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00:00We live in a fast-paced world where everyday things are getting smaller and smaller.
00:10But it's still the really big things that power our world and keep us moving forward in a very big way.
00:20Coming up on Really Big Thing.
00:24I get blown away by a 420,000 pound monster locomotive.
00:31Then, what has a 1,000-foot tail and spews tons of water?
00:35The biggest dredger on the Mississippi.
00:38And later, I take a ride on a gigantic bridge in Seattle that's a real swinger.
00:55Railroads, trains, and the locomotive have a long history in America.
00:59In the early days, smaller locomotives ran on steam, but have since been replaced by larger diesel and electric-powered engines.
01:07In fact, the locomotive continues to grow and evolve, which is exactly why I'm here today in Erie, Pennsylvania.
01:13I'm just outside the General Electric Transportation Plant, and I'm going to take you inside and show you how their evolution locomotive is on the cutting edge, as it's assembled in just three mind-blowing days.
01:26The locomotives are assembled in seven different buildings.
01:32They're huge machines, and so are the tools that they use to build them.
01:37Pete?
01:38I'm Matt.
01:39How are you?
01:40Nice to meet you.
01:41Nice to meet you.
01:42This is Pete.
01:43He's the product manager for the Evolution Series locomotive, right?
01:45Yes, sir.
01:46Which is what is right behind us.
01:47That's what you're looking at, one of the units that's going to be heading out to BNSF shortly.
01:52Tell me about the Evolution Series locomotive.
01:53Is this the best we've seen since they started?
01:54Well, it's hard to say.
01:55It's certainly the best we've seen from an emissions and a fuel efficiency perspective, which are two critical elements for the railroads.
02:08It's 3% more fuel efficient than its predecessor model, while reducing emissions by over 40%, which is significant when one of these guys will burn about 350,000 gallons of fuel.
02:21That's a lot of fuel.
02:22That's a lot of fuel.
02:23How important are railroads to us as humans, so, you know, our American culture?
02:31Critical.
02:32Railroads move nearly 45% of all inner city freight in the U.S., so without having the railroads to move that freight around, the economy would basically come to a halt.
02:44So can I get the manager's approval to take my boys inside and check it out?
02:47You sure can.
02:48Thanks for your time, sir.
02:49No problem.
02:50Appreciate it.
02:55I'm standing next to what is the beginning process of station one.
02:58You're looking at an empty platform.
03:00Now, instead of having the workers go underneath it and put all the wires from up there, they're going to take a crane and pick up the 50-ton platform, put it in an inverted position, also known as upside down, take it all the way down the assembly line, drop it back down, so the workers can install the pipes and everything from up top.
03:19Don't get your fingers in there.
03:20Don't get your fingers in there.
03:21Gotcha.
03:22Okay.
03:23Cool.
03:24That's cool.
03:25This side is done.
03:26That noise can only mean one thing.
03:27They're ready to flip it.
03:28The cables are actually connected to the platform in three places.
03:41A cable on each side flips the platform, and another cable, also on the side, bears all the weight while it's being rotated.
03:48so right now it's on its side so what are you gonna do are you gonna hook this hook up the
03:58other side oh yeah how far does it have to go to get to the beginning of the assembly line to start
04:05the process probably 100 yards there are 13 locomotives at various stages of assembly in
04:12this building at any given time so as you're taking the platform I mean you're going over
04:18locomotives other locomotives and other workers right so what did you have to clear them out of
04:22the way yeah we have to walk ahead and yell get out of the way yeah so can I start telling people
04:31back off yeah I used to be a bouncer this is what I do best come on 50 tons coming through
04:39they're coming over get coming over get out of the way watch it lift we got 50 tons coming
04:49run get out of the way it's coming run 50 tons it's coming get out of the way stay calm stay calm get
04:59out of the way it took about two and a half minutes to move the platform 100 yards once it was in place
05:07Bob and I were done fooling around and it was time to get down to business station one below platform
05:14equipment is installed including piping and wiring to operate the traction inverters in the braking system
05:20coming up I try to stop a powerful locomotive before it gets to the end of the test track
05:31and later that looks like a half a tree right there what is that when a huge tree root threatens
05:37the biggest dredger on the Mississippi can we get that out I want to run that ground it's a race
05:41against time to keep it from damaging the pipe oh we can't get that
05:45Tom is responsible for the assembly process in this building we're going to station two
05:57all right you saw station one station two we don't really assemble the locomotive that's where we put
06:02the engine and alternator assembly together okay put the muffler on do a couple of hose connections
06:07and get the engine ready to set on to the deck of station three how much does that thing weigh the
06:14engine weighs about 48,000 pounds it's a 12-cylinder engine that produces 4400 horsepower previous
06:22technology was a 16-cylinder engine so we reduce the cylinders it's about the same size but we get
