World Dangerous Roads - Part 1

1. Magnificient Guoliang Tunnel Road in China
- Road that does not tolerate any mistakes

The road shown here is the Guoliang Tunnel in Taihang mountains (China). It has been built by villagers themselves, which is an inspiring story in itself:

"Before 1972, the path chiseled into the rock used to be the only access linking the village with the outside world. Then the villagers decided to dig a tunnel through the rocky cliff. Led by Shen Mingxin, head of the village, they sold goats and herbs to buy hammers and steel tools. Thirteen strong villagers began the project. It took them five years to finish the 1,200-metre-long tunnel which is about 5 meters high and 4 meters wide. Some of the villagers even gave their lives to it. On May 1, 1977, the tunnel was opened to traffic."

The wall of the tunnel is uneven and there are more than 30 "windows" of different sizes and shapes. Some windows are round and some are square, and they range from dozens of metres long to standard-window-size. It is frightening to look down from the windows, where strange rocks hanging form the sheer cliff above and a seemingly bottomless pit lying below. A village, opposite the tunnel, appears to hang on the precipice.

"Yoshida" - Japanese biggest floating crane

Like some Godzilla monster, the giant crane looms over the city

Early in the morning it arrives at the city dock to begin the bridge construction for the man-made island in Kagoshima bay. Boom length: 132m. Lifting capacity: 3700 tons!
It's "Yoshida" - Japanese biggest floating crane, built by Mitsubishi heavy Industries Division.

The task is to lift the whole bridge sections, each weighing approx. 3500 tonnes:

Each hook is 10 meters tall. The workers around it look as small as a bunch of ants... Some 800 steps lead to the tip of the boom, and to the small cabin on top.

(image sources: Jikky, Nifty)

All in a day's job - transporting a submarine
The Japanese submarine SS-600 Mochishio is lifted and transported at the Kobe Kawasaki yard. The Mochishio is the last of the Oyashio class and is approximately 84m in length:

(image sources: Jikky, Nifty)