Big Muskie, a machine owned by the Ohio Power Company near Chandlersville, Ohio, weighed 13,000 tons, stood over 20 stories high and lifted 325 tons of earth in each scoop, according to a July 1974 photograph caption held by the US National Archives.

The catalog caption, attached to a photograph from the Environmental Protection Agency’s DOCUMERICA programme, put the capacity of the bucket at 12 cars and named the Ohio Power Company as the owner.

One operator

The whole machine was run by one man working from an air-conditioned cab. The caption gives no further detail about the operator or anyone else working around the machine, and the photograph record is the only source for the figures listed here.

Each pass cut a swath 75 feet wide and 150 feet deep, according to the same caption.

What the record says

The National Archives catalog lists the image under record number 555644 in the series “DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern”, part of the Records of the Environmental Protection Agency. The production date of the photograph is given as July 1974.

The caption itself refers to the machine as a shovel and reads in part: “THE SHOVEL WEIGHS 13,000 TONS AND ITS BUCKET CAN HOLD 12 CARS. THE MACHINE STANDS OVER 20 STORIES HIGH, PICKS UP 325 TONS OF EARTH PER SCOOP AND CUTS A SWATH 75 FEET WIDE AND 150 FEET DEEP.”

The same entry records the cab as “AIR-CONDITIONE,” with the final letter missing from the word.

The caption gives the location of the photograph as near Chandlersville, Ohio.

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