06:29a little bit more horsepower out of fewer cylinders and it's it's more environmentally friendly how fast
06:35does you know that get the locomotive I think they say the maximum speed on a freight locomotive is 75
06:41miles an hour so from station two you take the engines and then what you you assemble it on station
06:46three it goes on to the deck in station three before the engine is installed in station three the main
06:55cab the auxiliary cab and radiator cabs are lowered onto the platform so you've taken me we're on top of a
07:06locomotive right on top of the locomotive in station three okay it has a couple of cabs on it has a main
07:12cab an auxiliary cab and a radiator cab and I'm gonna take a guess but this big hole right here is
07:17that where the engine and the engine cab is gonna go after the engine and traction alternator are lowered
07:25into place and bolted down the engine cab is lowered and secure once the engines in here there can't be
07:31much room to finagle hoses not not a lot of room so how do they do it see if you showed up to work
07:37you'd be a pipe fitter because we all get all the big guys that they can reach up high and I can get
07:42to all that stuff so I wouldn't be a welder probably not a welder you got to squeeze into small tight
07:48places so what are you trying to say Tom I mean maybe you can weld the main cab all right I understand
07:56at this point the locomotive is almost finished and it's being moved farther down the line to station
08:06for all 386,000 pounds at station four it's lowered onto the wheels final hookups are made there it is
08:23baby we have a completed locomotive ready for a new paint job how long does it take from a raw
08:35platform to right here station four everything's going well it should be it should be at this point
08:41in three days three eight-hour shifts a day I need to get inside of one of these things and see how it
08:45rides where do I need to go we'll take you up to the test track and let you take take a spin down the
08:50track let's go all right so I'm standing four feet away from the test track where they run the
09:00evolution locomotive and it gets up to 60 miles an hour that was big the test track is four miles long and
09:14each one of the locomotives is thoroughly tested under full power Roy has been working here for 36
09:21years you're running the engine to make sure it maintains full horsepower the blowers all work
09:28the traction motors of our pulling we want to make sure the software is working the engines responding the
09:34way it should so with this big machine on its best day if we're going full speed ahead how many cars or
09:41how much weight do you think we can pull this would probably pull about a hundred and twenty
09:45freight cars loaded Wow the heaviest freight cars are those loaded with coal they can weigh up to a
09:52hundred and forty three tons each these locomotives are not only powerful but they have a state-of-the-art
09:58computer system that monitors almost every one of their components system can alert the operator of any
10:06malfunction and the onboard GPS tracks the train in case of an emergency and all this technology is
10:13right at the fingertips of the operator nobody shovels coal in this baby test locomotive is always
10:22connected to another locomotive with another operator facing in the opposite direction the operators work
10:29together to simulate different running conditions okay fuzzy hold me about 35 is that his nickname fuzzy yes
10:38it is he's a good man we've been together for like let 12 years up here really yeah do you think fuzzy
10:46would mind if I sat in your seat and operated this thing I don't think fuzzy would mind at all all sat
10:52here I have to tell him that we're taking this bad boy up to max speed yeah and just let him know we're
10:56going to go up and tell him to hold you 60 mile an hour fuzzy this is big thunder we are going to be
11:03going max speed 60 miles per hour seat belt on please hang on to your hats we got him hero all right
11:13what do we do okay just take that throttle and pull it right back all the way to you right here yes just pull
11:19it right back to throttle eight wow just we're on eight yeah how much track do we have because I know this
11:26is only a test track and we have about little over three miles ahead of us to look forward to so
11:35once we're going full speed if you know God forbid if someone's ahead of us we needed to stop how long
11:41would it take me to stop if I slammed on all the brakes take approximately about a nearly a thousand
11:47feet at 60 miles an hour already we're already up to 43 yeah we're rolling right along the track 45 do
11:54you ever get nervous like about derailment I get nervous when the lights don't come down that's a good
11:59kind of little are the lights down yet yeah amber lights okay push the bell on turn the bell on
12:05just once again again quick one more time through the process okay beautiful job okay that ain't turned
12:21the bell down all right yeah see there we're running at 60 mile an hour we are going fast baby beautiful
12:28scenery ahead of us oh yeah nothing but the best okay start throttling down I jumped all the way to
12:35six is that okay yeah just start taking it back it off slow you tell me when I'm at five okay we're in
12:42good shape see we're starting to slow down well I've noticed that we're approaching that sign that says
12:48track ends pretty you want to get ready to come out of power forward idle there you go that's it I took
12:54our power off that's a lot less nerve-wracking yeah did a fine job all right my friend thanks for the
