World's Toughest Fixes Series 1

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Technology Documentary hosted by Sean Riley, published by National Geographic in 2009 - English narration

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World's Toughest Fixes Series 1 World's Toughest Fixes" takes you inside some of the most daunting repair jobs imaginable. Each one-hour episode follows Sean Riley as he pushes himself to the limit while working with some of the world's top mechanics, showing viewers how these challenging fixes are tackled. A professional rigger with a passion for adventure, Riley isn't afraid to strap on a hazmat suit or attach himself to a live high-voltage power line to get the job done. He's seen more than his fair share of perilous situations, but on each job he has to show the crew he knows his stuff. It's usually a quick initiation, and soon Riley is flexing his engineering muscle while helping experts solve problems of enormous proportions. Whether dangling from ropes hundreds of feet in the air or diving close to a construction vessel's propellers, Riley's engineering prowess takes viewers inside the marvels of large-scale industry — and he shows what happens when things don't go as planned.

[edit] Thirty Eight Ton Engine

Sean Riley helps swap out a 38-ton engine on one of the largest ships in the Gulf of Mexico. The fix must be done in the middle of the gulf, and with swells, wind and rain, things can get complicated.

[edit] Boeing 767

Sean Riley is off to a join a crack team of engineers and mechanics as they attempt to fix a d This is a crucial fix -- taking a jet apart and putting it back together is a complex, three-week operation, and the smallest mistake could have huge consequences. As the new guy on the project, Riley is given an unpleasant task to prove his mettle -- disconnecting a lavatory tube. But he soon becomes an integral part of the team -- even providing a piece of equipment crucial to finishing the job

[edit] Nuclear Turbine

Sean Riley puts on his hazmat suit and heads into the radiation zone for his next tough fix, replacing a steam turbine in a nuclear power plant to boost its energy-producing capacity High Voltage Power Lines

[edit] Operation Cruise Ship

"Go on a cruise". They said: "In the Bahamas." "It'll be a lot of fun," They promised. Mid ocean in the Caribbean, it's a race against time. This may be Paradise, but Riley's not on vacation…. He's on his way to a titanic fix. An enormous, 90,000 ton cruise ship is steaming towards one of the world's largest dry docks. They need to install a new power plant… an enormous diesel generator… but first they have to land this ship.

[edit] High Voltage Power Lines

Sean Riley joins an elite corps of engineers who dangle from a helicopter and work with live lines carrying a shocking 500,000 volts of electricity.

[edit] Giant Telescope

For this tough job, Sean Riley joins a team of engineers to move and clean a 24-foot, 23-ton, $15 million telescope mirror. Here, three telescopes are used together to form the largest combined telescope in the world

[edit] 2000 Foot Tower

Sean Riley works to fix a faulty TV antenna nearly half a mile in the air. This extreme fix takes strength, teamwork and guts

[edit] Alaska Oil Pipeline

Sean Riley joins a team on the 800-mile Trans-Alaska oil pipeline which is the conduit for nearly 15 percent of U.S. domestic oil production. Riley and the team have only 36 hours to swap out one of the line’s 32-ton valves — a plug that helps block the pipe and lessen the damage in the event of an oil spill. In order to accomplish this, Riley and the team must first plug the line to isolate it and then drain the oil from the section they need to replace. Next, they cut into the pipe and weld on a new valve. Welding around crude oil is among the most dangerous jobs in industry. Pipeline and oilfield accidents claim hundreds of lives every year. For Riley and his team, failure is not an option.

[edit] Interstate Bridge Utah

In Utah, Riley joins a crew of more than 300 engineers, contractors and laborers as they gamble on an innovative installation technique: demolishing a crumbling concrete bridge and installing a new throughway bridge in just four days (WTF!). This fix involves huge remote-controlled trailers, enormous hydraulics, and a 4 million-pound, five-lane bridge that must be transported almost two miles before it is installed in one piece on Interstate 80 in Salt Lake City.

[edit] Mississippi River Barge

This week finds host Sean Riley at the Mississippi River where Hurricane Gustav in August 2008 blew a 300-ton barge into the water; it had been in a nearby salvage yard by. The hurricane winds rammed the barge rammed into a protective levee that now now caught underneath. Using inflatable bags and wooden cribbing, the Sean Riley and the team raises the barge; the challenge is that the higher the barge is raised, the more unstable it becomes. And as the National Geographic: World’s Toughest Fixes Mississippi River Barge video reveals, in one case, the barge actually begins to slip leaving Riley, the workers and camera crew no choice but to all race out from underneath to keep from being crushed, in a dramatic moment.