on video World's Largest Land Vehicles

 

If you want to get the dirt out, or move a mountain, this is absolutely the right machine. The RWE Bagger 288 earth digger stands 311 feet tall, is 705 feet long and weighs 45,500 tons (the weight of the Titanic was 46,328 tons) and by its scale alone is quite intimidating. Technically it is a bucket wheel excavator. In appearance it seems to be a giant's version of an Erector Set project that got out of hand.

And when it comes to moving mountains, it has no peers. Indeed, moving mountains is exactly what may happen in Rosio Montana in Romania. The plan is to use similar machines to get at a wealth of gold. The Canadian company Rosio Montana Gold intends to accomplish this.

In Pictures: World's Biggest Land Vehicle

"All five mountains will simply be mined out," says Andrej Grupacic, a historian from the region.

After all as Stuart L. Udall once said, "Mining is like a search and destroy mission."

The RWE Bagger 288 excavator was designed to work in open-pit coal mines in Germany. That's where it is now digging in and loading up. However, for all its mass, it may have a short life. The German Republic has mandated a shutdown of all German coal mining by 2018. Clearly this mandate is open to some modification in the interim.

 

If you want to get the dirt out, or move a mountain, this is absolutely the right machine. The RWE Bagger 288 earth digger stands 311 feet tall, is 705 feet long and weighs 45,500 tons (the weight of the Titanic was 46,328 tons) and by its scale alone is quite intimidating. Technically it is a bucket wheel excavator. In appearance it seems to be a giant's version of an Erector Set project that got out of hand.

And when it comes to moving mountains, it has no peers. Indeed, moving mountains is exactly what may happen in Rosio Montana in Romania. The plan is to use similar machines to get at a wealth of gold. The Canadian company Rosio Montana Gold intends to accomplish this.

In Pictures: World's Biggest Land Vehicle

"All five mountains will simply be mined out," says Andrej Grupacic, a historian from the region.

After all as Stuart L. Udall once said, "Mining is like a search and destroy mission."

The RWE Bagger 288 excavator was designed to work in open-pit coal mines in Germany. That's where it is now digging in and loading up. However, for all its mass, it may have a short life. The German Republic has mandated a shutdown of all German coal mining by 2018. Clearly this mandate is open to some modification in the interim.

 

If you want to get the dirt out, or move a mountain, this is absolutely the right machine. The RWE Bagger 288 earth digger stands 311 feet tall, is 705 feet long and weighs 45,500 tons (the weight of the Titanic was 46,328 tons) and by its scale alone is quite intimidating. Technically it is a bucket wheel excavator. In appearance it seems to be a giant's version of an Erector Set project that got out of hand.

And when it comes to moving mountains, it has no peers. Indeed, moving mountains is exactly what may happen in Rosio Montana in Romania. The plan is to use similar machines to get at a wealth of gold. The Canadian company Rosio Montana Gold intends to accomplish this.

In Pictures: World's Biggest Land Vehicle

"All five mountains will simply be mined out," says Andrej Grupacic, a historian from the region.

After all as Stuart L. Udall once said, "Mining is like a search and destroy mission."

The RWE Bagger 288 excavator was designed to work in open-pit coal mines in Germany. That's where it is now digging in and loading up. However, for all its mass, it may have a short life. The German Republic has mandated a shutdown of all German coal mining by 2018. Clearly this mandate is open to some modification in the interim.

 

If you want to get the dirt out, or move a mountain, this is absolutely the right machine. The RWE Bagger 288 earth digger stands 311 feet tall, is 705 feet long and weighs 45,500 tons (the weight of the Titanic was 46,328 tons) and by its scale alone is quite intimidating. Technically it is a bucket wheel excavator. In appearance it seems to be a giant's version of an Erector Set project that got out of hand.

And when it comes to moving mountains, it has no peers. Indeed, moving mountains is exactly what may happen in Rosio Montana in Romania. The plan is to use similar machines to get at a wealth of gold. The Canadian company Rosio Montana Gold intends to accomplish this.

In Pictures: World's Biggest Land Vehicle

"All five mountains will simply be mined out," says Andrej Grupacic, a historian from the region.

After all as Stuart L. Udall once said, "Mining is like a search and destroy mission."

The RWE Bagger 288 excavator was designed to work in open-pit coal mines in Germany. That's where it is now digging in and loading up. However, for all its mass, it may have a short life. The German Republic has mandated a shutdown of all German coal mining by 2018. Clearly this mandate is open to some modification in the interim.