13:06lesson a pretty humbling experience to be even a small part of such advanced technology geez evolution
13:15locomotive is truly revolutionary it's big it's fuel efficient it's environmentally sound and it has a
13:22longer life cycle but what really blew me away was how precise and thorough the workers were it's a huge
13:28and intense process to create such a massive machine but they do it big time the Mississippi River works
13:41as an unparalleled 1,300 mile transport system that links five states and pretty much the entire country
13:47to the Gulf Coast market now the Ole Miss's powerful current can be unpredictable couple that with low
13:52seasonal water levels and the river can wreak havoc on crucial shipping vessels and their precious cargo the
13:59solution the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers waterway workhorse the mighty dredge Jadwin
14:20look at that thing that's a big one isn't it this is a big one all right so I'm here with uh Andy Metz
14:27and you are I'm chief of the dredging unit for the Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District and this
14:33is the dredging you know what's the name of this this is the dredge Jadwin dredge Jadwin is a dustpan
14:38dredge and we call it that because of the shape of the business end of the dredge where the digging
14:44actually takes place it's shaped like the dustpan that you use to sweep your kitchen floor so why do
14:49you guys call it the Jadwin the Jadwin is named after General Jadwin he was the chief of the Army Corps of
14:56Engineers during the 1927 flood and he is credited with coming up with the flood control plan that
15:03was still in place today that plan uses a combination of levees and the reservoirs to help reduce flooding
15:11on the Mississippi River Valley give me a basic overview why is dredging important well it may not
15:16look like it from here but we're standing in the middle of a super highway the amount of cargo that
15:21comes down the Mississippi River every year is about 200 million tons if we were to haul 200 million tons
15:27in trucks it would require a thousand trucks an hour seven days a week 365 days a year there goes a 30
15:33barge tow coming by right now each one of those barges carries 60 truck loads of cargo this thing
15:40is so massive because we have a big job to do we have over 500 miles of river that we're trying to
15:45maintain our job is to find the shallow spots and make them deep find the narrow spots and make them
15:51wide is there a certain water level that allows the highway to work properly well we're charged with
15:56maintaining a nine-foot deep channel and so we try to dredge deep enough so that when the river falls
16:01to its lowest level for the season that we'll still have that nine-foot channel so we're basically
16:06working on one of the world's largest vacuum cleaners it's a very large vacuum cleaner for sure the
16:11dredge is 274 feet long 53 feet wide has four decks all right so you kind of give me an overview
16:17of why we dredge but give me specifically how does this machine work the dredge winches itself forward
16:23by pulling on anchors and this dustpan here when we put it down against the river bottom the dustpan has
16:30high-pressure water jets right at the leading edge those water jets shoot high-pressure water into the sand
16:35and basically liquefy that sand so that it'll then flow back into the dustpan and it sucks it back up
16:41through the pump so tell me how wide is the dustpan the dustpan is 32 feet wide so this thing's pretty
16:46massive i would assume it could dig pretty deep well its maximum digging depth is 58 feet you guys must
16:52suck up a lot of things besides sand logs rocks there's a piece of old rope right there we don't
16:58want that to go into the dredge pump it could cause problems in there so let me help you get that thing
17:02out of there okay all right you'll just grab that spike pole right there you know this could also
17:06be used for a gaffing fish i heard some catfish stories you all be getting 300 pounders out in
17:12mississippi what i hear ah that's all old wives tales this is actually a lot harder than it looks
17:19just get this damn thing on top of it and there we go nice and ripe for daddy got me a big one here
17:27andy excellent andy got me a big one here all right captain roger saves the day again huh that
17:35thing's probably got a lot of parasites on it so after that huge pump sucks it back in there where
17:39does it go it goes out through a thousand feet of pipeline well how about this can you show me
17:43the pipeline how it works sure all right let's go all right so you brought me i mean we're basically
17:51standing right in the middle of the mississippi river that's right this is the discharge pipeline where
17:56the material is pumped from the dredge itself out to the place where we dump it in the river yeah
18:01i could hear the rocks and stuff going underneath us so how long is this thing this pipeline's a
18:05thousand feet long 32 inches in diameter in order to get the sand to flow through the pipe we have to
18:11put about five gallons of water with every gallon of sand so it's mostly water with a little sand mixed
18:16in with it i mean it almost looks like there's boat docks here the pipe is resting on pontoons that
18:22float the pipeline and then when this whole process is done it's going to shoot out to that little
18:25house out there yeah it shoots out to uh what we call the booby house there's a man sits out there
18:31that actually steers the pipeline i think i'm gonna go down there and check him out man thanks for all
