Product Details

• Actors: David Macaulay
• Directors: Larry Klein
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Run Time: 66 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002XVSDI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,529 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Discover the world’s greatest spans and the people who created them. What enables a simple arch bridge to support such great weight? What holds up a suspension bridge? Bridge the world with award-winning author-illustrator—and captivating storyteller—David Macaulay (The Way Things Work) and meet the brilliant designers who dared to extend roads and railways with ingenious but sometimes flawed designs. From the Golden Gate Bridge to some of the world’s groundbreaking spans, you’ll explore dozens of monumental engineering feats through historic film footage, fascinating photographs, illustrations and dramatic recreations.

– Discover why the Brooklyn Bridge’s hard-working and humorless chief engineer never lived to see the completion of his masterpiece

– Tower above the clouds on top of the Golden Gate Bridge and discover its controversial history, and see how its formidable suspension design handles brutal winds, tides, traffic, and earthquakes

– Visit Scotland’s Firth of Forth Railway Bridge and learn how a deadly tragedy inspired the creation of this incredibly strong (and expensive) cantilevered steel design

– Bonus activity! Build your own mini-bridge using only straws, straight pins, masking tape, scissors, and a baseball

David Macaulay hosts Building Big, the five-part series that brings you the amazing truth behind the greatest manmade wonders of the world. From the top of the Golden Gate Bridge to inside the Hoover Dam, Building Big travels the world exploring Bridges, Tunnels, Dams, Skyscrapers and Domes in unforgettable, really big adventures.

Includes bonus hands-on building activity designed for kids.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bridge to Knowledge, August 25, 2010

By 

K. A. Larson (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Building Big: Bridges (DVD)

The first in the five-part series by David Macaulay, Bridges begins with the story of a bridge collapse. David then covers the evolution of bridges from primitive wooden structures to stone (many still stand) to cast iron, steel, and suspension cables. Well covered is the difficulty in building the Brooklyn Bridge when the bends was first discovered from the pressures involved. Other subjects in this series are Tunnels, Domes, Dams, and Sky Scrapers. David Macaulay explains everything so well and this episode bridged the gaps in my understanding of the subject.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liked it, July 4, 2008

By 

B. J. Long "Bren" (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Building Big: Bridges (DVD)

The DVD, Building Big Bridges kept my attention thoughout the show. The lesson plans at the end are great for any teacher wanting to teach Engineering Bridges. You can introduce a lesson for one day or carry it over for a period of two weeks with the information given.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another Amazing Human Accomplishment, December 5, 2007

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Building Big: Bridges (DVD)

Humans are really impressive. We reached the Americas more than 10,000 years ago. We built the pyramids and the Hoover Dam. We've cured a huge number of diseases. And this documentary shows how impressive it is that we found ways to build huge bridges.

Unlike many documentaries that ground all things in Ancient Egypt or the Renaissance, this documentary mentioned Roman bridges and then jumped to the 1800s. (It's a bit Eurocentric in that Incan bridges and bridges from other cultures don't come up.) I learned that "compression" is the opposite of "tension." Gustave Eiffel not only built his Tower, but he built an important bridge as well.

For American history enthusiasts, this goes into many facts about the Brooklyn and Golden Gate Bridges. This may really inspire young students who want to become engineers or architects.