The Top 7 Most Powerful Machines in the World

There are many monstrous machines that the world has shovelled out over the years and many of them don’t see the global recognition that they deserve.

These machines sometimes take years to design and serve very important purposes.

At Mteevanhire are very keen on the latest machinery development projects and also understand and admire the workforce that goes into designing such incredible machinery. With this in mind, I have reviewed the top 10 most powerful man-made machines from around the world.

All of which, are pretty impressive.

1. Three Gorges Damn – China

Whilst this isn’t technically a machine, it makes the list due to the fact this is the strongest structure in the world. Standing at 607ft tall and almost 1.5 miles long, it’s taller than the Washington Monument and longer than Brooklyn Bridge.

Its 22,500-megawatt generating capacity is 1.5 times that of the dam that takes second place, — Three Gorges produces an average of 273,790 megwatts of power each day. That’s enough to run Orlando…for two weeks.

2. The BelAZ 75710

The Drump Truck the Size of a Tennis Court. This monster weights almost 400 tons – empty. Fully stocked up, the truck nears 900 tons. It’s 32ft wide and 67ft long, and 26ft that means it’s basically the size of a standard tennis court.

The power? Well, this monster requires twin 2,300 horse-powered diesel generators. Similar to its smaller cousins – notably the 400-ton trucks made by Caterpillar, Bucyrus and Liebherr – the BelAZ lives and works in massive open-pit mines.

Due to the fact it’s made in Belarus – home to one of the most repressive governments on the planet – it’s difficult to get anyone to talk about the BelAZ and you can only see one if you travel to Siberia.

3. Universal Alloy

Universal Alloy is one of the leading suppliers of structural components to companies, including Boeing, Airbus and defense manufacturers. Here, homes the 75-year-old, 9,000-ton aluminium-extrusion press, the most powerful one in the world.

The machine generates 16,200 tons of pressure in order to turn 5,000 bathtub-sized billets of solid metal into essentially, toothpaste. The machine is almost 300ft long and is anchored to a concrete foundation which is 10ft thick.

The history of this colossal machine is also impressive. Built by Hydraulik for Germany’s Lufwaffe in the late 30s, it was transported to the US in the late 40’s as war spoil. According to Paul Scaglione – the engineer who oversaw the press’s Canton rebuild. It took 160 semis and seven railcars to transport the press to Georgia from its former home in Illinois.

4. Emma Mærsk – Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C

This is the largest container ship ever built. Sitting at 1,302ft long, weighting 2,3000 tons and the engine itself is 89ft long and 44ft tall.

The fuel efficiency isn’t fantastic however, consuming 0.260 lb/hp/house at maximum economy. It’s been estimated that the engine consumes more than 39 barrels per hour and costs an extortionate $34 a minute to run.

5. The Large Hadron Collider

Infamous for is the world’s largest and most powerful particle collider and the most complex facility ever built. Taking 10 years to build and hiring over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries, as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories.

The LHC’s computing grid is a world record holder.

6. Komatsu D565A Dozer

Primarily used by mine operators in the US, Canada and Australia, this machine is the largest bulldozer in production and has been since 1991. It harbours a 1,150 horsepower engine and is able to move 90 cubic yards per pass.

7. Liebherr 9800 Mining Excavator

The always impressive Liebherr, manufacturer of some colossal cranes, also built one of the largest bucket excavators with their R 9800. Another machine typically used for mining, the 9800 weighs in at 1,785,700 pounds and has a bucket capacity of 62 cubic yards. You won’t have any trouble digging out a pool for your back garden with this.

Honourable Mentions

 

Bagger 293 Bucket Wheel Excavator

The Bagger is not only the largest excavator, but also holds the world record for the largest land vehicle ever constructed. At 310 feet tall and 721 feet long, the 4 year old German machine can move 100,000 cubic yards of dirt per day with the use of its 20 rotating buckets.

It is absolutely monstrous.

 

NASA Crawler – Transporter

The 50 year old Crawler is actually being modified in 2015 to assist in the launching of the space shuttle that will take us to Mars. The Crawler is 131ft long, 114ft wide weighing more than 6 million  pounds and is essentially used to transport NASA rockets from site to site… at 1 mph.

 

TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine)

The title of the world’s largest tunnel boring machine is actually held by “Big Bertha,” which stands at an immensely impressive 57ft in diameter. It was specifically built to dig underneath the city of Seattle, for a 2 mile roadway. However, midway through the project the machine broke down and it looks as if it will take another 2 years until it has been fully repaired.