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Video:
youtube.com/
watch?v=35E79BVt_5c

Finally, with the machines on site over 2,000
meters up in the Alps, a team of Zeppelin’s
service technicians, all experts in large machines,
set to work modifying and assembling.

One Cat D8T Dozer had a three-tooth rear ripper
added, the other a one-tooth rear ripper. And
they were both fitted with 3.9m wide SU blades
CAT MACHINES USED ON THE PROJECT: and PPR XL drives. The Cat 140 AWD Motor
®
• 7x 777G Off highway trucks Grader also had its blade widened. While all
seven Cat 777Gs were fitted with special Hardox
• 2x 6015B hydraulic mining shovels steel bodies. The two 140-ton excavators were
modified with extra cylinder protection attached
• 2x 352 excavators to their monoblock HD booms. While all the dump
• 2x D8 trucks were fitted with digital LED weight displays
and modified radio antennas to ensure data
• 2x D6XE dozers transmission was possible in the mountains.
• 1x 140 Motorgrader Another issue specific to machines of this size and
number was fuelling. With some tanks holding as
much as 1,700 litres, refuelling from regular pumps
would take too long and seriously delay the work. In
the case of the dump trucks alone, it was estimated
that it would take seven hours to get the fleet
operational again. The solution was to borrow fast
refuelling technology from Formula 1, that meant
refuelling the machines could be counted in minutes.

After all the challenges to get this far it’s
important to step back a little and take a moment
to reflect, “I love the Alps. I love being up
there,” says Simon. “And every time I visit the
site, it literally takes my breath away. Projects
like this are very special to be a part of.”

Once completed in 2026, the Kühtai 2 dam will
span two 3,000-meter-high mountains and store
over 33 million cubic meters of water. While the
hydropower plant it powers will be a significant
source of renewable energy for the region. ■