# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/21 "2006-02-02T03:51:57Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > In that case, the atmosphere, whose composition we have changed. It encloses the entire Earth. How much space does the [Chunnel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunnel#Statistics) enclose? > [@](#): > > Statistics > The Channel Tunnel is 50 km (31 miles) long, of which 39 km (24 miles) are undersea. The average depth is 45 m (150 ft) underneath the seabed. It opened for business in late 1994, offering three principal services: a shuttle for vehicles, Eurostar passenger service linking London with Paris and Brussels, and through freight trains. > > In 2004, 7,276,675 passengers travelled through the tunnel on Eurostar while in the same year Eurotunnel carried 2,101,323 cars, 1,281,207 trucks and 63,467 coaches on its shuttle trains. > > Rail freight carried through the Channel Tunnel increased by 8% to 1,889,175 t in 2004. > > A journey through the tunnel lasts about 20 minutes; from start to end a shuttle train journey totals about 35 minutes, including travelling a large loop to turn the train round. Eurostar trains travel considerably slower than their top speed while going through the tunnel, in part to fit in with the shuttle trains. > > At completion, it was estimated that the whole project cost around £10 billion. > > The American Society of Civil Engineers has declared the tunnel to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/22 "2006-02-02T05:18:46Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > 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. The 3 Gorges Dam is the answer I gave the last time I saw this question. I would have to think that it qualifies as man-man, even though it doesn’t have any real interior space. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/23 "2006-02-02T05:39:00Z")
> [@astro](#): > > How much space does the [Chunnel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunnel#Statistics) enclose? The [Seikan tunnel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seikan_Tunnel) is slightly longer. At 53.9 km length and 10 m diameter, its volume is 4.2 million m[sup]2[/sup]. That’s just the main tunnel, and I think there’s a service tunnel that runs alongside it, but I don’t think it surpasses the Boeing Everett plant (13.3 million m[sup]2[/sup]). The [Three Gorges Dam](http://www.chinahighlights.com/yangtzecruise/facts.htm) uses 27.15 million m[sup]2[/sup] of cement, so if you’re talking about total volume of a man-made structure (and not internal space), I think that’s the winner. Unless you start including large systems or networks (e.g. “the US highway network”). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/24 "2006-02-02T05:55:09Z")
The problme with these types of quetsions is that nobody is ever able to define what they mean by ‘thing’. The largest man made ‘object’ in the universe is without a doubt the bubble of radio tranmissions around the Earth, currently occupying a sphere about 200 light years across, and growing. Beyond that it’s impossible to nail down. As other shave pointed out, cities could qualify, as could road systems. And o course we could say that if the citeis qualify and the roads that connect them then entire countries count. It’s almost impossible to draw a line that divides any man made ‘building’ form a collection buildings. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/25 "2006-02-02T06:06:00Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > The largest man made ‘object’ in the universe is without a doubt the bubble of radio tranmissions around the Earth, currently occupying a sphere about 200 light years across, and growing. What about the bubble of visible light, generated by man-made fires? (By the way, every instance of “m[sup]2[/sup]” in my above post should have been “m[sup]3[/sup]”. Sorry. I do know the difference.) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/26 "2006-02-02T06:51:06Z")
By way of comparison from above, here’s several objects at (nearly) the same scale : [Three Gorges Dam](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=china&t=k&ll=30.829361,111.017618&spn=0.044443,0.085659&t=k) [Gezhouba Dam (below Three Gorges)](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=china&t=k&ll=30.74095,111.275539&spn=0.044484,0.085659&t=k) [Grand Coulee Dam](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=coulee+dam,+WA&t=h&ll=47.959353,-118.972578&spn=0.044443,0.085659&t=h) [The Pentagon](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=the+pentagon&t=h&ll=38.871008,-77.055979&spn=0.040295,0.085659&t=h) [Hoover Dam](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=united+states&t=h&ll=36.012519,-114.733658&spn=0.041865,0.085659&t=h) [Boeing Plant](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Everett,+WA&t=h&ll=47.925531,-122.271695&spn=0.034681,0.085659&t=h) (note that the roof is two colors, white on the right and slate gray on the left.) [London](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Parliament+Square,+Westminster,+Greater+London,+SW1,+UK&t=h) (Parliament Square) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/27 "2006-02-02T12:53:10Z")
