tower excavator

tower excavator

[′tau̇·ər ′eks·kə‚vād·ər] (mining engineering) A cableway excavator designed specifically for levee work but which is used extensively in the stripping of overburden, spoil, or waste in surface mining: basically, it is a Sauerman-type excavator with towers either fixed or movable, and when the head tower is located on the spoil pile and the tail tower on the unexcavated wall, pits of almost unlimited width can be dug.