It can move 240,000 cubic meters of earth per day, it’s as heavy as more than 8,600 cars, and it’s as tall as the Statue of Liberty – these are just some of the outstanding features of bucket wheel excavator Bagger 288.
It has been in operation at the Garzweiler open pit lignite mine since 2001, prior to which it was used to dig coal at the Hambach mine 22 kilometers away. When it was built in 1978, the “Bagger 288” was the largest bucket wheel excavator in the world, and it is still one of the biggest land vehicles today.
Machines used to mine large volumes of minerals over longer periods must above all be efficient and economical. And this is where thyssenkrupp’s continuous mining technology comes into play. Bucket wheel excavators are the ideal solution:
They can move as much lignite and overburden in a day as 40,000 workers – 240,000 cubic meters, equivalent to more than 10,000 dump truck loads.
The material is picked up by the bucket wheel and transported on conveyors over three meters in width. The overburden is dumped by spreaders.
