Anyone who enjoyed megastructures will love “Breaking Up the Biggest”. It does exactly what it says on the tin. In this episode USS Savannah is towed in for a final dock. The safety team soon gets to work looking for toxins and asbestos and the gutting of this former naval fuel tanker gets under way.
The Texan sun beats down as giant rigs are brought in to help with the removal of unwieldy rudders, whilst expert crane operator, “Little Joe” deals with towering refuelling points. It takes the team over three months to complete the wholescale recycling of the mammoth ship. Everything is stripped down in order to sell on valuable metals. See how the recycling plants extract even the tiniest copper wires and sell everything from lifejackets to anchors.
“Breaking Up the Biggest – Navy Tanker” will be shown on the National Geographic Channel, Wednesday 2nd June 2010, 9pm.