China and the United States have built some of the most impressive engineering feats on the planet. But they do it in very different ways.

In this Atlas Curioso documentary, we compare how the two largest powers deal with the same challenges: deserts, water scarcity, sea crossings, large rivers, and transportation between cities.

In China, you'll see projects like the railway that crosses the Taklamakan Desert, the gigantic South-North Water Transfer Project, the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau link, the Three Gorges Dam, and the enormous high-speed rail network.

In the United States, we'll see Brightline West, the California State Water Project, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the historic Hoover Dam, and the challenges of building new networks on top of infrastructure that has existed for decades.

But this isn't just a competition to see who has the biggest bridge, the biggest dam, or the fastest train.

The real question is:

Which country can transform mega-projects into systems capable of continuing to function for decades? China or the United States: Who Builds Better?

Watch until the end and leave your opinion in the comments.

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00:00 China vs. USA: Who Builds Better?

01:44 The railroad in the Taklamakan Desert
03:49 The American strategy in the desert
05:32 How China moves water across the country
07:24 California's gigantic water system
09:45 Bridges that disappear into the sea
11:06 The American megaproject that came decades earlier
12:35 Hoover vs. Three Gorges
16:25 When megaprojects become networks
17:24 Why did the USA fall behind in high-speed trains?

18:45 The problem of old infrastructure
21:16 China or the USA: Who won?

23:34 The true test of megaprojects

#China #UnitedStates #Megaprojects #Engineering #Infrastructure #AtlasCurioso