page_title: Twinkle Toes
section_title: History and description
hierarchical_section_title: Twinkle Toes / History and description
caption_attribution_description: English: An office building in Liverpool Street, seen from Hereford Street across the site where the Kenton Chambers used to be.
context_page_description: Twinkle Toes is the largest excavator in the Southern Hemisphere. It was used in Christchurch to demolish tall buildings following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes before moving to Wellington following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake.
context_section_description: The excavator is based on a 2008 Liebherr 984 that was heavily modified by Kocurek Excavators Ltd for the Birmingham-based demolition Coleman & Company. It was bought for around NZ$4m and imported to New Zealand by Auckland-based demolition firm Nikau Contractors, and arrived in the Port of Lyttelton in September 2011.  The tracked excavator weighs 220 tonnes (220 long tons; 240 short tons) and has a maximum reach of 65 metres (213 ft). When the articulated arm is not extended, the reach is 25 metres (82 ft). The excavator is not suited for demolishing the bottom two storeys of a building. At full reach, a 2.5 tonnes (2.5 long tons; 2.8 short tons) demolition attachment can be fitted to the hydraulic boom. At 40 metres (130 ft) reach, the machine can handle a 6 tonnes (5.9 long tons; 6.6 short tons) concrete breaker. The excavator got its nickname following a naming competition on Christchurch radio station More FM.
caption: Twinkle Toes' first Christchurch demolition in Liverpool Street in November 2011; note that the articulated arm is not extended
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 1000D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2011:11:05 16:06:48", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9620", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5950", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:11:05 16:06:48", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:11:05 16:06:48", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "61/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "53/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "30", "EXIF SubSecTime": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1880", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9478", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "704000/219", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1880000/583", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}