It ripped my heart out to see those two men embrace in their final few moments as their tiny air pocket rapidly vanished. It's sobering to think of the terror they must have experienced. At least they had each other down there in the dark.

10:20 Inspiring. Even as lego men, they still dont give up and help eachother as much as they can and sit their final moments in their last air bubble. *Truly* inspiring

Imagine being that one Lego guy up top on the outside, slowly seeing the water rising, and the lifeless floating corpse of your coworker swirling in the current. You know you're going to be one of the last Lego people alive as the water swallows the people inside as well. This video has no business being this tense and heart-wrenching.

Note to future dambuilders: ensure that you have strong internal ladders incorporated in all your projects to hold up the masonry blocks when things get soggy!

its hard for me to watch these sometimes because i get so emotionally invested in the stories of the workers and their relationships as they meet their end

The dam actually worked. Dams are meant to hold bodies of water and to prevent massive flooding at once. Even though it breached, it was minimal damage and water leakage, and the wall stood its place even after a few bricks fell. Meaning, in a real life situation- it would have saved countless lives and damage, as it would allow for more time for evacuations to take place since the breach was small.

An evocative story. A cinematic masterpiece. Why do I care so much about these toys and their tiny dam? Why did I gasp "oh no" when the little man fell off his little ladder and drowned? 🤷‍♀️😂

Respect to all those lego people who sacrifice themselves to educate us.

this channel is awesome for when you're bored edit; or high like the replies say

This documentary brought to you by National Geographic The Lego City dam failure of 2003; how rushed construction, lack of training, budget cuts and cheap materials cost 5 workers their lives, and learn what we can do in the future to avoid these critical mistakes. On the morning of February 12th, 2003, the Lego City dam collapsed shortly after construction was completed. As the reservoir was being filled, the dam quickly failed, trapping five workers inside. Search and rescue operations lasted for almost 48 hours, to no avail, the five crew members did not survive the collapse. What caused the collapse, and how did the crew members not escape? Final plans for the dam came only a year after Octane Gas's main refinery shut down. The lost tax revenue left the city struggling to find it's infrastructure. The city lost nearly 200,000 studs a month as many of the workers at the refinery were now without jobs, and applied for unemployment. The dam began construction with cuts to it's budget. Rather than importing rock to fill the dam, the city found it best to fill the space with local soil, which was known to be very weak, and unable to support weight, as observed in the housing crisis over 10 years prior where an entire block of a neighborhood had to be abandoned after basement floods and movement of slabs and support beams. Many of the new workers in the dam were laid off Octane workers, with little training in the management of a hydroelectric dam. The dam was constructed with only one exit at the top, violating the cities fire codes. This also made search and rescue operations more difficult for the firefighters trying to gain entry. Rescue operations arrived 2 hours after the incident as the helicopter needed on scene was rescuing a man who had fallen into the river as the reservoir was being filled. The dam was constructed out of bricks with small empty areas running through, making the application of mortar difficult. The hallow space also allows for passage of water. Dam appropriate bricks were initially approved for the project, but after city budget cuts the board members settled on cheaper bricks. "Dam personnel should not have been inside the dam during reservoir full", according to Dave Brickston, the attorney representing the family of Robert Piece, one of the five killed in the collapse. With proper training and better spending future accidents can be avoided. Lessons learned aided in reconstruction of the City Dam in 2008, new jobs and generated power saved the city from bankruptcy during the recession.

All of the comments I've read, are not joking. This was a story of hope, friendship, and darkness. Truly, an inspiring piece of work, bravo my friend.

At 15:57 I burst out crying. What a beautiful construction, deeply motivational story, heart gripping characters, and beautiful cinematography to bring this masterpiece all together in one amazing treat for the soul

This lego man at 13:25 was like "hello there"

That dead body floating by at 13:25 horrified me lol. On a serious note, I don't know why these videos started coming across my feed, but I do enjoy them. There's something addicting about it that I can't stop watching and I can definitely appreciate the time it takes to build and set up these little experiments.

