The Material-Handling Complex for Construction of Oroville Dam

A complex of material-handling machinery is employed in a unique manner to move 77.5 million cubic yards of rock and dirt 12 miles up the Feather River. The heart of the system is a giant wheel excavator, which fills a 110-ton railroad car every minute. From the wheel, the material is taken via belt conveyors and a railroad to a stockpile located near the dam site; here it is placed on a storage pile, segregated into pervious, impervious, and sand piles, where it is reclaimed in the proper mixtures to satisfy the placement plan.