Excavator

A large industrial wheel loader roared passed me as I detoured from the flood waters. The scene reminded me of one of the many disaster films of the past ten years.

Water was flowing down 2nd Street, storm water drains were fountains of redirected water, spouting water ten feet in the air. The basement of one of the important buildings was totally flooded.

A large yellow machine, with an immense front loader bucket was the only vehicle able to navigate the three foot water in the street.

This was dire since it was thirty feet below street level. Workers from the fire department, AT&T and the city utility department were working frantically to divert the water flow.

A massive spring storm and the poorly maintained sewer system combined to create a communication and transportation disaster. It took over a half-year for the cleanup and another year for the drainage issues to be identified and repaired.

The wheeled loader that I saw played an important role in the following cleanup and repair of the city. Like the tractor loaders, it had a massive front loader easily between 30 to 80 cubic yard capacities.

It functioned to carry filled sand bags which were used to protect other building entrances and to route the run off street water. Several weeks later an independent contractor used a similar wheel loader to carry large replacement rolls of optic fiber cable to the worksite.

The city maintained a storage site for gravel, cement, sand and top soil which was used during the repair of 2nd Street. Massive amounts of base course were loaded into dump trucks by the wheeled loaders at the city depot.

They were also used to spread the gravel around the new sewer drain junction boxes and to repair the broken and damaged roadway. The wheel loader used to assist in the repair of 2nd Street was originally developed for heavy road construction, mining, quarry operations and office building.

They have large powerful diesel engines, four wheel drive and often have equal sized large wheels. The tractor loaders have smaller front wheels and larger rear wheels.

The wheel loader does not look like it evolved from the farm tractor but is a separately designed piece of heavy equipment.

Many are articulated, or made to turn at a separate join rather than just at the front wheels. This allows the large buckets to turn easily in what would be awkward and impossible spaces to scoop or scrape the earth or material. Their size and body construction make them useful in rugged terrain. They as illustrated are preferred whenever rescue or emergency operations occur.

Their cost is high because they are a specialized piece of earth equipment, well designed and invaluable for heavy earth moving operations. A twelve year old moderate sized wheel loader can cost over $17,500 while a more recent 2005 wheel loader can cost $49,650. Certainly they cost less than a new BMW but you don't find many German race cars dumping dirt and gravel!

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