Massive Earthmoving Machines: Pt. 2

There is a sight no-one will ever forget is 'Ursa Major' in the Black Thunder mine, Wyoming. Bucyrus-Erie 2570-WS is the largest walking dragline at work in North America. In this DVD we take you into the operator's cabin to shift overburden from above the coal seam. Keith Haddock shows how this outstanding machine fits into the workflow of a mine that in 2007 shipped 86 million tons of coal and moved over 250 million tons of earth and rock to get it. The busy-ness of Black Thunder's haul roads is contrasted in Germany's Garzweiler lignite (brown coal) mine by the quiet efficiency of conveyors moving overburden and coal miles around the site. The bucketwheel excavators that extract the materials are truly enormous. No. 288, featured in this DVD, weighs 12,800 tonnes and can excavate 240,000 cu metres of material a day.