Engineering is the mechanical solution to a practical problem. It’s bare, naked ingenuity and man has been relying on it since the beginning of time. For example when man first used a stick to steal honey from a beehive halfway up a tree to avoid being stung, or using tree trunks as rollers to move a 50 tonne stone.

Extreme engineering, on the other hand, takes problem-solving way beyond the call of duty.

The river Tarn in the south of France blocks the direct route between Paris and Barcelona. The wide, steep-sided valley is as deep as the Eiffel Tower and 2.5km across. Still, there’s no point avoiding an obstacle, when you can build a bridge right over it and wave as you pass nearly 200m overhead!

Man, it seems, is capable of anything.