Thank you men for your countless testing and sacrifices you have made, rest in peace kings

The structure held remarkably well. No catastrophic failures at all. It was cool watching the sand wash away and fill it's self back in from top to bottom until the water pressure equalized

paused at 8:50 to see who's survived so far and got shocked at the worst 'death' so far. First side of flood, 1 dead, 1 on ladder still alive (so far). In tunnel, 3 dead, 1 on ladder still alive on 2nd side, one dead...by being burried in sand up to head THEN drowned O.O 9:20 aaannnd the ladder is gone, guy stays alive until he faceplants forward into water and sand... guess he was exusted from holding on. 10:23 oh wait, there was 4, not 3, guys inside the tunnel. I couldn't see the 4th one until his body floated into the flooding chamber. 11:26 annnd there goes the last guy inside the tunnel, if only he wasn't petrified with fear, he could have climbed higher. So far only the foreman, who was on top and outside of tunnel survived. OF COURSE you would stop the experiment, drain, MOVE the foreman so he's now in a vulnerable position and then start the flooding again. ;) TOTAL DEATH is the only acceptable result ... but hey I have to admit, the foreman has it coming, he just stood at that top while his men drowned.

16:25 RIP to that lego worker who got absolutely crushed in the bottom right corner.

Noooo! As a LEGO minifigure, I find this extremely horrifying! If they only had some scuba diving minifigures... they could have been saved. Damn!

It would be cool to see this in a big city on a large scale, where even some kind of device will cause waves. (probably in the pool)

We will always remember the brave leggos that lost their lives trying to make the world a better place 🙏🏼 their leggo families will have a tough road ahead🥺 the engineers and construction managers should be investigated, we need to make sure nothing like this happens again👍🏻 the look of sheer terror on the red hard hat worker at the top of the ladder paints a grim picture of the events that transpired on that fateful day❤️

In theory, you could probably use some hair spray as a sealant to mimic the waterproofing full-scale builds use. You would have to be a bit picky for a non-water solvent one, but it would allow you to layer it on reasonably quickly and seal the gaps without too much issue in the main structure.

7:02 Notice how fast it goes through the back barrier of sand. In other experiments I've seen, they lacked the multi layered structure. And it just suddenly and instantly has a complete landslide while looking perfectly fine from the outside. So if an engineer tells you that water has gone past one barrier, take it seriously. This has the cute little internal flooding. But for all you know, the barrier they are talking about is the back wall of brick and everyhing could snap any second.

I love how in the first experiment the guy who fell off the ladder span in circles the whole time

You should use wet sand to set everything and see how that does

This was basically my childhood & young life.. building things like this & blowing them up, burning, or flooding/drowning them. Like every great disaster epic :)

Those workers are so committed to their job they stayed until the end. RIP in peace Lego workers

Red hat guy's name is John, and the other's inside knew they were trapped and were urging him to go and save himself, but he just wouldn't give up on them. Dammit, John, why'd you have to go and be a hero? Your wife and lego son miss you.

I really enjoyed this video thank you. One suggestion though: 90% of the action took place from the side view and in my opinion that’s where most of the video should’ve been shown from.

Yeah the facing does a lot to protect the dam, if the sand inside was a lot more compacted (maybe even put in while wet, you would of probably had a dam that would not have failed. Also its intresting you drained it and restarted it cause its intresting to see how a damaged dam handles more flooding and it went as well as I expected lmao.

These demonstrations are very interesting, but I always shed a tear for the lego families of the workers.

Respect to the one who died saving his friend . Their corpses remained entwined until the end .

Love how the lego worker tried to save his buddy at 10:20, while the first one still leisurely snorchels around😁

And also it was really cool when the water was coming in from the roof! It gave me titanic grand staircase vibes!