18:35your help sure i'm off you can't have a train without a caboose in this case the caboose is the
18:42end of a 1 000 foot pipeline that packs a serious punch 40 000 gallons of sand and silt filled water
18:49every 60 seconds to be exact so let's ride along the dredge jadwin express all the way to the end of the line
18:55the booby house
18:59ahoy my friend how you doing today good sir i'm matt rogers all right i'm clarence come on in all right
19:05these controls and things works the pipeline okay it's got a down and oh oh got your fingers there
19:11kids huh i'm sorry about that all right well you work you work the pipeline back and forward the
19:16controls and it's turning the water it's turning to the back plate if you don't use this back and
19:22forward you can't move the pipeline from one side to another sounds easy enough can i get some yes
19:27why don't you try it out sit down and have a seat there so what's this uh basically just toothpicks
19:35well if i'm in your booby house i need to get a part of your thing one for you one for me okay
19:40that's cool make myself at home make yourself at home basically you don't want to pass the
19:46the boat because if you have sandbars on the side that you can't come up so you sit here all day with
19:53your toothpick and you just move this lever back and forth correct i gotta be honest with you i would
19:57probably fall asleep so besides getting your fingers cut off in that machine right there are
20:03any other dangers of working in the booby house no no no you know slipping and falling and banging
20:10your head on this yes the booby house is a kickback job if i work on a dredger i'm definitely requesting
20:16the booby house i couldn't blame it the booby house was interesting but it was time for me to get an up
20:21close look at the end of the pipeline with over 650 gallons of sand and water being pumped out every
20:27second you could really feel the intense power of this big machine coming up do you think i'm giving
20:33the guy downstairs a heart attack right now i take over the giant dredgers controls the cable on the
20:38deck little tangle up on the drum you gotta reverse them and almost mess up the works that'd be a bad
20:43thing huh yeah and later if you want to lead the swinging lifestyle of this bridge it don't come cheap
20:49how much does that cost in the year that it opened 1991 was 33 million dollars and you'd better be
20:54able to work under pressure a few million tons of it hydraulic oil goes in pressure builds up
21:00thus creating the swing bridge
21:13next i wanted to get a closer look at the pulleys and cranes on the main deck
21:19how you doing sir what was your name jimbo
21:23now look by the head they call you jimbo here huh i'm here with jimbo and you're the deckhand
21:27yes so what do you do do you just make sure that nothing bad happens yeah yeah anything goes wrong
21:33we're here if it's copped up they back off of it raise that head we go out there and pull a chunk
21:38logs out whatever it calls for so when this thing's constantly going you must get a lot of big debris
21:44up down a little bit of chunks up down logs this big 15 foot long what about that it looks like a half a
21:49tree right there what is that came out of there it came out of there can we get that out a rope do it
21:54pick it up put it overboard that sounds great but can i get some yeah you can i want to run that crane
22:01give me some oh let's go
22:05all right i'm here with greg busby second mate of the ship here greg what's going on here what do we
22:10need uh we need to take this crane and get that stump out before it ruptures one of those suction lines
22:16we just pick it up throw it overboard okay i'm really good at this explain the process this works
22:22your backbone up or down and this turns the crane left to right okay this closes and opens the grabber
22:28i think i can memorize that we're asking green one this kitty cat going purr get some
22:36because the tree's trunk is biodegradable it's safe to drop it back into the river
22:41where it will be carried downstream and eventually decompose all right now easy
22:47rolling there you go
22:54now what do you want to do we'll take a capsule line put on it you know i'm really strong i think
22:58i can just push that thing in you want me to try okay yeah have at it all right
23:01get some oh we can't get that teamwork right when we flip it over on three we got to say get some
23:16you ready yeah one two three get some give me some give me some job well done
23:23time to head down to the belly of the beast the control room excuse me sir how you doing i'm matt
23:33hey matt i'm paul mcmaster paul mcmaster nice to meet you so what do you do here basically i work
23:37here in the control room and we maintain the operation of the bridge and make sure the maintenance
23:42and everything is taken care of all right so explain something i see a lot of buttons can i push something
23:46please don't what is it what does all this stuff do i mean we have 517 channels throughout the boat that
23:52monitor pressure uh water levels temperature so we'll know what's going on at any place throughout
23:59the boat at all times so this thing says tanks right here what are you monitoring what what that
24:03is is the fuel tanks we burn approximately about 5 000 gallons a day 5 000 gallons of fuel a day
24:09we're looking at these two things right here what are those those are two 12-cylinder emd engines
24:14they uh have 2550 horsepower each they're coupled to a 600 volt ac generator so the whole vessel is
24:21powered by these three engines this is it do you use all three engines at one time well typically we
