An old engraving of steam shovel or navvy during Victorian times. It is from a book of the 1890s on discoveries and inventions during the 1800s. A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. This version, a ‘French Steam Navvy’, uses scoops or buckets mounted on a continuous chain to dredge up and cut out a canal bed. A steam locomotive with open trucks takes the spoil from the site.
An old engraving of steam shovel or navvy during Victorian times. It is from a book of the 1890s on discoveries and inventions during the 1800s. A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. This version, a ‘French Steam Navvy’, uses scoops or buckets mounted on a continuous chain to dredge up and cut out a canal bed. A steam locomotive with open trucks takes the spoil from the site. The power shovel or excavator played a major role in public works in the 19th and early 20th century, being key to the construction of railroads and the Panama Canal. Boulton & Watt devised the first steam-powered excavator in 1796. In 1833 William Brunton patented another steam-powered excavator in 1836. William Otis received a patent for his design in 1839. They were built on a railway chassis, on which the boiler movement engines were mounted. The shovel arm and driving engines were mounted at one end of the chassis, which accounts for the limited swing (known as 'partial-swing'). Power was taken to the wheels by a chain drive. Temporary rail tracks were laid by workers where the shovel was to be used. Steam shovels became more popular in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The advent of steel cable in the 1870s allowed for easier rigging to the winches. The development of simpler, cheaper diesel-powered shovels caused steam shovels to fall out of favour in the 1930s.
Size: 3307px × 2535px
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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