Giant Excavator

The following is a news article from the Liebherr Group (also view at Equipment Trader) about their new 800 ton mining excavator:

At the MINExpo 2008 in Las Vegas, Liebherr announced the R 9800 Mining Excava-tor. Rated at 800 tons of service weight the R 9800 provides a nominal bucket capacity of 38 to 42 m³ at a material density of 1,8 t/m³. This new flagship of Liebherr mining excavators’ range is targeting bucket loads of 75 tons in both versions, as a backhoe and a shovel execution.

Liebherr is providing for the machine two engine options, two Cummins QSK 60 with a installed power of 1,492 kW / 2,000 hp each or two MTU 12V4000 with a installed power of 1,425 kW / 1,910 hp.

Whilst the backhoe digging envelope and bucket width remain similar to the previous Liebherr flagship, the R 996, the R 9800 in backhoe configuration provides a break out force of 1,840 kN with a digging force of 1,750 kN. In shovel configuration, the machine is achieving crowd forces at ground level of 2,980 kN and breakout forces of 2,350 kN. These values ensure superior digging capabilities even in toughest mining conditions.

The first units of the new flagship are currently in the final stages of factory testing and the first machine is soon due for operation in Australia.

The Giant Excavator

To get an idea of how big this excavator is, keep in mind that most excavators range from just under 2 tons up to over 100 tons. The ones you see on the side of the road probably weigh anywhere from 5-60 tons. In more practical terms, this 800 ton excavator weighs as much as approximately 100 full grown African elephants, or as much as approximately 15 Boeing Jets!

Sources

(1) The Liebherr Group

(2) Equipment Trader

NAHETS Member School in Oklahoma Becomes NUCA’s First Oklahoma Training Center

The Oklahoma College of Construction (OKCC) is now Oklahoma’s first, and currently only, National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) authorized training center for competent person training in trenching and shoring. We are proud to promote trench safety here in Oklahoma and around the nation. With an estimated 10 to 15 deaths per year in each state in trenching accidents, and with OSHA now requiring a competent person to be on-site whenever excavating, there is now a nationally recognized training center in the heart of Oklahoma and the nation.

Troy Rouse, director of corporate training and an instructor, got the ball rolling on this a few months ago. Previous to Troy’s work here at the OKCC, he started his own training company in Michigan and managed it for 10 years. During this time Troy served on the Michigan OSHA Advisory board and became a member of NUCA. He is also certified as an OSHA Construction Outreach Trainer and as a Trench and Shoring Competent Persons Instructor for NUCA.

When Troy started working here 5 months ago, he realized that there was no NUCA training center for trenching and shoring in Oklahoma. Having extensive knowledge and experience with NUCA training programs, he brought up the idea and possibility for the OKCC to become the first training center for NUCA in Oklahoma. Campus President Jerry McGinnis agreed that his was a valuable opportunity for the college. After months of working out the details things finally went through, and now everything is set in place. A big thanks to Troy for taking the initiative and getting things worked out with NUCA.

In addition to his previous work in Michigan, Troy also served as a heavy combat engineer for the U.S. Army and was employed in Iraq as a Heavy Equipment Trainer. He is also a certified NCCER instructor in heavy equipment operation.

Construction and Heavy Equipment Jobs . . . For Women Too

For those of us who know construction workers and heavy equipment operators, I am sure most of them are males. Lets face it, shopping and bulldozers just don’t seem to match up all that well; however, many of us will be surprised to learn that there are more women employed in construction and heavy equipment industries than we would think.

The U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau keeps track of statistics for nontraditional occupations for women. Here are some relevant statistics in construction and heavy equipment occupations.*

Although the statistics do not show a high percentage of women involved in these occupations, it is obvious that hundreds of thousands of females across the United States are interested in or already are employed in construction jobs, including heavy equipment operating. Similar trends hold true for countries outside of the United States as well. The following is a summary from an article written on November 8, 2007 by Matthew Craze on Bloomberg.com entitled, “Andean Women Use Gentle Touch to Conquer Monster Mining Trucks”:

South America’s mining industry is being flooded by women who come mainly from the Andean Mountains to work as mining truck drivers. The main reason the women do this is because it greatly increases their income compared to typical work in the villages and communities they live in. As would be expected by some, the men did not believe that these women would last under the harsh mining and weather conditions; however, many women feel the same way as mining truck driver, Patricia Guajardo, who said, “The winters can be very harsh, but I love it.”

Despite concerns or issues regarding the performance of these female equipment operators, many industry personnel actually say the women have a better touch in operating than some men do. Cristian Silva, a truck and earth-moving equipment trainer for Caterpillar, Inc., said “Women tend to take more care of the machine and don’t abuse the brakes or the engine…Operating the machine better means more profits.” This is one of the main reason mining companies in South America, such as Barrick Gold Corp. and BHP Billiton Ltd, like the female operators—their performance actually cut costs and increase output.

It is a win-win situation with these South American women becoming equipment operators for mining companies. It not only allows the women to increase their lifestyle and show their capabilities but it also brings in profit for the mining companies. There have been few minor difficulties in hiring women operators (some have legs that are too short to operate and it can be hard to find them because many women stay home with children). Despite these obstacles, it has been a positive experience for both the women and mining companies of South America.

