Bagger 288

The Bagger 288 is the world's largest land vehicle an weighs in at 13,500 tons. It was created by the German company Thyssen Krupp, in 1978 to work in the coal mine Tagebau Hambach in Germany. It took five years to build and had a cost of about $ 100 million. It has a height of about 95 meters and is 240 meters long. It has a maximum speed of 10 meters per minute (0.6 km / h) through 12 caterpillar tracks systems powered electrically. It takes five workers to operate, and can excavate about 240,000 tons of coal or 240,000 cubic meters of sterile daily. In February 2001, the bagger 288 completed his work on Tagebau Hagbach mine, and was no longer necessary to use them. In three weeks, ran 22 kilometers, to the mine Garzweiler, crossing the motorway Autobahn 61, the river Erft, a rail line and several highways. The movement costs 15 million DM needing a team of 70 workers. The rivers were crossed placing large steel pipes for water to flow through them and providing stones and gravel on them to create a smooth surface. A turf special was planted on his way to soften the ground. Move the Bagger 288 in a piece is cheaper than disassemble and move it piece by piece.