Peabody Energy’s 3,628 t dragline has completed a historic journey from the company’s Lee Ranch mine northwest of Grants, New Mexico, more than 32 km to its new home at El Segundo. The 1570-W dragline crossed the high desert, carried by a specialised 600-wheel vehicle. NASA uses a similar transportation method to haul space shuttles.
Transporting a machine of this size required precision and planning, said Brad Brown, Peabody Energy Senior Vice President of Southwest Operations. “This was certainly a road trip to remember. These machines are the size of a ship on dry land. They can walk but typically very slowly with the help of electric generators. This time, Peabody used a different, more efficient method involving a carrier. We owe a huge amount of thanks to all team members who made this engineering accomplishment possible.”
The 1570-W dragline carries an 65 m3 bucket and has a 98 m boom capable of swinging the length of a football field. Draglines traditionally move to new areas by “walking” about 160 m in an hour using shoes that lift and advance the machine. This requires generators, and road and power line construction support 24 hours a day for a month or more.
Peabody adopted a new dragline transportation method that shortened the move and eliminated the need for electric power. Working with heavy equipment manufacturer Joy Global, Peabody loaded the massive machine on a specialised carrier assembled by Mammoet USA South, the world’s leader in solutions for heavy lifting transportation. The carrier featured 150 axle lines, each consisting of four heavy-duty truck tires coupled together to form a self-propelled transport vehicle. The assembly moved at speeds of up to some 3 km/h, enabling the dragline to reach El Segundo mine in 12 days. One of the most productive mines in the US Southwest, El Segundo shipped 8.4 Mt of coal in 2012.