ConstructionBTP: a 4,300 litre IEV bucket for diatomite

The French trade website ConstructionBTP devotes an article in its Quarries section of 13 October 2026 to the IEV bucket displayed on the outdoor forecourt at SIM 2026 in Châlons-en-Champagne.

This 4,300 litre, 2,300 mm wide bucket is fitted to a Hitachi ZX690 working at the face of the CABOTRAVAUX diatomite quarry in Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, on the Coiron volcanic massif. It first strips the basalt overburden, then digs the diatomite in bulk.

Its wear-resistant steel structure is reinforced on the sides, the floor and the cutting edge. It carries high-penetration teeth, Combi intermediate teeth and floor and side shrouds, wear bars on the edge of the side cutters, Vautid 143 plates behind the teeth and on the inner faces of the sides, and tungsten carbide studs, exclusive to IEV on the French market.

The journalist also notes the nod to Gilles Bonnardel, who runs the quarry: “Salut, c’est Gilles” (“Hi, it’s Gilles”) is cut into the side of the bucket.

It is one example of what we build for production excavators: a bucket sized for the machine, the application and the material, then armoured where it wears.