F60 is the series designation of five overburdenconveyor bridges used in brown coalopencast mining in the Lusatian coalfields in Germany. They were built by the former Volkseigener BetriebTAKRAF in Lauchhammer and are the largest movable technical industrial machines in the world. As overburden conveyor bridges, they transport the overburden which lies over the coal seam. The cutting height is, hence the name F60. In total, the F60 is up to high and wide; with a length of, it is described as the lying Eiffel tower making these behemoths not only the longest vehicle ever made—beating Seawise Giant—but the largest vehicle by physical dimensions ever made by mankind. In operating condition, it weighs 13,600 metric tons making the F60 one of the heaviest land vehicles ever made, beaten only by Bagger 293 which is a giant Bucket-wheel Excavator. The first conveyor bridge was built from 1969 to 1972, being equipped with a feeder bridge in 1977. The second was built from 1972 to 1974, having been equipped with a feeder bridge during construction. The third conveyor bridge was built from 1976 to 1978, being provided with a feeder bridge in 1985. The fourth and fifth conveyor bridges were built 1986–1988 and 1988–1991 respectively. There are still four F60s in operation in the Lusatian coalfields today: in the brown coal opencast mines in Jänschwalde, Welzow-Süd, Nochten and Reichwalde. The fifth F60, the last one built, is in Lichterfeld-Schacksdorf and is accessible to visitors.
Technology
The F60 has two bogies, one on the dumping side and one on the excavating side, which each run on two rails. In addition to the two rails on the excavating side, there are another two rails for the transformer and cable cars. There are a total of 760 wheels on the bogies, of which 380 are powered. The maximum speed of the F60 is and the operating speed is . The F60 has two excavators of type ES 3750 on the sides to do preparatory work, one each on the northern and southern crosswise conveyor. They each have an output of , which corresponds to a volume the size of a soccer field with a depth of . There are nine various overburden conveyor belts with a speed of . The F60, including the two excavators, requires of power. The bridge needs of electricity to convey of overburden, from the crosswise conveyors up to the dumping at a height of .
The Lichterfeld F60
The overburden conveyor bridge of Lichterfeld-Schacksdorf, now shut down, was used from 1991 until 1992 in the brown coal mineKlettwitz-Nord near Klettwitz. It is open for visitors today as a project of the Internationale Bauausstellung Fürst-Pückler-Land and is an anchor of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. This F60 is the last of five F60s. The installation was carried out between 1988 and 1991 in the Klettwitz-Nord opencast mine. The F60 began operation in March 1991. Between its commission and its shutting down in June 1992, it moved around of overburden. After the German reunification, the mine became the responsibility of the Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft, which closed the mine on the orders of the German federal government and renovated it economically and in a way not harmful to the environment. Between 2000 and 2010, the Internationale Bauausstellung Fürst-Pückler-Land is pursuing the goal of giving new momentum to the region and the former opencast mine of Klettwitz-Nord has also been integrated into that concept. The mine has been converted into a 'visitors' mine' and the conveyor bridge has been accessible since 1998. Various sound and light installations help make the facility an attraction for visitors.
