GEM of Egypt
1950-B "GEM of Egypt" | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | GEM of Egypt (1966-1991) |
| Builders | Bucyrus-Erie |
| Operators | United States |
| Preceded by | Model 1850-B electric power shovel "Big Brutus" |
| Cost | US$8 million (1987) (equivalent to US$18.41 million in 2023) |
| In service | 1965-2006 |
| Planned | 2 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Retired | 2 |
| History | |
| United States | |
| Name | GEM of Egypt |
| Builder | Bucyrus-Erie |
| Launched | 1966 |
| Christened | January 1967 |
| Commissioned | January 1967 |
| Fate | Retired in 1988
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Model 1950-B series electric power shovel |
| Tonnage | 7,000 t (15,400,000 lb) |
| Length | 70 m (229 ft) |
| Beam | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Height | 67 m (220 ft) |
| Installed power | 1 x 10.1 MW (13,500 hp) electric motors + external power substation |
| Propulsion | 8 x caterpillar tracks |
| Speed | 0.25 mph or 0.4 km/h |
| Capacity | Blade capacity: 130 cubic yards (99.4 m3) or 35.1 short tons (31.8 t) |
| Complement | 3-5 |
The GEM of Egypt was a power shovel built by Bucyrus-Erie in 1966. The shovel was designed for strip mining at the Egypt Valley coalfield near Barnesville, Ohio. GEM is an acronym for “Giant Earth Mover” or “Giant Excavating Machine”. It was one of only two Bucyrus-Erie 1950-B shovels built (the other being The Silver Spade) and one of two to use the knee-action crowd licensed from Marion Power Shovel in exchange for Marion's use of Bucyrus-Erie's cable crowd patent.
In a power shovel, "crowding" is pushing the bucket at the end of a "handle" ("dipper" or "dipper stick") in or out to control the depth of cut or to position for dumping. With knee action, the handle is connected to a moveable pivot point rather than being supported directly by the boom. Knee-action design made possible the largest shovel ever built, increased digging power, allowed the bucket to move horizontally into the cut and improved swing efficiency, distance, and radius.