0:43 - George (fell off the ladder and hit his head) 5:06 - Howard and Steve (drowned inside the working area) 6:43 - Charles (drowns as water rushes into his working area) 9:11 - John (drowns) 11:20 - Rick (drowns on ladder in work area) 15:58 - Joe (falls off the bricks and drowns) 16:26 - Rob (crushed by bricks and drowns) RESULTS: Survivors - 0 Deaths - 8 [as mentioned above]

its cool here at 6:40 i believe that the design whether due to an oversight or intentionally, the structure created a siphon. Which is cool AF to see start tbh

If you scale the weight you also need to scale the sand. The weight of the dam is supposed to keep the sand compressed enough to make it harder for water to get into. This dam is basically made with 2-5cm pebbles.

If the intention is to not flood, for science, vs flood, for scientific curiosity. Then you should have the red facing completely separate the sand at the base. From a content perspective its quite riveting to watch, especially with legos.

That first dude floating around face down dead had me laughing. The little men in these videos getting swept away to their deaths is extremely satisfying

That guy hanging onto the brick was holding on for DEAR LIFE

The death of the first legoman was brutal! He jumped from the ladder and his head smacked with a rock killing him instantly

Really cool but you should get a longer tank or add some kind of drain to the other side so that you get that catastrophic failure on the first go. Both sides filling up kinda create equilibrium

I've never been more satisfied to watch a Lego fellow float like a fish

Dam. . . so brutal But I thought it was sweet how the 2 embraced towards the end. My mom and I absolutely cracked up when the dude started shimmying up the ladder for air, and the dude in the blue hat floated right in front of the camera haha Question: do you ever want to stop an experiment because you feel bad for the figures?

10:45 Meanwhile legoman in orange helmet: "C'mon, help me to move the ladder, it will support the ceiling!"

13:28 Лего человечек такой: - Ты меня снимаешь?

The main problem here is that even if the dam could hold the water could still flow through the gaps between the bricks and the glass, as well as some spaces between the bricks, i think a way to fix this would be to use waterproof glue or a sealing material to put in between the gaps

That hug of the two lego guys was so *dam*-n perfect..

I am the only one that likes to give the lego mans voises

My wish: fewer angles from above and more angles from the side, or a double screen. When viewed from the side, something is constantly happening, I even have to pause. When viewed from above, almost nothing happens, I have to rewind. And another thing: here you need a drain hole (and it's better to remove one wall) so that the dam break does not turn into a pool. Then the dams will collapse in a completely different way, more spectacular and believable. Tnx.

Use wet sand to build the model and let it dry naturally before putting the water in, it will make the structure less loosen.

RIP those legos, they are the true hero here.

Iceberg: This is what you get for melting me.

Thank you. This was unsettling and entertaining.

Respect to all those Lego men who lost their lives in these experiments. Their contributions to society will never be forgotten 😭😭

This video is an amazing way to teach people about the importance of knowing how to build something near water in a safe way. It is also a good class to young people who want to have their own houses and private spaces.

It's amazing work

Interesting video! When looking at the side views, I noticed that you used some type of white putty or sealant on the middle edges of the dam. I wonder if the dam would hold up better if you also used it to seal the front portion of the dam? The bricks can't seal flush with the wall, and it seemed like a lot of water was able to make its way through by just squeezing through the sides

Remember watching these when I was younger, brings back memories

RIP to the guy that fell off the ladder at the very start, he never even had a chance

That's very interesting. The sand shrinks as it gets wet, leaving the top unsupported. If there were some kind of foam, rubber, or even a spring loaded foundation, it could prevent that damage. Edit: I think foam that expands when wet would work best. That way, as the leak moves through the bricks, the foam would expand, push the water back out, and seal the cracks with the expanding foam, as well. The worse the leak, the more the foam expands and then hardens as it dries.

Thanks. Nice video. The side view was the most interesting view and the cutaways were frustrating. Could you do a split screen version so that the side view is always visible?

Deaths: Gerald: Fell off ladder breaking his neck Dan: Drowned with Ian Ian: Drowned with Bob Thomas: Drowned while trapped under ladder Ryan: Trapped under sand and water flow Ashton: Drowned after desperately trying to climb up the dam before it collapses Don: Drowned after being stuck on a ladder Alan: Fell off tower

While most of the dam workers were crushed or drowned in the line of duty, surprisingly, the first worker inside the tunnel simply died the instant he touched water, and began floating even though he had plenty of air to breathe. It turns out, he's deathly allergic to water.

