NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Big Muskie

Big Muskie was a coal mining Bucyrus-Erie dragline owned by the Central Ohio Coal Company (a division of American Electric Power), and was the world's largest mobile earth-moving machine, weighing nearly 13,000 metric tons and standing nearly 22 stories tall. It operated in the U.S. state of Ohio from 1969 to 1991, and was powered by 13,800 volts of electricity. Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... Huge Manitowok 4600 Heavy lift Dragline at the SNS Project, 2005. ... AEP headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus (largest metropolitan area is Cleveland) Area - Total - Width - Length - % water - Latitude - Longitude Ranked 34th 44,825 square miles (116,096 square kilometers) LandArea = 40,986 square miles (106,154 square kilometers) WaterArea = 3,878 square miles (10,044 square kilometers) PCWater... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The volt (symbol: V) is the SI derived unit of electric potential difference. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ...

Built at a cost of $25,000,000 (1969), Big Muskie removed over 608,000,000 cubic yards (465,000,000 m³) of overburden (twice the earth moved during the construction of the Panama Canal), uncovering over 20,000,000 tons of clean coal. It was 151.5 feet (46 m) wide, 222.5 feet (68 m) in height, and 487.5 feet (149 m) in length with the boom down. It took over 200,000 man hours to contruct over a period of about two years. Overburden is the term used in mining to describe material that lies above the area of economic interest. ... A canal tug, making its way down to the Caribbean end of the canal, waits to be joined by a ship in the uppermost chamber of the Gatun Locks. ...

Big Muskie was dismantled in 1999, despite calls that it be preserved as a museum. Its bucket, however, remains at the site for educational purposes, and as a tourist attraction.

10,000 acres (40 km²) of land stripped by Big Muskie were reclaimed and turned into a wildlife park called The Wilds, which opened in 1994. It is home to numerous species of African, Asian, and North American fauna.[1]

References

littlemountain.com - [2]
stripmine.org - [3]

See also