A bucket chain excavator (BCE) is a piece of

heavy equipment Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large con ...

used in

surface mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in whic ...

and

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

. BCEs use buckets on a revolving chain to remove large quantities of material. They are similar to

bucket-wheel excavator A bucket-wheel excavator (BWE) is a large heavy equipment machine used in surface mining. Their primary function is that of a continuous digging machine in large-scale open-pit mining operations, removing thousands of tons of overburden a day. Wh ...

s and trenchers. Bucket chain excavators remove material from below their plane of movement, which is useful if the pit floor is unstable or underwater.Tenova TAKRAF. (2007). Retrieved fro
Tenova Takraf Mining Equipment
.

History

The first documented use of a bucket chain excavator was in 1859 by Alphonse Couvreux, a French entrepreneur. Several Couvreux BCEs were used in the construction of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

Overview

A bucket chain excavator works similarly to a bucket wheel excavator, using a series of buckets to dig into the material before dumping it in the bucket chute and depositing it through a discharge boom. The primary difference is that the buckets are mounted on a flexible chain similarly to a

chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable handheld power saw, power saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. Modern chainsaws are typically gasoline or electric and are used in activities such as t ...

blade rather than on a rigid wheel. BCEs are used primarily to excavate material below the vehicle's superstructure while bucket wheel excavators focus primarily on excavating top soil overburden and/or resources. BCEs vary in range and size, although the majority of them are extremely large, with some capable of excavating 14,500 m³/h. The average BCE from

Tenova Takraf TAKRAF Group (“TAKRAF”), is a global German industrial company. Through its brands, TAKRAF and DELKOR, the Group provides equipment, systems and services to the mining and associated industries. The TAKRAF portfolio covers high-capacity r ...

for example, weighs around 1,150 tons and has a combined length of 58.5 meters, with a 23.5 meter long bucket ladder. The speed of the bucket chain is 1.22 m/s with a digging force of 1,170 kN/m². BCEs such as the RK 5000 from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

weigh up to 5,000 tons. The largest BCE model currently known is the Takraf Type Es 3750, with a length of over 130 meters, a height of around 40 meters and a weight of Nevertheless, bucket chain excavators are usually smaller than bucket wheel excavators,

dragline excavator A dragline excavator is a heavy-duty excavator used in civil engineering and surface mining. It was invented in 1904, and presented an immediate challenge to the steam shovel and its diesel and electric powered descendant, the power shovel. M ...

s or

conveyor bridge A conveyor bridge is a piece of mining equipment used in strip mining for the removal of overburden and for dumping it on the inner spoil bank of the open-cut mine. It is used together with multibucket excavators, frequently bucket chain excavato ...

s due to the limitations of excavating materials below the base of the vehicle.

Structure

The

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

of a bucket chain excavator is similar to that of a bucket wheel excavator. The primary component of bucket chain excavators is the bucket ladder and the bucket-chain. Unlike the buckets on a BWE, the buckets on the chain face downwards, allowing the machine to remove overburden or materials significantly below the bench or travel level. The excavated materials are deposited through the bucket chute. Material can be transferred to a bench conveyor directly or via a discharge boom or mobile conveyor bridge. Like the BWEs, bucket chain excavators also feature a fixed or rotating superstructure with a counterweight boom that allows the cutting boom a certain degree of verticality. Likewise have a substructure equipped with either a rail or crawler-mounted undercarriage for mobility and transportation. Some BCEs have 'hopping' pontoons similar to those found on walking dragline excavators.

Gallery

File:Eimerkettenbagger.JPG, Two Type Es 3750 BCEs supporting a

. File:Excavator RK 5000 Lom ČSA Czech Republic 2016 2.jpg, RK 5000 BCE with walking mechanism. File:Eimerketten bei der Arbeit.JPG, Open pit mining in Cottbus-Nord File:Eimerkettenbagger_Heimdall_03.jpg, Bucket dredger ''Heimdall'' File:Dredging_technique_schematic.png, Bucket dredging

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucket-Chain Excavator Engineering vehicles Excavators Dredgers Mining equipment Articles containing video clips

History

Overview

Structure

Gallery

See also

References