May all the Lego men who lost their lives so we could learn more about sand dam building .....RIP

Every time the cross-section is getting good it cuts back to the outside

I watched Lego dam breach videos since I was a little kid, and now I'm most of the way through college. I wonder how many children are civil engineers now specifically because Lego dam breach videos captured their imaginations as a kid?

That plot twist with the lego man on the ladder on the inside watching everyone drown. So diabolical!

Just keep in mind that most of the water is going in from the side! Next time put glue or something on the side so you can see the full potential of your dam! Amazing video!

I wonder where he gets those neat little bricks

I love how when the ground around them gets wet the lego people just quit on life.

The moment I realized the lego men around the dam, weren't working on the dam, rather than trying to escape it... that actually shook me.

For a better simulation of a dammed up river, you should have drainage on the right (lower) side simulate the water going down the dry river bed. Now it filled up quicker on the right side than it drained from the left side. It would probably have resulted in more damage in only one go.

It’s truly tragic that that one guy managed to live thru being buried alive and almost drowned, only to be crushed by a ton of bricks

I like how Lego have invested in getting a realistic buoyancy for both their workmen and trees.

I don't know why KZfaq recommended this but I am enthralled by the peril of the LEGO people

The key to earthen dams is to pack the sand to prevent seepage, get a rolling pin and work it across the sand as you build it into the dam, you may need something to hold the structure together while doing this such as wooden blocks, afterwards remove the blocks and replace them with unpacked sand and add the bricks, the resultant dam should be much stronger.

Seems Like this Dam Had a few a few structural flaws which ended up costing alot of workers their lives.

RIP to the brave Lego Men we lost, gone but not forgotten.

All this content is extremely mesmerizing and very informative. Your dedication to these creations is greatly admired!

if you used clay instead of the airy powdery sand, it would stand a lot better i recon at least at the front that is

Make a Dam where they have a chance poor lil guys:(

I can't believe the guy just sat there on the ladder the entire time and watched all those workers drown.

Water level: rises to 1 mm Dude on the ladder: "ight imma head out"

I would've loved this as a kid! I had a weird interest in flooding buckets and my parts of my yard with miniature towns and action figures, just seeing how the water washed them away and submerged everything 😆

This also shows, that a dam may hold a very large storm-surge at first, without showing any signs of damage, but may fail on a much smaller storm a week later due to being still saturated. Especially prone to happen with peat-dams witch are still around from the late middle-ages (Europe)

Respect to the lego men who gave there lives for this

This is a representation of why it's so hard building basements at sea level.

The part at 11:15 when the 2 Lego men held each other as they drowned was phenomenal 👏

13:27 Hi how are you doing today

I used to love these kinds of videos so much. Glad to see they're still good.

RIP to Lego guy who died doing what he loved.

Я хотел спросить а будут ещё видио где будет мини сюжет К примеру бандита смывает полицию

Loved seeing it drained! There's something about the minibricks covered in sand that looks so... Ancient :3 So glad I found this channel! lots of love

RIP Lego man. It's always sad to see somebody lose their life. I thought he was going to be able to escape but unfortunately he got stuck on the ladder

It's actually pretty harrowing to imagine the figures as people. Starts off with the guy on the ladder falling off and breaking his neck, then at 7:47, by the time the foreman realizes he should run, the water's rinsed half a ton of sand over his legs, and the rest of it a moment later; giving him just long enough for him to realize how he's going to die... This is the kind of thing you'd see on the news for a week afterwards and have a video on it by "Plainly Difficult" the following Saturday.

Suggestion, instead of having everything at a level, have the ground in front if the dam angled away or mimic a river bed allowing the water to flow away. Having the water pool in in front of the dam would effect the behavior of the water and the pressures on the dam. There was something disturbing about the little Lego guys drowning.

youtube commendavit me et ipsum bonum

the stern faced lego man floating by the camera is comedy gold.

The second that man fell off the ladder, they probably knew their inescapable fate. Why do lego men have such tragic stories?