TV Schedule for Smithsonian Channel USA

How Did They Build That? Skywalks & Suspensions

Uncovering the design and engineering secrets behind the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the Audain Museum and more.

How Did They Build That? Arches & Opera Houses

The inside stories behind a new, horseshoe-shaped complex in Rotterdam, a rock-shaped opera house in China and a makeover of the British Museum.

How Did They Build That? Facelifts & Scaffolds

A museum building bends 1,100-glass tubes to form a facade and tunnels below the water table; a vast 11-storey glass atrium HQ is built on the former Berlin Wall site to represent unity.

How Did They Fix That? Volcano Power

Mike is in Iceland, where teams harness the power of volcanos to keep the geothermal energy flowing; they battle harsh weather to maintain and upgrade giant power systems, fixing miles of steam pipes, and bringing a dead well back to life.

How Did They Fix That?

An in-depth look at how things are repaired.

How Did They Fix That? Philadelphia Transit

In Philadelphia, Mike is on streets, in tunnels, on tracks and in trolley restoration garages; he is working shoulder-to-shoulder with the team that keeps one of America's largest and oldest mass transit systems running smoothly and on time.

How Did They Fix That? Water Work

In Florida, Mike tackles one of the dangerous jobs on the planet, commercial diving; he helps a specialized team keep waterways safe; fixing construction site leaks and removing dangerous structures, all while hurricane season is in full swing.

How Did They Build That? Boxes & Birds

The American Museum of Natural History in NYC gets a cave-like extension; an arts center inspired by migrating birds is built on a lake in China; Boston University gains a fossil-free, Jenga-like tower.

How Did They Build That? Heights & Balance

A 1.2-million-square-foot office building balances precariously on a 39-foot wide base in Chicago; a building named Pterodactyl lands on top of a Los Angeles parking garage; the world's longest suspension footbridge.

How Did They Build That? Curved & Cables

A new performance center with a tent-like glass-and-steel lobby tests engineers in Kansas City; two twisting apartment towers make heads spin in Ontario.

How Did They Build That? Radical & Resplendent

Exploring the design and engineering stories behind D.C.'s Museum of African American History, the Montreal Tower and the Equinor building in Oslo.

How Did They Build That? Speedcore & Steambend

Peek inside a cloud-inspired library in Canada that's built over a live railway; see how clever engineering helped a huge Seattle skyscraper go up without harming its iconic neighbour, then cross an Australian bridge that floats above a busy river.

How Did They Build That? Arctic Modules & Auditoria

The engineering secrets behind a mobile research station in Antarctica, a gravity-defying concert hall on the Canary Islands, and a rotating boat lift in Scotland.

How Did They Build That? Retrofits & Airport Glitz

Visiting the Hearst Tower in Manhattan and Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore to understand how they were built; covering how designers and engineers attempt to create a museum worthy of Salvador Dali in Florida.

Air Disasters Headline News

Three devastating crashes make front-page news around the globe; the media frenzy puts intense pressure on investigators to uncover the causes.

Air Disasters Rookie Errors

History's most terrifying air disasters, and the investigations that followed, are revisited and reexamined.

Air Disasters Fight to the Finish

Three flight crews face impossible odds: a Boeing 707 loses engines over the Alps as fire spreads, Air Astana 1388 goes out of control over Portugal, and a bomb on PA 434 severs control cables and blasts a hole in the fuselage.

Air Disasters Mixed Signals

Within five minutes of takeoff, the Dominican Republic bound Birgenair Flight 301 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean; a series of confusing signals crashes the plane.

Air Disasters Frozen Wings

The consequences are disastrous when ice forms on an airplane's wings; three planes are brought down by ice, and it's up to investigators to determine how modern aircraft could possibly end up with frozen wings.

Air Disasters Cockpit Catastrophe

The cockpit window of an Airbus A319 explodes; pilots miraculously land the out-of-control plane; investigators must determine how the freshly serviced aircraft was released with a fatal flaw.

Air Disasters No Warning

Investigators must figure out why the safety systems of a turboprop plane failed to prevent a crash into an Indonesian mountain.

Combat Ships Galleons and Privateers

Revolutionary ship design helped Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake lead England to defeat the Spanish Armada and become a world power.

Combat Ships The Fast and Furious

A look at Naval warfare's fastest combat ships and how the advantage of speed determined the outcome of some of the great seas battles of the last 150 years.

Combat Ships Doomed Vessels

Bad design, human error and the enemy sent great ships to tragic ends, like Britain's K13 submarine and HMS Hood, Sweden's 17th century Vasa, and Kublai Khan's fleet, sunk by the original kamikaze.