Even Bigger Machines (dig bigger holes)

"QUANTUM SHOT" #39 Finally, what seems to be THE Biggest Movable Machine It has been brought to our attention, that there is a titanic mechanism in Germany with a real claim to this title. (It however has much lesser appetite. At least we do not have a record of it mangling any smaller machinery - see Bagger 288 "chew up" a bulldozer here). The name of that epic structure is Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60 in Lichterfeld (Source here). This technological steel giant is 502 metres long, 202 metres wide, 80 metres high and 11,000 ton heavy. It was build in East Germany in 1991 by VEB TAKRAF Lauchhammer(although the GDR was manufacturing slightly lesser types since 1958) After only 13 months of operation the F60 bridge was taken out of operation for energy-political reasons. The opencast mine Klettwitz-Nord where the conveyor bridge was operating is closed. The bridge is owned now by the community and presented as the "Lying Eiffel Tower" - the size comparison with Eiffel Tower and it moves on its own set of rails! (Photos by Harald Finster, all rights reserved) this is how it feels inside the bridge: ------------- The Honorable Mention: "Big Muskie", the Ohio's Walking Giant The walking excavator "Big Muskie" was once the World's Largest Earth Moving Machine. This site says: "Built in 1969, Big Muskie could move 39 million pounds of earth and rock every hour, revealing rich coal seams 100-150 feet down in southeastern Ohio. BM could swing its boom 600 feet, creeping across the landscape on four giant shoes. The immense dragline machine was churning along at full production until 1991, when power demands and other factors convinced the owners to shut down." It was scrapped in 1999, and only its monstrous metal bucket remains today as a roadside attraction in Reinersville, Ohio. ---------- Big Machines make Bigger Holes To complement the sights of biggest digging mechanisms, I humbly bring to your attention one of the biggest man-made holes on Earth. This is a diamond mine in the heart of Siberia near the town Mirny. It is 525 meters deep and 1.25 km in diameter. (Many more pictures are here) That little speck under the arrow in the last picture is actually a huge mining truck. It takes the truck 2 hours to climb from the bottom of this hole. --------------------- Appendix: More "Bagger 288" photos (by popular demand): Read the previous post on this topic: "Titanic Mechanism "devours" its prey - a bulldozer!" Permanent Link...