photo credits: Jackie Beckett,
© American Museum of Natural History

BOOM TRUCK

Typically, geologists collect small chunks of rock that they can carry out in their backpacks. For the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, however, the desired samples were often so huge that special equipment, such as this boom truck, was often called for. Boom trucks are ideal because they can get into hard-to-reach spots. The operator, often someone with experience in the mining industry, drives the boom truck as close to the boulder as possible and then stabilizes it with four special legs called outriggers. The boom is then extended to reach the sample. A chain or sling suspended from the boom is wrapped around the boulder, which is then hydraulically lifted onto the truck.