Construction excavator stolen at weigh station

A truck driver hauling heavy machinery already was having a bad week when a state trooper stopped him and forced him to abandon his rig for not having a commercial vehicle license.

Then, while his construction excavator rested on a trailer outside a State Patrol commercial vehicle weigh station at the junction of Interstate 90 and state Route 18, thieves stole it Wednesday during daylight hours, Trooper Jeff Merrill said.

"It's pretty brazen,"

Merrill said.

"They would have had to load it up on another rig."

The $70,000 Caterpillar mini excavator had been parked at the weigh station since Monday.

The trooper who pulled the truck over first noticed that the excavator's bucket attachment had popped loose from the trailer and was dangling by a chain. During an inspection, the trooper discovered the driver had no commercial vehicle endorsement and ordered him to return with one before he could drive away with the vehicle...

Full news: seattlepi.nwsource.com

Siemens equips bucket-wheel excavators

The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group has received an order from RWE Power to install a metal and rock detection system on bucket-wheel excavators for open-casting mining. The aim is to reduce damage to the conveyor belts of the excavator extraction systems and increase their availability. This will be done with the help of appropriate sensors. The system functions by detecting the position of the rocks, which can then be removed by a rock crane quickly and effectively. At the moment, the system is being used on excavators in the Garzweiler and Hambach open-cast mines.

RWE Power is the largest power producer in Germany and a leading company in the extraction of raw-materials for power generation. RWE Power uses bucket-wheel excavators at its Garzweiler, Hambach and Inden open-cast mines to remove the overburden and the layers of coal underneath. Apart from sand, rocks of different sizes and metal is also excavated. The overburden is loaded onto a conveyor belt by the bucket-wheel excavator and then taken away.

The detection system – developed jointly by RWE and Siemens – is directly installed in the impact area behind the bucket wheel. Up to eight separate acceleration sensors on the impact wall, chute and festoons are able to detect when small and medium-sized rocks hit the metal. The festoon sensors mainly detect large rocks which – because of their mass – are not thrown against the metal. In addition, an integrated metal locator coil detects any metal which is present. The system is being continually developed because – at the moment – it is not possible to find out whether the bulk material detected is made up of rocks or, for example, frozen blocks or lumps of clay. In order to avoid an unnecessary reduction of the production equipment's availability because of this restriction, the systems are switched on or off by the equipment operators or their sensitivity is varied when necessary...

Full story: prdomain.com

OMZ Supplies EKG-10 Excavator to VINACOAL

MOSCOW (RNWire) - OMZ MINEQ, the Mining Equipment Division of OMZ (Uralmash-Izhora Group) (OMZ) (RTS: OMZZ; LSE: OMZD and OMZA; OTC: UHMVY), has signed a contract to supply an EKG-10 excavator to the Vietnam National Coal Corporation (VINACOAL). The excavator is scheduled for delivery in July 2006.

The contract terms provide for local manufacture of some components of the EKG-10 excavator at VINACOAL facilities. If filled successfully, the order may lead to other future cooperation and further orders.

The EKG-10, a crawler-mounted quarry excavator with a 10 cubic meter bucket, is designed for mineral mining and loading in open-cast mines, and also for piling and loading in storage facilities.

The excavator is equipped with the latest electronic management system with a full complement of safety shutoff systems. The cabin is spacious, pressurized, and is equipped with cabin heating and windshield de-icing, air conditioner, ventilation and anti-vibration chair.


About VINACOAL

The Vietnam National Coal Corporation (VINACOAL) is one of the biggest coal producers in South-Western Asia. Among key sectors of its business are coal production, electrical energy production and machine building.

About OMZ MINEQ

OMZ MINEQ specializes in the production of machinery and equipment for all major stages of mineral production and processing, including blasthole drills, draglines, quarry crawler-mounted excavators and crushing equipment. OMZ is the leading supplier of heavy shovels in the Russian and CIS markets, commanding 90% of the domestic market.

About OMZ

OMZ (Uralmash-Izhora Group) is one of the largest Russian heavy industry enterprises. It specializes in engineering, production, sales and maintenance of the equipment and machines for nuclear power industry, and also in production of special steels and rendering of industrial services. The company includes OMZ NPPEQ, OMZ-Specstal, OMZ-MINEQ and OMZ Uralmash-Promuslugi divisions. OMZ divisions’ facilities are located in Russia (Uralmash and Izhorskiye Zavody) and Czech Republic (Skoda Steel и Skoda JS). According to IAS results of OMZ in 2004, company’s sales volume exceeded US$523.8 million (excluding results of companies sold by OMZ in 2004), EBITDA reached US$39.5 million, and OMZ net profit in 2004 amounted to US$61 million...

Source by russianewswire.com

Hitachi Donates 10 Excavators for Aceh Reconstruction

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co Ltd, through its Indonesian subsidiary PT Hitachi Indonesia, donated additional 5 units of excavator Hitachi ZX200STD to Aceh government. Totally, since early tsunami, Hitachi donated 10 excavators and 5 units of Fix Grapple, Aceh Infokom Office reported on Monday.

Ceremony to present the excavator held in Aceh Governor Office in Banda Aceh on last Thursday. Vice President of Hitachi Indonesia Gunawan Setiadi presented the donation to Aceh Province Secretary Thanthawi Ishak. Setiadi hopes the company donation could strengthen the government efforts to rebuild Aceh.

On January 4, PT Hitachi Construction Machinery Indonesia, on behalf on 11 companies under Hitachi brand, provided 2 units of excavators, 2 units of fix grapple, and 1 truck full of food and drink supplies, plus cash donation of $162,000 to pay the heavy equipment operators and operating cost.

On January 25, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co Ltd of Japan sent another 3 units of excavator Hitachi ZX200STD, as well as 3 units of fix grapple, and 3 trucks of food aids. As they already did before, Hitachi also provided $300,000 to pay the heavy equipment operators, as well as its operating costs.

Totally, Hitachi Group has sent 10 unit of excavator and food aid valued at $ 862.000, of which $700,000 has been provided by Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. © che

Banda Aceh, Indonesia-Relief
By http://www.indonesia-relief.org/