Tagebau Hambach is a surface coal mine in North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany. The mine opened in 1978 and currently covers 44 square kilometers (17 square miles). Here, bucket-wheel excavators – considered to be the largest land machines in the world at 315 feet (96 meters) tall and 730 feet (223 meters) long – continuously scoop materials from the surface in order to extract coal and will eventually expand the facility to cover 85 square kilometers (33 square miles).