew Blauvelt,
Erwan Bouroullec. A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship
with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

Bonus mention :
Engineering Connections (TV Series 2008- )
With Richard Hammond, Stephen Ralphs, Hugh Hunt, Tom Bach. Richard
Hammond tells us about extraordinary objects created with science, art &
technologies. Then, also, he reveals the big ideas and/or inspirations to create
that massive masterpiece.