24:26run two engines at the same time but when we're in a heavy current situation like we are now or heavy
24:31wind we run all three so the pilot house or the guys that control the vessel can uh have more power
24:38we have a 2400 horsepower pump that removes the material from the bottom of the river we have a 500
24:44horsepower pump that creates a slurry after it makes a slurry on the bottom of the river the dustband
24:49ridge removes it and moves it a thousand feet out of the channel we're in the middle of the mississippi
24:53river you got to dig up some pretty interesting stuff if it goes through the pump we don't know
24:57about it so you might have sucked up hoffa no one even knows it wouldn't be anything left now now i'm
25:02looking at a lot of gauges here what this is is auxiliary controls if we lose power in the pilot house
25:07we can control the dredge from down here what's the most dangerous button on this panel can't tell you
25:14why because you might push it so what are like some of the biggest dangers that could happen or
25:21that you've seen the biggest danger is falling in the river or being electrocuted this is a diesel
25:26electric i know i'm listening i don't want to get electrocuted don't touch any buttons okay
25:34the lightning outside is like i've never seen so how often have you ever gotten struck by lightning on
25:38this boat or about three weeks ago i'm getting a little nervous now someone was telling me outside
25:44that they would rather fall in the ocean opposed to the mississippi river why well there's a lot of
25:49traffic out here there's a lot of fog and the heavy current how many men have fallen in since you've
25:54been working on this vessel none so what happens if something happens to me today sorry dude so you
25:58wouldn't give me mouth to mouth whoa all right man hi thanks buddy i appreciate your time
26:07after getting the low down from paul i moved on to the pilot house ahoy captain how you guys doing
26:13i'm matt randy stock what exactly are you doing here trying to cut the sand off the middle bar right
26:18in here and it builds up over here and it narrows out where they can't get our toes up and down the
26:23river too good they may have to restrict the cloak toes or whatever because there's not enough room to
26:28get through so now let me ask you sir all right robert so tell me what are you doing here man what
26:33i'm doing now i'm running those big winches that downstairs and i'm advancing them up this cut so how
26:39does this thing move we got an anchor buoy up here on the port side we got another anchor buoy on the
26:44starboard side and the wires are crossed when i want to go to the starboard i'll pull the port side
26:49when i want to go to the port i pull the starboard side so are you sucking right now as we speak right as
26:53we speak all right so you want me to get in there and uh get on this thing for you want to try
26:58like a stick shift all right all right oh you didn't tell me about these three pedals down here
27:03oh yeah well we're midway to cut so we won't be using those do you think i'm giving the guy downstairs
27:08a heart attack right now well not right now they know it's not me though now do you sit here and
27:11hold it or you just let it go when you get good you probably could turn them loose but you being
27:15green like that you probably need to hold on to them i'm not green baby all right so i'm ready to
27:20raise the dustpan how do i do it right now you got it ways into that bank ways into that gravel pit so you
27:25got to back out of it all right so i got to reverse you got to reverse it
27:34so that thing's down 18 feet it's coming up yeah you're going to cut the water off on
27:39on your pipeline so this is the pump going through the pipeline right okay right to the booby house right
27:44all right all right we're about two feet all right
28:01and there's something on the head too i'm off your port side over there yeah i see it what do you think
28:05it is uh i think it's like an 18th century cannonball man you got in some stuff he got in a wood pile
28:13there all right here we go did he flag you down okay now it's time to go back to work all right
28:16all right grab your ladder wire about a while that way that way away from here we go ready yeah waiting
28:22on you there you go okay well when your pan get in the water you need to cut your jet on let you do it
28:28all this time here we go change hands there you go all right cut your jet on all right jets are on
28:32all right all right all right all right now stop your head around 10 foot or you take off it's
28:36nine foot eight foot hold it right there hold it right there one second if that can't gonna call
28:41you is that cable on the deck yeah it's a no-no that's a no-no why it'll tangle up on the drum
28:47so the one of those cables break is it like backlash or cut someone's head off or something and i hope not
28:51but it makes a bang that'd be a bad thing huh yeah you gotta excuse me man man you're gonna get this
28:56thing down one way or the other bump it just a little bit again right there i felt it i felt it
29:01kind of eased back a little bit right all right so we're there we're there all right my friend all
29:06right i'm out of here i got more things to do more people to slow down i got more dredging to do all
29:11right thanks guys i appreciate your time right all right 195 million tons of cargo pass through
29:17the lower mississippi river every year without an unobstructed navigation channel the complex and vital
