With knee action, the handle is connected to a moveable pivot point rather than being supported directly by the boom.

Knee-action design made possible the largest shovel ever built, increased digging power, allowed the bucket to move horizontally into the cut and improved swing efficiency, distance, and radius.

[4] The GEM of Egypt had a 170' boom and a 130 cubic yard bucket which enabled it to dig roughly 200 tons per 'bite'.

[5] The GEM was one of three in the service of the Hanna Coal Company, which by 1970, had been strip mining in Ohio for decades, joined by The Tiger and The Mountaineer.

[5] It was reported that an estimated 25,000 people traveled to the site, many from Ohio cities such as Cleveland, Akron, and Canton, as well as those from neighboring states.