High Maintenance

In the Netherlands, engineers battle encroaching seawater on storm surge barriers that protect the country from deadly floods; divers risk their lives to save a flood-ravaged community near Montreal.

Crews wage a battle against moisture at the world's only rotating boat-lift, the Falkirk Wheel; in Blackpool, UK, technicians must fix a roller coaster's broken track before opening.

At a hydro station in Niagara Falls, engineers struggle to solve an issue with a faulty power-generator; lighting techs attempt a risky fix 45 stories above the Las Vegas strip.

In Oregon, specialized divers remove contaminates from a massive drinking water system; crews upgrade a communications tower to keep Atlantic Canada connected.

Technicians battle the elements to keep the country's longest bridge open; specialists work in claustrophobic conditions to keep massive wind turbines rotating.

As forest fires rage in Northern Manitoba, aircraft engineers at a remote airstrip struggle to keep water bombers flying; mechanics race to get a fleet of helicopters safe to pluck workers from platforms hundreds of kilometers offshore.

A crew of mariners dredge the bottom of the St. Lawrence River. A crew in the Canadian Maritimes overhauls a passenger ferry before it becomes unsafe.