29:23waterway transport system would grind to a halt the powerful river dredger serves as a crucial
29:28lifeline that connects a wide variety of commodities to the entire world
29:42seattle is the largest city in the pacific northwest has numerous waterways that are key
29:49in moving cargo to and from north america but the city also operates two interstate highways
29:55and two railroads not to mention a constantly growing population of urban commuters so one way
30:00to bridge the gap if you will between pedestrian vehicle and vessel transportation is with a bridge
30:07but a very unique bridge a bridge known as the spokane street swing bridge i've never seen how a
30:14swing bridge works before so i'm kind of anxious to see how this thing operates let's go check it out
30:19we're here now with john buzzwell and you are the bridge engineering supervisor for what pretty much
30:28all the bridges in seattle right that's correct give me a little history on this bridge particularly
30:32the swing bridge well this location's had a bridge since the early 1900s prior to this bridge steel
30:37basco bridge got hit by a large ocean freighter in the 70s disabled that bridge and they had to tear it down
30:49the engineers explored various options before deciding on the swing bridge design because of the
31:00distance of the channel a drawbridge would have been too long it also didn't fit aesthetically with
31:05the surroundings it would have carried much greater maintenance costs how long did it take to build the
31:10swing bridge entire construction including some of the other roadways was about 24 months and then how
31:15much does that cost to build a bridge like this in the year that it opened 1991 was 33 million dollars
31:21so in all the bridges that you you know manage in all of seattle how does the swing bridge you know
31:26compare to all the other bridges it's the biggest it's the biggest it's the biggest yeah i like that
31:30so where are we right now okay we're in the main pier house the pivot pier okay it has three floors we're
31:49in the top floor the whole challenge engineering challenge is get the weight of the bridge and the
31:54weight of the vehicles safely down into the ground and this is where that process starts bridge is above
32:00us comes into this area when the bridge is closed all that weight all that force goes to the outside
32:07walls and down and when the bridge is lifted for moving it transitions and goes into the center pivot
32:13shaft here the beauty of this bridge is it's able to float on oil and reduce the friction required to move
32:19it without floating on oil that friction be so great that we couldn't move this 15 million pounds
32:26does all of this turn where i'm standing that's unique about this room that we're in right now
32:31everything moves except what we're standing on really this roof this is the bottom of the bridge deck
32:37it moves the bridge moves that wall out there is that transition cone once it's up in the air that moves
32:43and this pivot shaft it's turning so everything moves except what we're standing on i also noticed
32:48like there's bumpers right here and a bumper over there what are those for actually there's two large
32:52shock absorbers buffers and they're there part of the safety systems if for some reason the bridge
32:58didn't stop exactly what we're supposed to it would continue to move and engage those large
33:03shock absorbers and then that would slow the bridge down and stop it how often does that happen where
33:07they actually hit the shock absorbers um we've never had an incident where it had to but every opening
33:13they touch for about two inches worth of movement well if it hasn't happened in 15 years it's probably
33:18never going to happen right that's my hope that means that you did your job that's right so i mean
33:24you showed me the outside you showed me down in the lower deck and we're in the upper deck is
33:27there anywhere else that we should go let's go up inside the box girder and take a look at that
33:30inside the box girder inside the bridge the hollow portion of the bridge we're gonna go inside of
33:35the bridge you got it oh i can't wait for this where do we go this way yep watch your head john there
33:42is a lot of stuff going on in here well we're on the machine room floor in the pivot pier we got the
33:49hydraulic motors and pumps got the hydraulic reservoir tank sitting over here so when they start up the
33:56bridge the operator will initiate the center locks the tail locks so this is basically where everything
34:02happens this is where this is where the thing pivots these are hydraulic engines actually electric motors
34:08hydraulic pumps okay so does this bridge does it just run on oil or does it run on fuel too only oil
34:14so this is kind of like the motor of the whole thing right that's correct can we uh go up there
34:18and check it out let's go all right swing bridge consists of two identical 480 foot movable leaves
34:24supported by pivot piers each leaf weighs 7 500 tons making it one of the heaviest movable bridges in the
34:31world it's no easy feat to lift 15 million pounds of concrete how do they do it you might ask well each
34:38pivot pier contains an 800 gallon barrel of oil which is attached to a series of pumps and motors
34:48the engineers figured an equation by which they could apply enough pressure using an
34:52intricate hydraulic system to lift the bridge one inch and then rotate it
35:00okay so where i am at now is the lowest point of the pivot pier
35:05the reason i'm here is for this bad boy right here this is the hydraulic lift cylinder and the way
