The history of bucket wheel excavator (BWE) applications in Soviet mines dates back to the mid-1930s. a number of small, home-made excavators were introduced by the construction industry at the time. at present, BWE applications escalate further simulated by their use in coal mining. There were 38 BWEs in Soviet coal mines in 1978, 55 in 1982, and 72 in 1984; over 120 Mt coal were mined by BWEs in 1982. a typical BWE mines coal and loads it into rail cars for transport to a mine-mouth power plant or other coal users.