The Bagger 288, an earth-excavating machine, was manufactured by the German company Krupp in 1978. Measuring 220 meters in length, 96 meters in height (taller than the Statue of Liberty), and weighing 13,500 tons (heavier than the Eiffel Tower and equivalent to about 293 T90 battle tanks, each weighing approximately 46 tons), the Bagger 288 has become the largest tracked vehicle in the world.
The Bagger 288 was commissioned by the mining company Rheinbraun. Engineers took five years to plan, design, and produce this massive machine, and the assembly of the giant excavator took an additional five years.
Due to its considerable size and weight, even though it is equipped with a powerful engine, the Bagger 288 has a maximum speed of only 10 meters per minute to ensure safety. This speed is far below that of other giant machines.
The Bagger 288 operates in open-pit mines. This excavator uses 18 rotating buckets like a continuous shovel for digging earth and rock. It can move 240,000 cubic meters of earth and rock each day. This colossal machine only requires 3 to 4 operators to gather 265,000 tons of fuel in a single day.
Disassembling the machine and transporting its components is challenging and costly, which is why the Bagger 288 has only been moved from one mine to another once, in 2001.
Stunning Statistics About the Bagger 288
4: Four conveyor belts, each 3.2 meters wide, transport materials at a speed of 18 km/h.
800: The tires have a total area of 800 square meters, supporting the weight of 13,000 tons of the Bagger at a speed of 0.6 km/h.
1,700: The total length of electrical wiring used on this machine is 1,700 meters, consuming electricity equivalent to that of a city with 20,000 residents.
40,000: It requires 40,000 tons of paint to cover the entire machine, including two towers that are 45 meters tall and 2,200 meters of steel cable.
22: The machine has 18 buckets, each weighing 3,500 kg, standing 22 meters tall, equivalent to a seven-story building, and can scoop 6.5 cubic meters of earth and rock, enough to fill a cargo truck.
