Could proper training on a piece of heavy equipment ever be more important than when an operator is involved in an operation to preserve a million-year old Mammoth? One wrong move and a part of the earth’s history could be gone forever, literally. Fortunately for project managers of an excavation in Serbia, all appears to have gone well as the remains of a prehistoric beast was moved successfully after being discovered five years ago.
“The weight of the remains, together with the structure that was created around them in order to secure them for moving, is around 60 tons,” said the Director of Viminacium Archaeological Park, Miomir Korac for a story appearing on EuroNews.com. “We had to employ heavy lifting cranes and machinery that can carry such a load in a safe fashion.”
An original plan to build a museum around the rare archeological find had to be scrapped when it proved to be too complicated. The decision was then made to move the mammoth a few kilometers to the exhibition site. The mammoth, named Vika, is a southern mammoth, or mammuthus meridionalis, one of the oldest species found in Europe. Serbian experts say the species originated in northern Africa and did not have fur.
The mammoth measured more than 13 feet tall and 16 feet long and weighed more than 10 tons. She was discovered during routine excavation at the Kostalac coal mine at about 90 feet below ground. The heavy equipment crews worked for hours on the delicate dig and celebrated when it was ruled a success.
So what is your company’s “mammoth” project where it’s imperative you have the best trained and qualified heavy equipment operators? Whatever it is, we here at the North American Heavy Equipment and Training Services can help. Call us at 888.879.9492 us anytime to determine how we can train your employees and/or your trainers. No job is too mammoth — or delicate — for us.
Click HERE to read the FULL story about the million-year old mammoth discovery.
Image courtesy of Euronews.com.