Construction Fails

screenable online: 8 episodes

Construction fails happen every day, but sometimes the damage is catastrophic. This factual, fast-paced show investigates the most spectacular mishaps, what went wrong, and how the disaster could have been averted.

Combining live footage with CGI animation, this show examines well-known disasters, such as the Notre Dame fire, and the collapse of the Georgia Dome, but also more minor incidents. Presented in a light-hearted and accessible manner, Construction Fails shows what happens when things go drastically wrong.

Episode one begins on an unremarkable Dutch canal. What we see unfold, however, is anything but. It’s one of the most dramatic construction catastrophes in recent history: a double…

Episode two begins with the horrific fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in the spring of 2019. Multiple eye- witnesses captured the raging flames on their phone cameras, but what they couldn’t…

Glass may be the most popular construction material in the modern age. But constructing with glass is challenging and dangerous. It spontaneously breaks and falls from skyscrapers and it…

Construction cranes are towers in the sky – except when they collapse. Our first story examines three disasters in Seattle, Manhattan and Bangkok. Three disasters: three different reasons for…

We begin in New Orleans where construction turned to destruction during the build of a brand new Hard Rock Hotel. The catastrophe left two cranes precariously dangling from the structure. The…

The proliferation of heavy, oftentimes overloaded, transport truck traffic in China is having unintended consequences: the collapse of multiple roads and highways. We look at some of the most recent…

We begin with an in-depth look at one of the most prolific materials in the world: the science of concrete. Why are so many of today’s concrete structures cracking and failing? Why are so many…

We begin with the tragic collapse of the Ponte Morandi (Morandi Bridge) in Genoa, 2018. Multiple camera angles capture the bridge crashing down in a rainstorm as vehicles drive across the…