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VIDEO: ‘Crazy similar:’ Nanaimo students get hands-on heavy equipment training
NANAIMO — It’s about as real as it gets before you try the real thing.
Students at Cedar Secondary School were given the opportunity to try out an immersive heavy equipment simulator on Thursday, Jan. 30, programmed to realistically replicate vehicles from bulldozers and excavators to semi-trucks and snow plows.
The Road Show simulator is owned and operated by the B.C. Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association, with president Matt Pitcairn saying it’s a high-level, sophisticated tool.
“The simulators we have are technical training tools. We’re using them as a demonstration to pique interest in the industry, but we can absolutely use them for in-depth training so when someone gets on a real machine, they know all the basics, they have the basic comfort and feel to operate that machine.”