CENTER, N.D. (KFYR) - BNI Coal commissioned a new dragline for its Center mine Monday. The process of reassembling the machine started in the fall of 2021.

“Pillars of the prairie” and “a big deal” were names used to describe the gigantic dragline excavator on Monday. But the one name that will stick is “Legacy.”

”The only purpose for a dragline is to remove the overburden, which is essentially clays, sands, and rocks over top of the coal, so you can mine the coal with other equipment,” BNI General Manager Mike Heger said.

The name was submitted by Kimberly Peterson through an employee naming contest. Peterson based the name off of her license plate, honoring the five generations of miners in her family.

”Something that had meaning that I could put with that coal emblem on the plates,” Peterson said. “I just thought of my family history with the mine, the history of coal mining in the state, and ‘Legacy’ just seemed to fit for me.”

The $31 million investment was disassembled into smaller parts that filled 214 trucks. Those trucks then traveled from Mississippi to North Dakota.

”It’s just a tremendous signal to our employees that we intend to be here for a while. That we are putting significant money into the future of our business,” Heger said.

The dragline is scheduled to begin operating in the next six weeks.

Legacy’s bucket can hold seven thousand basketballs or 32 million gummy bears.

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