Until 1993, women were banned from working at mines in Chile. By 2005, women made up 4.3 percent of the mining workforce in Chile, according to Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer.*

So it appears that it is safe to say that women can experience success in construction and heavy equipment work, just as men can.

References:

*(1) Nontraditional Occupations for Women in 2006. U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau. Retrieved November 26, 2007 from http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/nontra2006.htm

*(2) Craze, Matthew. (November 2007). Andean Women Use Gentle Touch to Conquer Monster Mining Trucks. Retrieved November 22, 2007 from http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aAR9kj8RyLyU&refer=germany.

NAHETS Announces Release of the Yellow Metal Boot Camp-Heavy Equipment Field Training Manual

Las Vegas — August 14, 2007 — Today the National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS) announced immediate distribution of its new Yellow Metal™ Boot Camp Heavy Equipment Field Training Manual (version-1), enabling its member schools to further use the skills-based field curriculum in their training services. The manual will enhance and make more effective the heavy equipment training and education provided by NAHETS member heavy equipment schools.

NAHETS requires its member schools to use the Prentice Hall Contren Learning Series program from the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). Yellow Metal Boot Camp integrates with the NCCER heavy equipment skills tasks which are taught in the field. The full color, 440 page phone-book size volume features original illustrations packaged in a customized, foil embossed cover.

NAHETS also announced that the manual has a companion website for students. The site features several hours of training videos that compliment the components of the equipment training tasks, referred to as “drills.” This program presents the original task-based curriculum, as well as graphically rich multimedia. Equipment training videos can be also downloaded onto an iPod, watched on-line via www.yellowmetalbootcamp.com, or played from a DVD. This NAHETS product is taught in conjunction with the basic NCCER curriculum.

 

NAHETS director of curriculum development, Chris Cannon said, “We have been working on this field training program for several years. Matt Klabacka, executive director for NAHETS, Marty Guy, chief heavy equipment instructor, and Jeff Belknap, training director at the Nevada School of Construction, recognized the need for a more organized, task-oriented field training system to supplement the NCCER curriculum in our schools. This program covers everything from safety, blueprints, and grade work, all the way through each piece of heavy equipment we teach at the schools including: skid steer loaders, tractors, backhoes, dump trucks, water trucks, compactors, loaders, forklifts, bulldozers, scrapers, excavators, and motor graders.”

 

Klabacka took this concept to the University of Las Vegas Center for Work Force Development, where Professor Dr. Clifford R. McClain helped organize, validate, and refine it. From there the NAHETS curriculum development department consulted with experts in the field and then authored a supplementary training curriculum. Then they partnered with the NAHETS media department and Yellow Metal TV, headed by Rhett Nielson, producer and artist who came up with the original packaging, display, and marketing concept. In addition, NAHETS also engaged Ryan Bankhead, 3-D animation specialist and illustrator, and video editors and cameramen Trevon Angulo, David Taylor, and Sam Teilman, to create the Yellow Metal Boot Camp product that NAHETS has today.

 

The National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (www.nahets.com) is recognized as the national leader in the entry level heavy equipment operator training field. It has member schools located coast to coast across the country. The association schools offer a wide range of training and services designed to empower people in their quest to join the ranks of the highly sought after construction trades, specializing in heavy equipment operation from backhoes and bulldozers to rough terrain hydraulic cranes.

 

 

 

Student Testimonial

“My name is Tom Johnson.

“I’m from New England, Connecticut. I am 24 years old. I was actually eating breakfast with my mom and dad when they mentioned I should go to the Georgia School of Construction, member of the National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools, NAHETS, (www.nahets.com). They said they would pay for it and I took them up on it. The drive down from Connecticut was 1,000 miles, and it took me 18 hours. I found out about the Georgia School of Construction through the website. The difference was the website. It was very professional-it looked like something I want to be part of.

“I really didn’t know what to expect-I was a little nervous. They were talking about job placement; they were really stressing safety. One of the things they said it would take was a good attitude. You have to be at the school at 7 AM, you do 4 hours of book work then you break for lunch, then you get out to the site around noon and spend the rest of the day on the equipment. It’s just like playing in the dirt.

“We showed up at the site and they gave us our hard hat and safety glasses. They could not stress enough the safety. We went and familiarized ourselves with the equipment there and we walked around the equipment telling us about the pinch points, about the grease nipples, stuff like that.

“Our first week we went over safety, our second week we really got on the equipment and really learned how to operate it and basic stuff, our third week it was more of skilled operator stuff. Level I was about skidsteer(bobcat), backhoe, tractor, dumptruck, watertruck, front loader, safety, familiarizing yourself with the equipment, and skill training on 7 pieces of equipment.

“The school stressed that their biggest thing was job placement so I put my confidence in them. The school would make a lot of contacts for me, they would write me up a resume. They went on the computer for me the used their own contacts.

“I stayed at the suburban extended-stay hotel, it’s a decent place. There’s a lot of people in and out so there’s always something going on.

“The staff is great. Jay, he is like one of the guys. I feel like my ability is much greater than from when I started. I feel very comfortable on the equipment that I learned to operate.

“I feel I know enough to start my own business.”

View the testimonial here