Up and Down

[RockOne]

G'Day All.
180 tonne capacity trucks, going down empty and returning full !

[marie]

wow
very very nice view


this scene really brings back memories of going up to the top of mount etna's volcanic mountain
the barren twisty bends seemed to go on forever




those drivers in those massive trucks must have a huge job keeping the load in tack and on track on those steeps

[RockOne]

Thanks Marie.

Haven't been to Etna yet, but it is on my list of places to visit. These roads have a few switchbacks (and their location changes every now and then as the mine swallows them up and moves forward).

a huge job keeping the load in tack and on track on those steeps

Yeah, they lose the odd rock or two every now and then. The coal carriers (which these aren't) usually have tailgates because the coal is more valuable than the rock !

Not sure if you can make them out, between the rear tyres of the truck in the second photo, there are metal bars hanging between the tyres. These are to push out rocks which get stuck between the tyres (and cause damage to they tyres, which are very expensive).

[marie]

Originally Posted by RockOne

Thanks Marie.

Haven't been to Etna yet, but it is on my list of places to visit. These roads have a few switchbacks (and their location changes every now and then as the mine swallows them up and moves forward).

Yeah, they lose the odd rock or two every now and then. The coal carriers (which these aren't) usually have tailgates because the coal is more valuable than the rock !

Not sure if you can make them out, between the rear tyres of the truck in the second photo, there are metal bars hanging between the tyres. These are to push out rocks which get stuck between the tyres (and cause damage to they tyres, which are very expensive).

thanks Steve
yes, I can see what you mention and I can imagine not only the cost of the tyres if that happens
but the trucks could (?) be thrown over if the men don't keep their wits about them and should all else fail ( like the metal bars) ?

how high is that place and do they drive to the top with those heavy loads ?
and what is the coal (in other carriers you mention ) used mainly for ?
( making electricity ?)


well, there is a possibility

as coal is now frowned on as a domestic fuel
(but we use it still along with turf ..from our bogs
no smog here (yet) and many use smokeless fuel

smokeless has to be used in the city)

that slant is so steep
you got it good in the second shot but the first shot is great to show the road set up better

should the brakes ever fail are there ..................................


backups

thanks

[RockOne]

Tipping a truck over is a very rare occurence actually (thankfully). Tyres are about Aus$25000 (x6 per truck)each.

The vertical distance from the bottom of the pit to the top (original land syrface) is around 80-100 metres at the moment, but will go deeper as it moves forward (coal is tilted) and finish at around 180-200m depth.

The coal is used primarily for electricity generation (some here in Australia, but mostly to Japan, Taiwan and Korea), and for manufacturing coke (not the stuff you mix with rum ) whichis used in steelmaking. Some is also used in other industries, such as plastics.

It's not used much here as a domestic fuel at all really (most of the year it is too warm to need it, and most people use wood when it gets really cold (by Australian standards).

The brakes for these machines are a complex setup (not 100% sure of the exact details here..and could be wrong ), that feeds electricity generated by the wheel motors back into a heater grid, which dissipates the energy, and slows the truck...which is the same prinicple as dynamic brakes on railway locomotives. Then there are standard breaks too !. The biggest problem is after rain when the roads become slippery, the trucks can slide under their weight, and braking isn't really effective. The speed limit for them is 40km hour.

[marie]

that's all really interesting . thanks very much for explaining Steve


the expence which has to go into some projects is enormous
why sometimes things seem to cost a lot when we need something done and it goes back to it's starting here with those trucks those men and the danger
plus all the other things involved
(and insurance)



and the price of those tyres is really high

to think I thought the bicycle tyres were expensive



very many thanks again.

[CDickinson]

I really like the perspective on the first one. I grew up in a mining town and worked in the mine for a while so this brings back some memories of dug out earth.
I think you could enhance the photo a couple of different ways (not necessarily all of them). Might want to try saturatiing a bit for more color or adding contrast. Maybe bringing up some colors and leaving the others to accentuation parts of the photo.
nice work.

C