Excavator Pas de Deux 3

[drg]

Pair of dancing excavators demolishing an Interstate Bridge. Just a work photo. You're welcome to comment if you wish.

[jar_e]

Is there anything supporting it in it's back end or is it just hovering there?!

[drg]

Is there anything supporting it in it's back end or is it just hovering there?!

No, they aren't hovering. The excavators are pulling so hard that they have tilted up on the nose of the tracks. In fact by using a combination of leverage, and reversing the drive on the tracks combined with a braking technique they can exert a lot more force than the arm alone would from just the hydraulics. I've never SEEN an excavator pull the arm off... Its happened when its not bolted together properly. Tbey are literally standing on there "toes", if you will, pulling!

The operators who do demolition with these are artists. They can make these huge machines dance by jamming the bucket into the ground and literally spinning the machine on the end of the arm. These two were moving 50 and 75 foot bridge spans and ripping them out of the concrete. I can't tell you how much the steel pieces weighed. I was 150-200 feet away and on a very solid structure, when the beams came down, the earth moved.

[jar_e]

Ah,

I understand. Crazy stuff. I would be nervous messing around with a machine that big and worth so much.