A Bucket Wheel Excavator or BWE is a specialized type of heavy equipment used extensively is surface mining operations. These excavators function in large scale digging operations such as open pit mining as a machine for continuous digging. This type of excavators are different from other excavators for large scale mining like bucket chain excavators because they scoop materials using buckets placed in a continuous pattern within a large wheel. Bucket Wheel Excavators are considered to be one of the largest vehicles ever built by man. Interestingly, Bagger 293, the largest BWE ever constructed, is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the largest land vehicle ever.