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Coal Mining in North Dakota

16 images Created 31 Oct 2016

In Center and Underwood North Dakota surface mines supply lignite coal for the generation of electricity. The mines are, respectively, located adjacent to the Milton R. Young Generation Station and Great River Energy's Coal Creek power plants.

Viewing the images (and reading their captions) in order starting with the one in the top row on the left will tell the story of how surface coal mining supplies coal for much of the generation of electricity in North Dakota.
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  • Electrical power generating plants are co-located along with mines so that it is is relatively easy and less expensive to mine and transport coal from the mine to the power plant that uses it.
    NorthDakota_2014_0338.JPG
  • The coal mines are surface mines which start out as farm land or in one case a golf course.  The top soil is removed and stored for later return to the land. <br />
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The law is strict in North Dakota and land must be returned to farming with at least its previous level of production within a handful of years.<br />
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Underneath the topsoil is overburden. Overburden is the rock and sand that is above the seam of coal. Shown here is the BNI Coal Center Mine in Center, North Dakota.
    NorthDakota_2014_0492.JPG
  • The removal of overburden uses a massive machine called a dragline. Shown here is the view from outside the cab of the Bucyrus 8200 Dragline located at the BNI Coal Center Mine in Center.
    NorthDakota_2014_0460.JPG
  • Understanding the scale of the machines used in mining is hard as all the machines are massive. Shown here is a Bucyrus 8200 Dragline. The boom is 355 feet long.
    NorthDakota_2014_0502.JPG
  • The Marion 8750 Dragline weighs 13.5 million pounds and its boom is 215 feet tall. The entire dragline runs on electricity through the use of a long extension cord.
    NorthDakota_2014_0372.JPG
  • From the four story high cab the operator controls the Bucyrus 8200 Dragline at the BNI Coal Center Mine in Center, North Dakota.
    NorthDakota_2014_0465.JPG
  • The claw used by the Bucyrus 8200 Dragline is also larger than it may have seemed when viewed from a distance.
    NorthDakota_2014_0506.JPG
  • After the overburden has been removed, a bulldozer equipped with a "ripper" (not shown) breaks up the coal seam so that it can be transported out of the mine.  On the left is a Bucyrus Erie 195B electric shovel. The yellow cable in front on the left is its electrical "power cord".  Next to the shovel is a pile a coal and in the background is a Marion 8750 Dragline.
    NorthDakota_2014_0368-3.JPG
  • A Kress CH-200 coal truck is used to transport the coal from the mine directly to the power plant. The truck can hold 200 tons of coal. As with other machines at the mine, a sense of scale is missing here as the truck is about 17 feet tall, 21 feet wide and 65 feet long.
    NorthDakota_2014_0344.JPG
  • The Bucyrus Erie 195B electric shovel, with its yellow electrical power cord in front, loading coal into a Kress CH-200 coal truck
    NorthDakota_2014_0375.JPG
  • On the far right is a Caterpillar 793D dump truck. While it may look small by comparison, its tires are 12 feet tall and cost $30,000 each. The truck can can hold 240 tons of coal. Again, scale is hard to have in a mine.
    NorthDakota_2014_0356.JPG
  • After being loaded with coal the Kress CH-200 coal truck starts its run to the power plant.
    NorthDakota_2014_0373.JPG
  • A multiple of trucks drive back and forth all day between the coal mine and the power plant in order to keep the power plant running.
    NorthDakota_2014_0516.JPG
  • The trucks drive on a private road between the mine and power plant and pass farm fields which might have been or may yet become a coal mine for a few years.
    NorthDakota_2014_0521.JPG
  • Standing by the tire of a Kress CH-180 coal hauling truck to get a sense of scale.
    NorthDakota_2014_0523.JPG
  • The coal powered Milton R. Young Station in Center, North Dakota.
    NorthDakota_2014_0440.JPG
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