The sun was just rising while we were already entering a forbidden area somewhere in Eastern Germany. This mining mega machine was already visible from many miles away since it’s towering above everything in the proximity. To call this bucket-wheel excavator “giant” would be an understatement.
The dimensions are just overwhelming. It seems like a whole factory on wheels. Speaking of: This beast has six caterpillars in total. Thereby it was able to achieve a maximum driving speed of roughly six meters per minute. In total this colossus weighs over 3.800 tons. That’s an unimaginably big number! It looked like this thing originated directly from a Mad Max movie.
This bucket-wheel excavator was used at several brown coal mines in the region. While the massive wheel would be rotating the buckets would pick up earth and dump it onto a conveyor belt. These conveyor belts transported the earth to other vehicles for removal to the dumping site. Despite the size only a small crew was needed to control the monster.
To be honest, climbing around on a totally rusted rotary excavator wasn’t the brightest idea we had that day. The broken grids were the only thing between us and a death drop. But the amazing view was totally worth it! From the top of the vehicle you were able to see everything. And everyone was able to see you…
In 1964, this bucket excavator was constructed. The vehicle has a total length of 110 meters and it’s over 50 meters high. Today its former color can only barely be recognized but the whole excavator was painted blue a long time ago. After that it was called “Blaues Wunder”. Or in English: “Blue Wonder”. It’s said that the person in charge was even threatened with an administrative penalty as a consequence. Because authorities didn’t like that this excavator stood out from all the other mining vehicles which presented themselves in a uniform grey.
After 35 years of mining activity this bucket-wheel excavator began its last voyage. The reason: There was nothing left to excavate. In 2003, the vehicle drove eight kilometers to its final resting place. The surrounding cities had decided to preserve the colossus. But it doesn’t look preserved at all.
Vandalism, graffiti and theft are getting out of control. In addition wind and weather are giving the mining machine a hard time. Within sight of renewable energy sources this bucket excavator testifies the former brown coal mining in the region. But that era is over. And one of the largest land vehicles on Earth has now served its time.
Location: N. Illlinois Gender: Male Total Likes: 66 likes
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Re: Abandoned Mining Mega Machine < Reply # 1 on 4/15/2018 8:15 PM > | Reply with Quote
I've always been fascinated by this machine, so seeing your pictures and video was awesome. I can't imagine what it's like to stand next to this behemoth in person.
Location: Santa Fe, NM Gender: Male Total Likes: 46 likes
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Re: Abandoned Mining Mega Machine < Reply # 2 on 4/15/2018 11:22 PM > | Reply with Quote
Absolutely incredible pictures and video! What an amazing place- these giant mining machines have always seemed to me like some of the coolest things in the world to explore. I don't have one near me (and they seem like they might be really hard to get into/might alert the authorities), so it's especially great to see your fantastic video going through it. A terrible shame that it's being allowed to decay, hopefully it'll still be explorable for a long time to come. Thanks for sharing!