orbital cloud of debris, or that junk satalite orbit. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/28 "2006-02-02T13:00:22Z")
Don’t know how it compares to the Boeing facility, and I can’t find any figures, but when it was opened, Hong Kong’s new [Chek Lap Kok airport](http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/cheklapkok_new/) was touted as the largest enclosed space in the world. It’s a single “room”, 1.27 km long, very wide, but not that tall. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/29 "2006-02-02T13:05:31Z")
Would the physical odds and ends of the internet count? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/30 "2006-02-02T13:07:13Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > The hole in the ozone layer is bigger than Antartica. > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Largest\_ever\_Ozone\_hole\_sept2000\_with\_scale.jpg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Largest_ever_Ozone_hole_sept2000_with_scale.jpg) _ **Objection.** _ A hole is not an object, it is the _abscence_ of an object. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/31 "2006-02-02T14:22:06Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > How about the Panama Canal, or perhaps a man made lake…would they qualify? I once read years ago that Lake Okeechobee in south Florida was the largest man-made thing and the only one visible from orbit. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/32 "2006-02-02T15:49:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Nic2004** > I once read years ago that Lake Okeechobee in south Florida was the largest man-made thing and the only one visible from orbit. Actually, there are quite a few manmade objects that are [visible from space.](http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/visible_from_space_031006.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/33 "2006-02-02T16:10:58Z")
> [@blace81](#): > > Actually, there are quite a few manmade objects that are [visible from space.](http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/visible_from_space_031006.html) If Google Earth is to be believed, a lot of things are visible from space. I’d also say that as big as the dams are, the lakes they create are far larger. They would have to be considered man made. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/34 "2006-02-02T16:48:00Z")
The quantity of stored human knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/35 "2006-02-02T17:07:27Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > The quantity of stored human knowledge. If you took the contents of the two largest libraries of the world, digitized all the books and saved them on DVD-ROM disks, it would occupy only 9 cubic meters\*. It can be carried on a single 18-wheeler. Even if you assume those two libraries contain 1% of the total human knowledge (others being in other countries’ libraries, film archives and digital storage), all of it would fit in 25 shipping containers. That’s one 1/4-mile long train. \*That’s assuming 300 million books, 500 pages per book, 100 kilobytes per page, and each DVD in a 3mm thick sleeve. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/36 "2006-02-02T17:34:33Z")
scr4 I said “The quantity of stored human knowledge.” I did not say the minimal volumetric space in which you may be able to store it’s representation in. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/37 "2006-02-02T17:35:40Z")
> [@Dag Otto](#): > > If Google Earth is to be believed, a lot of things are visible from space. > > I’d also say that as big as the dams are, the lakes they create are far larger. They would have to be considered man made. I think the ‘visible from space’ claim means ‘visible with the naked eye’. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/38 "2006-02-02T17:44:54Z")
A little off topic, but I’ve heard it said that the [Great Barrier Reef](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/reef/reef1_flash.html) is the largest object made by living organisms (Ignoring, as noted in other posts, problem with “size” and “object” in sucha a statement). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/39 "2006-02-02T17:46:54Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > scr4 I said “The quantity of stored human knowledge.” > > I did not say the minimal volumetric space in which you may be able to store it’s representation in. How else do you propose to quantify the “quantity of stored human knowledge”, so it can be compared to the size of other man-made objects? ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595/40 "2006-02-02T17:52:04Z")
Recently, I’ve been hoping that Texas is just a figment of our collective imaginations, would that count, if true? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-manmade-thing-in-the-world/342595.md?page=3)