Even Bigger Machines (dig bigger holes)

"QUANTUM SHOT" #39
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Finally, what seems to be THE Biggest Movable Machine!

It has been brought to our attention, that there exists a titanic mechanism in Germany with a real claim to this title. (It does, however, has a much lesser appetite than the infamous "Bagger 288". 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 this epic structure is the Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60, located 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 the VEB TAKRAF Lauchhammer (it is a well-known fact that the GDR was manufacturing huge machinery, of lesser types, since 1958). After only 13 months in operation, the F60 bridge was suspended - for various energy and political reasons.

The opencast mine Klettwitz-Nord (where the conveyor bridge was operating) is closed today. The colossal bridge is owned now by the community, which presents it to tourists as the "Fallen on Its Side Eiffel Tower!"

- size comparison with the 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:

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Other Honorable Mentions:

The "Big Muskie": Ohio's Walking Giant

The walking excavator "Big Muskie" was once the World's Largest Earth Moving Machine.
This site confirms: "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.

This 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.

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Big Machines Dig Really Big Holes

To complement the awesome sight 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! (see more pictures here)

That little speck under the arrow in the last picture is actually a huge mining truck. It takes this truck 2 hours to climb out from the bottom of this pit.

Devastating Size

You've seen "Bagger 288" monstrous excavator... if not, refresh your memory here. Now we got more images of this beast (by popular demand):