35:10it works is very similar to a hydraulic jack that you have at home when you're raising up your truck
35:16just like you jack it up hydraulic oil goes in pressure builds up something's got to lift
35:21this is what lifts right here lifts an inch off the ground thus creating the swing bridge
35:26where exactly are we walking to now uh we're only about 15 feet away from the very center of the bridge
35:40john how do you expect me to fit through here come on
35:48first of all where are we we're inside the main span of the bridge
35:52and we're way out at the very tip so we're right in the center of the channel so that noise that
35:57we're hearing over us are the cars cars and trucks passing over it's the wheel i don't feel safe in
36:02here this is probably the safest place to be the withstand earthquake all right i'm trusting you so
36:08what exactly are we looking at uh we're looking at um a steel lock bar solid piece of steel and it's
36:16driven and retracted by the hydraulic piston that's sitting on this side why do we need a lock bar
36:21what does it do it centers the two leaves so that you have a smooth transition for vehicles going
36:25across the bridge so i mean it almost kind of acts like a door in my house when i close my door
36:31if i do the top lock and i shake the door that's kind of what this is doing if you drive that lock
36:36you know you got everything aligned that's nice all right how come you get a hard hat and i don't
36:40go let's go so that pillar we just walked through right there that's the middle the pivot that's
36:48right at the center that's correct this is a long walk man i'll tell you getting kind of winded here
36:53john so this is kind of cool what are these things right here uh we're looking at the ballast which is
37:01in this case steel bars and one of the challenges with a movable bridge is always to keep it balanced
37:06um we know we have a main span that's 240 feet long and we have a tail span that's 173 feet long
37:13intuitively they're not balanced right so to make them balance we've added ballast in the shorter
37:18span so we've added enough weight to make the two balanced i'm gonna have to pick one of these up you
37:25bet these are thick each one's pretty heavy yeah i'd have to say so all right man what do you say you
37:32get me out of here all right let's go all right thanks bud coming up this swinger has new partners
37:37every day ahoy captain and they're all boats operating the swing bridge means knowing which
37:44buttons to push push button and when not to push them what did i just do
37:48an average of 15 000 vehicles a day go to and from harbor island on this bridge but about eight times
38:03a day the bridge has to swing open because huge ships carrying cargo come through well it just so
38:09happens a big ship's coming through and i got stuck on the end of the bridge check this out
38:18okay
38:28ahoy captain the spokane street swing bridge a really big thing
38:39So the entire process of opening and closing the bridge takes about a whole 30 to 45 seconds.
38:54That easy.
38:57Spokane Street Bridge needs continuous maintenance.
39:00The central maintenance person is a guy named Brace.
39:02How you doing? I'm Matt.
39:03Hi, nice to meet you, man. I'm Brace.
39:04Brace.
39:05Yeah.
39:05Brace, you're the maintenance man, right?
39:07Yeah, I'm the day operator that comes down here and does the greasing while Doug operates above.
39:11So maintenance, I mean, you have this huge concrete bridge. What kind of maintenance do you guys do here?
39:15We do inspections to make sure all our equipment's in order.
39:18And then we have daily duties that we do, and weekly and monthly, bi-weekly.
39:23Are we going to get a little bit messy?
39:25You're going to get real messy. In fact, you're going to want to put something else on with some coveralls.
39:29You got coveralls for me?
39:30I sure do.
39:30Good man. Let's go.
39:32So all this is part?
39:36This is part of the tail lock area.
39:38There's more tail lock, the indoor part, and then we've got the outer part here where the lock bar is and the buffer cylinder.
39:43And we're going to go do the outer part?
39:45We're going to do the lock bar and the buffer.
39:47We're going to go do the lock bar and the buffer.
39:49So that's the handy equipment there, huh?
39:51Yeah, this is our grease and this is our grease brush.
39:54Grease and grease brush.
39:55All right, I'll let you lead the way.
39:57This looks fun.
39:59How come you have a hard hat and I don't?
40:01Oh, yeah.
40:01Look at her go.
40:03It's pretty amazing.
40:04Are you always under here when that thing opens and goes?
40:06We'll have to do the maintenance, yeah.
40:07I never get tired of watching, I'll tell you the truth.
40:09It's really cool.
40:10And here comes the sun.
40:19Grease brush.
40:20Okay, this is the messy part here.
40:23Stuff's like taffy.
40:25So this part right here, I mean, is this like a shock absorber?
40:27That's exactly what it is.
40:28It's a big shock absorber.
40:29Actually, you can do me a favor.
40:31Grab this can of Molly Lube here.
40:32Yeah.
40:33Shake it up a bit and spray the tip of sun.
40:35I just do a couple squirts top and bottom.
40:37Molly Lube?
40:38Yeah.
40:40That's it.
40:40So that's it.
40:41We've got plenty of time.
40:42Yeah, this is actually pretty good.
40:43What are these parts called again?
40:44This is our tail lock buffer cylinder and this is the buffer cylinder striker plate.
40:49You do this every three weeks?
40:51Yeah, this is actually a bi-weekly check.
40:54I come in here and look at them twice a week and see if I've seen any metal like this showing.
