"BIG CARL"

 

"Big Carl" is the nickname of the SGC-250, the world's largest land-based crane. The crane is designed and built by Belgium-based Sarens and was launched in 2018.  "Big Carl" is the nickname of the crane's director of technical solutions, Carl Sarens. The crane's full name is SGC-250, which stands for "Sarens Giant Crane 250".  "Big Carl" is 250 meters tall at its tallest configuration and can lift 5,000 tons at a radius of 40 meters. It has 52 counterweight containers, each weighing 100 tons, and 12 engines. The crane also has a load moment of 250,000MT and runs on 96 individual wheels.  "Big Carl" has been stationed at Hinkley Point in Somerset, UK since 2019, where it has been used in the construction of the new nuclear power site.

THE ACCO SUPER BULLDOZER AND THE KOMATSU D575A TRACTOR-CRAWLER

The Acco Super Bulldozer is the largest and most powerful tracked bulldozer ever made. It was built in Portogruaro in northern Italy by the Umberto Acco company. This bulldozer has a gross weight of 183 tons and is powered by two 675 hp (503 kW) Caterpillar engines placed horizontally opposed, which deliver a total combined output of 1,350 hp (1,010 kW). The super bulldozer has a blade that is 23 feet wide and 9 feet high. The total length of the bulldozer is over 40 feet from the tip of the blade to the ripper on the rear. The ripper alone is about 10 feet tall, being powered by huge hydraulic rams.  This bulldozer was initially built to be exported to Libya in the early 1980s to help in land development. As the Leader of Libya, Colonel Gaddafi, was heavily involved with international terrorism at that time, the United States imposed a trade embargo on that country in 1986. As a direct consequence of these trade restrictions, the completed Acco Dozer was never shipped to its intended destination. This bulldozer has never been put to any operational use and was put into storage where it was built.

THE ACCO SUPER BULLDOZER

The Komatsu D575A tractor crawler produced in a 'SR' (Super Ripper bulldozer/ripper configuration), or as a dedicated bulldozer in the form of the 'SD' (Super Dozer). Is the world’s largest production bulldozer.  Specifications: ·         1,150 horsepower ·         Weighs 152 tons ·         16 feet tall and has a ground clearance of 2 feet 5 inches ·         Maximum speed of 7 miles per hour ·         Blade capacity is approximately 90 cubic yards ·         Fuel tank capacity is around 422 gallons  Due to its immense size, the D575A must be broken down into component form when it is moved from one job site to another. Moving all the components requires six to eight truck loads depending on local laws.

A Komatsu D575 pictured with a man leaning against the push arm.

MARION STEAM SHOVEL AKA THE LE ROY STEAM SHOVEL

 

The Marion Steam Shovel, also known as the Le Roy Steam Shovel, is a historic Model 91 steam shovel manufactured by the Marion Steam Shovel and Dredge Company of Marion, Ohio. It is located on Gulf Road in the Town of Le Roy, New York.  it is believed to be the largest intact steam shovel remaining in the world, and may have been used in the excavation of the Panama Canal.  A model 91 steam shovel set what was then a world record in 1912 when it dug 5,554 cubic yards (4,246 m3) of earth from a pit at the site of Gatun Dam.  The Model 91 required eight workers to operate. Four worked in the main section. The operator sat in the front booth and used levers to move the hoist and lift and lower the bucket. When it was time to move the shovel, he took care of that as well. A cranes man, who sat on the left-hand side of the boom, controlled the crowd engine, which allowed him to set the depth of the cut and release the bucket's contents when it was full by tugging on a wire rope attached to it. In the rear was an engineer who tended the boiler and a fireman who shoveled the coal.  Outside the shovel a crew of four took up and laid the track along which its flanged wheels moved. They also set up the jackscrews necessary to stabilize the shovel in front of the rock face it was digging and dismantled them when it was time to move.

MARION MODEL 91 STEAM SHOVEL

GULF INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY WEST CLOSURE COMPLEX

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex is a part of the New Orleans Drainage System; it consists of a navigable floodgate, a pumping station, flood walls, sluice gates, foreshore protection, and an earthen levee. The complex was designed to reduce the risk for residences and businesses in the project area from a storm surge associated with a tropical event, with an intensity that has a one-percent chance of occurring in any given year. When the gate is closed during a storm event, the 19,246 cubic feet per second 11 bay pump station is required to evacuate the rainwater that is pumped into Harvey and Algiers canals by 9 other pump stations along the canals. The pump station, which is the largest in the world, consists of 11 Caterpillar engines each producing 5,444 horsepower. The pumps could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 3 seconds.

BOU CRAA PHOSPHATE MINE, WESTERN SAHARA

Bou Craa is a town in Western Sahara, southeast of the main city of El Aaiún. It is inhabited almost exclusively by employees of the Moroccan-controlled Bou Craa phosphate industry. The phosphates are transported to the coast by an automated conveyor belt. At 60 miles in length, it is the longest conveyor belt in the world.

THE ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT REPLACEMENT TUNNEL

The Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, also known as the SR 99 Tunnel, is a bored highway tunnel in Seattle. The 2-mile double-decker tunnel carries a section of State Route 99 under downtown Seattle. Construction began in July 2013 using “Bertha”, at the time the world’s largest-diameter tunnel boring machine. Tunnel boring was completed in April 2017, and the tunnel opened to traffic on February 4, 2019.

BACK OF "BERTHA" AND PARTIALLY COMPLETED TUNNEL WITH CONCRETE WALLS IN PLACE IN 2017

OVERBURDEN CONVEYOR BRIDGE F60

The overburden conveyor bridges used in brown coal (ignite) opencast mining in the Lusatian coalfields in Germany are the largest movable technical industrial machines in the world. Overburden conveyor bridges transport the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as rock and soil (overburden). The cutting height is 60 meters, hence the name F60. With a length of 1,647 feet it is described as a lying Eiffel Tower. The F60 is 260 feet high, 790 feet wide, and weighs 15,000 tons.

F60 0VERBURDEN CONVEYOR BRIDGE IN OPERATION

CHUNNEL BORING MACHINES

The 6 English machines used to drill the Channel Tunnel were called 1, 2,3,4,5 and 6. The 6 French machines were called Brigitte, Europa, Catherine, Virginie, Pascoline and Severine.

“Virginie” is the only surviving tunnel boring machine (TBM).  It is on display at the Eurotunnel Calais Terminal in Coquelles, France. On it are the words "hommage aux bâtisseurs du tunnel", meaning "tribute to the builders of the tunnel".