Landeater

The bucket wheel excavator 293 from Krupp Rheinhausen (Germany) was built in 1995 and is the world largest excavator. It measures 240 meters (787ft) in length, is 96 meters (315ft) high and weighs an incredible 14,200 tons. This machine is in use 24/7hrs in the Cologne region and is a real landscape eater. It lifts 240,000 tons of coal and overburden every day and is used to supply energy to the region. The bucket wheel consists of 18 buckets, each of which could be used to park a vehicle. Despite all the criticism of this project, the excavator also contributes to sustainability in the region. After the coal has been mined, the opencast mine is transformed into a lake landscape, on the banks of which the area is reforested with numerous trees and plants. The newly created landscape then serves the population as a local recreation area. In addition to generating energy in the region, the municipalities have managed to provide a good basis, in particular the infrastructure that is essential for the diverse forms of local recreation.