40:58Right.
40:59If I see it, I'll just go ahead and spread some more of this on here.
41:02Keep it nice and greased up.
41:05Have you ever not made it in time?
41:07Have you snapped your brush in half?
41:08No, that's never happened.
41:10Good for you.
41:15Yeah, I should have wore a hard hat.
41:17Yeah.
41:18Then where are these lock bars?
41:20Oh, they're right above us.
41:22That black thing?
41:23This big black thing.
41:24There's two of them.
41:24There's the lower one and then there's one way up there.
41:27And I'll do the lower one first.
41:30Should I not stand here because it's going to drop on me?
41:33It may.
41:34Just kind of watch your face there.
41:38It's pretty, you can see how it's going.
41:39Oh, yeah.
41:41It's a little stringy.
41:43Okay, that looks pretty good.
41:45Yeah, it looks great.
41:45You can drive in and out.
41:47So the work you did today, when's the next time you're going to have to come up here and lubricate these things?
41:51Next month.
41:52Next month?
41:52Yeah.
41:52Good for you.
41:53Good for you.
41:53Good for you.
41:54Good for you.
41:55Swing Bridge Control Room is in a separate tower that's 120 feet tall.
42:02Since it runs 24-7, the operators can't leave during their shifts.
42:07There's an apartment-like structure below the control room with a bathroom and a mini kitchen.
42:12The operator that has worked there the longest is a guy named Doug.
42:15Let's go meet him.
42:16You must be Doug.
42:17Yes, I'm Doug.
42:18I'm Matt.
42:19Nice to meet you.
42:19Glad to meet you, Matt.
42:20So, Doug, you're the control manager here?
42:22No, I'm the operator of this bridge.
42:23How long have you been, you know, around bridges doing this kind of work?
42:27About 31 years.
42:2831 years.
42:29So you've seen a lot of bridges in your days.
42:31I have.
42:32This is kind of cool.
42:32What is this?
42:33Like, you beat people with it?
42:34Yeah.
42:34Oh, yeah.
42:35You conduct traffic?
42:36It seems like that.
42:37Yeah.
42:38Very handy.
42:40Crap.
42:41What did I just do?
42:42No, it's not bad, but it didn't.
42:43What is that?
42:44That's a lab test.
42:46You just proved it.
42:47All those lights are still working.
42:48So I just happened to push the only button that...
42:51Does that, yes.
42:51...sets everything off.
42:52That's right.
42:53Very good.
42:54Word of the wise.
42:55We're not going to mess around in the control room anymore, huh?
42:58Good times.
42:58Brace, Vessel Marauder.
43:00I have to answer that.
43:01Yeah, Marauder.
43:02This is the Spokane Street Bridge.
43:04Go ahead, please.
43:05Yeah, we're vessel northbound, outbound.
43:07Request an opening.
43:08Okay, sir.
43:09That's a roger.
43:10Just keep coming.
43:10So basically right now, we're catching you in the middle of exactly what you do.
43:13Yes, exactly.
43:14So what's going on there?
43:16Well, the boat coming down the stream.
43:18I answered him, and he asked for an opening.
43:20So that was the actual guy calling you?
43:22That really was.
43:23Talk me through everything.
43:24Okay.
43:24Master control on...
43:25First of all, first of all, yes.
43:26We have to check traffic.
43:28The pedestrians are the worst problem.
43:29Right now, it looks...
43:31There's a girl walking over there.
43:32I mean, what would happen if a pedestrian got stuck on the bridge?
43:35Well, we don't let them get stuck on the bridge.
43:37Oh, okay.
43:39And the second step I always make is I start the motors on the pumps downstairs.
43:44This bridge is hydraulic.
43:45Okay.
43:46Look at that.
43:47I mean, that's solid concrete just moving.
44:02All right, my friend.
44:03Thanks for your time.
44:04Yeah, well, thank you.
44:05I'm glad to talk to you.
44:06Nice talking to you.
44:07This bridge is an engineering feat.
44:11It not only serves pedestrians and vehicles by providing a connection from West Seattle
44:16to the entire city, but with the advanced design concept, it facilitates one of the nation's
44:22most active shipping ports in the largest scale.
44:25The Spokane Street swing bridge is driving commerce one swing at a time.
44:31Let's go.
44:32Yeah.
44:34See you next time.
44:38Yeah.
44:38curricular gear, which has a stunt status.
44:39Yeah.
44:40Yeah.
44:41Yeah.
44:42See you next time.
44:42Yeah.
44:43Yeah.
44:44Yeah.
44:44Yeah.
44:45Yeah.
44:45Yeah.
44:45Yeah.
44:54Yeah.
44:55Yeah.
44:55Yeah.