# What's the largest manmade thing in the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595 "2006-02-01T23:56:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/1 "2006-02-01T23:56:32Z")
Basically, what’s the biggest manmade thing? Thing being a boat, a building, whatever - the largest manmade item. What is it? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/2 "2006-02-01T23:58:56Z")
Great wall of China? But then, maybe that would be eclipsed by some interstate or rairway track system… ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/3 "2006-02-01T23:59:05Z")
Define “largest”. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/4 "2006-02-02T00:01:24Z")
By volume, the [Boeing Everett Plant](http://cruisinaltitude.com/photos/boeingfactory.htm) in Washington. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/5 "2006-02-02T00:02:10Z")
‘Longest’ - probably railways of some kind, or maybe undersea cable systems. ‘Largest’ - if this means ‘heaviest’, then it has to be floating. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/6 "2006-02-02T00:08:31Z")
The U.S. Interstate Highway system has to be up there. It was developed as one project and it is all seemlessly integrated so I don’t see why it shouldn’t be considered one “thing”. The U.S. Interstate Highway system is about 42,000 miles long and cost abot $400 billion. [http://www.publicpurpose.com/freeway1.htm](http://www.publicpurpose.com/freeway1.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/7 "2006-02-02T00:30:06Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Define “largest”. Occupies the most space, with a hollow item including that space as part of it. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/8 "2006-02-02T00:37:52Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Occupies the most space, with a hollow item including that space as part of it. In that case, the atmosphere, whose composition we have changed. It encloses the entire Earth. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/9 "2006-02-02T00:48:23Z")
How about the Panama Canal, or perhaps a man made lake…would they qualify? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/10 "2006-02-02T00:51:01Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The U.S. Interstate Highway system has to be up there. It was developed as one project and it is all seemlessly integrated so I don’t see why it shouldn’t be considered one “thing”. > > The U.S. Interstate Highway system is about 42,000 miles long and cost abot $400 billion. If we extend this notion then I’d say wiring is a heck of a lot longer than the highway system. Just electrical wiring alone for power but if you add in data cabling and such it gets even larger. While it was not all done as one single construction project (heck…the Great Wall was not done in one go) it is all interconnected. Stretch it all out and I bet it would be far longer than our highways. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/11 "2006-02-02T00:56:05Z")
It is very tricky to work out how to define “manmade thing”. Does an item composed of many “manmade things” count as a single “manmade thing”? If not, that rules out almost everything ever made. If so, does that mean that, say, the Greater Tokyo Area is a manmade thing? Because that’s made up of many manmade things, and it’s pretty big. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/12 "2006-02-02T01:00:30Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > In that case, the atmosphere, whose composition we have changed. It encloses the entire Earth. So if I pee in Lake Superior (thus changing its composition) I can then claim to have “made” it? Put me down as skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/13 "2006-02-02T01:05:30Z")
> [@Mbossa](#): > > It is very tricky to work out how to define “manmade thing”. Does an item composed of many “manmade things” count as a single “manmade thing”? If not, that rules out almost everything ever made. If so, does that mean that, say, the Greater Tokyo Area is a manmade thing? Because that’s made up of many manmade things, and it’s pretty big. I was thinking along the same lines with my first thought of New York City. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/14 "2006-02-02T01:06:34Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Occupies the most space, with a hollow item including that space as part of it. Well…then the Boeing Everett Plant linked above probably is your winner for pure volume. If you want useable space (i.e. not just hollow space) I am pretty sure [The Pentagon](http://www.infoplease.com/spot/pentagon1.html) is the largest office building (that link says it is). [The Merchandise Mart](http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/merchandise_mart) in Chicago is supposedly the largest commercial space. [Palace of the Parliament](http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?id=27) is pretty large too but says it falls behind The Pentagon in total size. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/15 "2006-02-02T01:15:43Z")
Barry Bonds’ ego. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/16 "2006-02-02T01:21:26Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > So if I pee in Lake Superior (thus changing its composition) I can then claim to have “made” it? Put me down as skeptical. Ha! I peed in the Pacific! I win! ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/17 "2006-02-02T01:26:48Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > Ha! I peed in the Pacific! I win! Yuck - no more Hawaii snorkeling for me. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/18 "2006-02-02T01:42:50Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Well…then the Boeing Everett Plant linked above probably is your winner for pure volume. > > If you want useable space (i.e. not just hollow space) I am pretty sure [The Pentagon](http://www.infoplease.com/spot/pentagon1.html) is the largest office building (that link says it is). [The Merchandise Mart](http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/merchandise_mart) in Chicago is supposedly the largest commercial space. [Palace of the Parliament](http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?id=27) is pretty large too but says it falls behind The Pentagon in total size. Having worked in the Boeing Everett plant for a few years, it is big and as designed, much of the space is utilized. There are huge office complexes between each airplane assembly bay. But it is dwarfed by the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest single structure in the US. And a new dam in China is supposedly going to be the most massive structure built by man when it is complete. I can’t find anything in a quick search of the web but I read it will contain enough material to build 3 Great Walls. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/19 "2006-02-02T01:59:59Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Having worked in the Boeing Everett plant for a few years, it is big and as designed, much of the space is utilized. I phrased my post poorly. I realize the Everett plant’s space is designed to be used and not just contain large, hollow spaces for no good reason. That said The Pentagon and other buildings are still given the title for largest office buildings as I bet, big as Everett is, The Pentagonn still has more square footage for offices. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/20 "2006-02-02T02:34:12Z")
The hole in the ozone layer is bigger than Antartica. > **[File:Largest ever Ozone hole sept2000 with scale.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Largest_ever_Ozone_hole_sept2000_with_scale.jpg)** > > Original file ‎(1,320 × 1,120 pixels, file size: 111 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) > Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. > You cannot overwrite this file. The following page uses this file: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595.md?page=2)