# What will be the largest post-industrial man-made structure to remain standing the longest? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443 "2015-03-20T01:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/21 "2015-03-20T15:03:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If it is ever finished the Crazy Horse Monument will be larger than Mt. Rushmore. I don’t think there’s any danger of that happening. As far as I can tell, it looks exactly as “finished” as it was when I visited there over 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/22 "2015-03-20T15:06:15Z")
You also have to consider things like the situation with the Buddha carvings in the Afghan wilderness. They probably would have lasted a very long time, had the Tealiban not decided that they needed to be destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/23 "2015-03-20T15:20:36Z")
I gotta go with Hoover Dam. Massive and thick concrete not exposed to salt. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/24 "2015-03-20T16:16:17Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I gotta go with Hoover Dam. Massive and thick concrete not exposed to salt. I remember some (american, in fact) documentary about how things would eveolve if men suddenly disapeared. I remember there was a part about the Hoover Dam. And IIRC, lacking maintenance, it was doomed to eventually collapse after maybe some hundred of years. In fact, I believe that concrete in general doesn’t pass well the test of time, hence that any structure build with concrete won’t last that long. Was there anything large build recently with stone blocks? ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/25 "2015-03-20T18:53:36Z")
_[Life After People](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_After_People)_ I think most concrete structures above the snowlines are going to die an early death due to the freeze/thaw cycles and will be overgrown pretty quick. You are probably looking for something in a fairly arid environment. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/26 "2015-03-20T19:07:11Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Was there anything large build recently with stone blocks? The Washington Monument among others. An earthquake is likely to topple it eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/27 "2015-03-20T19:16:20Z")
It will be a Starbucks. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/28 "2015-03-20T19:29:29Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I gotta go with Hoover Dam. Massive and thick concrete not exposed to salt. I think I remember reading something about the Hoover Dam sitting on a fault line. If so, I wouldn’t lay odds on it survivng intact for more than a couple hundred years. Also, what I’ve heard about the construction of the 3 Gorges Dam doesn’t fill me with confidence. You couldn’t possibly pay me enough money to live anywhere below it :eek: In general, I think dams of any kind are a bad bet. Nothing can hold back a wall of water forever. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/29 "2015-03-20T19:41:16Z")
Something in a dry climate. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/30 "2015-03-20T22:38:00Z")
I could see, maybe, something like Glen Canyon Dam breaching at the base, up just enough to clear the free-running river, but leaving the upper portion of the structure intact. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/31 "2015-03-20T23:19:00Z")
What about some of Las Vegas? The buildings would probably lose their glass in the first century, but there’s minimal causes for erosion. I think at least some of them would be recognizable for a long time, for much the same reason ancient Egyptian stuff is still around. On the other hand, some of our missile silos and other underground structures might remain as long as [Newgrange](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange), no desert conditions required. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/32 "2015-03-21T00:37:42Z")
Something on top of a tall mountain in an arid environment. Anything subjected to water and freeze-thaw is going to crumble in a few hundred to a few thousand years. There are intact flesh mummies in mountain caves over 500 years old. > **[Incan mummy frozen after human sacrifice still has infection in her lungs -...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2179217/Inca-ice-maiden-frozen-human-sacrifice-infection-lungs.html)** > > A 500-year-old Incan mummy found frozen on a volcano in Argentina was suffering from a tuberculosis-like infection - and the technique used could offer a vital way to study ancient diseases. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/33 "2015-03-21T01:06:45Z")
I think I saw this on Life After People. I’m betting on Rushmore or Stone Mountain. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/34 "2015-03-21T16:10:49Z")
The Germans built a _lot_ of large, long lasting structures before and during WWII. Some of the most impressive are [submarine pens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_pen), several of which are still standing because it would just take too much effort to remove them. The factory/pens near [Bremen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_submarine_pens) aren’t going anywhere anytime soon on their own. Even “small” structures like [flak towers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flak_tower) seem stable in the long term. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/35 "2015-03-21T22:19:45Z")
Does the Long Now count? It’s designed to last 10,000 years. > **[The Clock of the Long Now](https://longnow.org/clock/)** > > The Long Now Foundation is a nonprofit encouraging imagination at the timescale of civilization — the next & last 10,000 years — or the long now. > **[Long Now Foundation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Now_Foundation)** > > The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster/cheaper" mindset and to promote "slower/better" thinking. The Long Now Foundation hopes to "creatively foster responsibility" in the framework of the next 10,000 years. In a manner somewhat similar to the Holocene calendar, the foundation uses 5-digit da... ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/36 "2015-03-22T21:44:50Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > If you weigh very heavily towards size, and define size as the largest usable space, then the Boeing Everett Factory is the correct answer. Anything else depends on different assumptions and speculation. Probably closer to what you actually want to know too. Actually, without proper maintenance, I wouldn’t give the Boeing facility long. Something that huge has a lot of roof space and if that roof isn’t maintained, it’ll soon develop leaks and that wouldn’t be good news for the steel girders just below, especially in our wet climate. I’m thinking something like [the huge concrete grain silos at the Port of Seattle.](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-130223039/stock-photo-seattle-april-the-port-of-seattle-grain-silos-at-pier-in-seattle-wa-on-april-the.html) Only in a drier place. And with less chance of big earthquakes. Being well reinforced, and clustered together like they are (so if one begins to lean, it can’t go far) I should think they’d be around for quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/37 "2015-03-23T14:13:50Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > I’m thinking something like [the huge concrete grain silos at the Port of Seattle.](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-130223039/stock-photo-seattle-april-the-port-of-seattle-grain-silos-at-pier-in-seattle-wa-on-april-the.html) Only in a drier place. And with less chance of big earthquakes. Being well reinforced, and clustered together like they are (so if one begins to lean, it can’t go far) I should think they’d be around for quite a while. In that context, the world’s largest grain elevator (silo) is near Hutchinson, KS. Drier, mostly, and away from fault lines. Does have more risk from tornadoes, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/38 "2015-03-23T14:43:33Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Good nerdy answer! > > I’m not sure about a damn. Water has a tendency to wipe out things. If we ever get to @$#\* use it, how about Yucca Mountain? It’s supposed to function for 10,000 years, so I’d kinda hope it’s still recognizable as a building at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/39 "2015-03-24T02:08:51Z")
I don’t know for sure, but it would probably be something in a very dry place, isolated from wind, water, rain, salt, smog, etc. – all the things that tend to cause wear and thus require maintenance. Voyager, if it could be counted as a structure, is about as isolated as you can get. But I don’t think I personally would count that as a structure. Others are welcome to. So here it is: Launch the Sears Tower (or your structure of choice) into space away from the center of the galaxy, with no stars along its path, and it might last nearly forever. Certainly, it could last longer than the earth itself. It’s not a practical answer, but if you wanted practical answers, you would be asking an architect or a scientist, and not the Straight Dope community. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443/40 "2015-03-24T03:13:48Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > I know they paint the Eiffel Tower every year, but how long would it last if they stopped doing that? I think this is an important distinction. Remaining standing with constant maintenance is a different ball game from remaining standing after a hypothetical sudden disappearance of humanity. Or, for that matter, remaining standing after being scavenged for parts in a post-apocalyptic Mad Max scenario. Are we assuming a post-civilization type of situation here? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-largest-post-industrial-man-made-structure-to-remain-standing-the-longest/715443.md?page=3)