7 March 2015

New video: an excavator hit by a self-induced rockfall

Posted by Dave Petley

Excavator rockfall

The work of excavator drivers in clearing rockfalls and landslides never ceases to amaze me.  This is very dangerous work that requires high levels of skill, a deft touch and fast reactions to move out of the way of mobile debris.  The work that these machine operators did clearing debris after the Kashmir earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 was impressive:

Excavator

Kashmir Earthquake road clearance

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I’m not sure as to the origin of this video, which appeared on Youtube in the last few days.  The video is on the Youtube channel of Abilitiazone Attrezzature, an Italian machinery company, but they seem to have many videos on there.  Anyway, the video shows a large excavator trying to clear a very extensive rockfall:

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It must have been a terrifying experience for the operator, who did a pretty good job of getting out of the way.  The arm of the excavator was probably ruined, but at least the machine (and so the driver) was not buried and crushed.