Twofour’s six part Built from Disaster series, which explores how disasters throughout the world have influenced the evolution of modern structural engineering, starts on Five at 8pm on Wednesday 26 August. The first instalment – Bridges - looks and what can be learnt from the catastrophic collapses such as the one in Minneapolis. The following programmes, which include stadiums, skyscrapers, trains, ships and tunnels, will TX on Thursdays.

Megastructures: Built From Disaster – Bridges
Wednesday 26 August 8-9pm on Five

On August 2, 2007, during a busy rush-hour in the city of Minneapolis in the American Mid-West, the entire span of an interstate bridge broke into pieces and collapsed into the Mississippi River. Thirteen people died. The carnage was caught live on CCTV and the images sent shock waves around the world. The nation was in panic. How could this happen? And could it happen again? This programme looks at major bridge disasters, including the Minneapolis collapse, talks to survivors and shows how engineers are learning from past failures to build ever more ambitious bridges. It features the highest bridge in the world at Millau in the South of France; the mammoth Stonecutters bridge, currently under construction in Hong Kong harbour and looks at a range of other engineering marvels including the proposed Hong Kong - Macau link, which will be 50km long.

Megastructures: Built From Disaster – Ships
Thursday 3 September 8-9pm on Five

At sea, you don’t get a second chance. Once out of sight of land the only thing you can depend on is your ship, and tragically, for thousands of people, the ship has let them down. But out of every catastrophe comes knowledge, from the Titanic to the Estonia, every disaster at sea has had a radical effect on the design of the ships that followed. Examining the latest in Arctic cruise liners and hi-tech, high speed passenger catamarans, this programme shows how ships have become more technologically advanced than ever before, and by following the building of one of the world’s most advanced and luxurious vessels, Ruby Princess, the design secrets that allow modern passenger ships to operate safely, with thousands of passengers and crew on board will be revealed.

Megastructures: Built From Disaster – Tunnels
Thursday 10 September 8-9pm on Five

Tunnels – the word evokes mystery, adventure and claustrophobia. They make mountains manageable, connect our cities and can even bring together continents. But every tunnel is an enclosed space - a very dangerous place to be if something goes wrong. This episode looks at how recent catastrophes at the Channel Tunnel, Mont Blanc and Gotthard Tunnels of Europe spawned a revolution in tunnel building technology that is still evolving today. From failsafe evacuation systems through fireproof concrete and radical new approaches to tunnel design itself this programme will see how new tunnel projects are using high tech to keep alive if the worst happens. At the core of the programme is the cutting-edge Marmaray Tunnel in Turkey - this US$4 billion project will connect Europe and Asia with a dual bore rail tunnel running under the Bosphorous Straits. But there is a problem, the Anatolian Fault Line lies 11 miles from the site.

Megastructures: Built From Disaster - Stadiums
Thursday 24 September 8-9pm on Five

Stadiums follows the construction of a state-of-the-art new stadium for Valencia Football Club in Spain - how will it prevent the crowd crushing that killed 96 fans at Hillsborough, or the fire that destroyed Bradford's stadium stand in just four minutes flat - and killed 56 people? No other type of structure packs so many people so close together in such an emotionally charged atmosphere; the biggest danger in a stadium is the crowd itself, which can turn into an unstoppable force as deadly as a tidal wave.

Megastructures: Built From Disaster - Trains
Thursday 8 October 8-9pm on Five

High-speed trains are a vital part of the way we travel today, slashing journey times between major cities in many parts of the world and bringing us in comfort to our destinations. But when trains crash the consequences can be catastrophic and deadly. Yet, despite the dangers, we are living in one of the great ages of train travel, with engineers and designers striving for faster, more environmentally friendly and more comfortable trains. This programme looks at how engineers ensure that these modern titans do not fall prey to the disasters of the past, and how 3 such catastrophic events had a direct input in to the trains we see today and looks at what precautions have been put in place to avoid history repeating its self with the same deadly consequences. It also features ground breaking trains such as the French TGV from Alstom - and the even faster and safer train currently being developed: the AGV.

Megastructures: Built From Disaster - Skyscrapers
Thursday 15 October 8-9pm on Five

This programme reveals how the remarkable revolution in the design and construction of Tall Buildings over the past fifty years has been driven by the lessons learnt from major disasters across the globe. The consequences of structural weakness, fires, or collapse in such tall and crowded structures can be catastrophic. The world's leading engineers and builders have used cutting edge technology to come up with completely different ways of making these buildings higher, stronger and safer.

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