What Is the Largest Structure Ever Made by Humans?

We've always been driven to build bigger and better, reaching for the skies and delving into the ocean's depths. But what is the single largest continuous structure ever created by humankind? It might not be what you expect.

Challenging the Usual Suspects

The Burj Khalifa

When considering massive structures, skyscrapers like the Burj Khalifa often come to mind. Standing at an impressive 828 meters (over 2,700 feet) with over 200 floors, it's a vertical city. However, despite requiring 22 million man-hours, 103,000 square meters of glass, 39,000 tonnes of steel, and 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, height isn't the defining factor here.

The Great Pyramid of Giza

To find the largest structural feats, we need to travel back 4,500 years to ancient Egypt. The Great Pyramid of Giza, though only 146 meters (479 feet) tall, boasts a staggering volume of 2.6 million cubic meters (92 million cubic feet). That's more than 1,000 Olympic swimming pools and over twice the estimated volume of the Burj Khalifa. Built with 2.3 million limestone and granite blocks, it's an impressive feat of ancient engineering.

Fresh Kills Landfill

Believe it or not, there was a man-made structure said to be twenty-five times as big as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Opened in 1948, the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, New York, was initially intended to be temporary. However, it grew into a 2,200-acre site comprised of four mounds ranging from 30 to 70 meters (100 to 230 feet) tall. At its peak, it was estimated to have a volume of 82 million cubic meters (2.9 billion cubic feet).

The Great Wall of China: A Series of Structures

Construction of defensive walls began in China as early as the 7th century BC. These early barriers were not originally intended to form a single, vast structure. In the 3rd century BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huang connected existing walls to create a continuous defense barrier. Later dynasties expanded and reinforced these walls, culminating in the Ming Dynasty's Great Wall.

The Ming Great Wall, built with brick and stone, features thousands of watchtowers, beacon towers, and forts. This section of the wall stretches 8,851 kilometers (5,500 miles), stands 7.5 meters high, and is nearly 6 meters wide, resulting in a volume of over 408 million cubic meters (14.5 billion cubic feet).

It's important to note that the Great Wall of China isn't a single, continuous structure. It's a network of walls built by different people over thousands of years, incorporating natural barriers like hills, mountains, and rivers.

The Walls of Benin: A Forgotten Marvel

What if there was another network of walls that rivaled the Great Wall of China? In what is now modern-day Nigeria, the former Benin City was the heart of the Benin Empire. The city was built around the King's court and included a network of walls that stood 18 meters (60 feet) high in some places. Walls outside the city divided the surrounding area into individual villages and farms.

This entire area covered 6,500 square kilometers (2,500 square miles). According to British Archeologist Dr. Patrick Darling, the Walls of Benin were built for security and defense and united the kingdom. Estimates suggest that this vast network of walls stretched as far as 16,000 kilometers (nearly 10,000 miles).

In 1974, the Guinness Book of World Records named the Walls of Benin the world’s largest earthworks carried out prior to the mechanical era, with an estimated volume of 150 million cubic meters (5.3 billion cubic feet).

Road Networks: An Alternative Perspective

If we consider entire road networks, what's the longest continuous road in a single structure?

The Pan-American Highway

The Pan-American Highway stretches from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina, covering approximately 23,000 kilometers (14,000 miles). However, it's split by the Darién Gap, a 106-kilometer (60-mile) undeveloped region between Panama and Columbia.

The Asian Highway Network

The Asian Highway Network is an interconnected web of roads that spans the Asian continent. The roads add up to a total length of around 141,000 kilometers (88,000 miles). The single longest road within the network, AH1, runs from Kapikule, Turkey, to Tokyo, Japan, a distance of 20,557 kilometers (12,774 miles).

Highway 1 (Australia)

Australia's Highway 1, a continental ring-road, holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous road, measuring 14,500 kilometers (9,000 miles).

The United States Road Network

The United States road network measures approximately 6.8 million kilometers (4.1 million miles) in total length. With an estimated volume of 27.2 billion cubic meters, it is the largest road network on the planet.

The Chinese Road Network

China's road network is made up of 4.9 million kilometers of paved roads, with a total volume of 19.6 billion cubic meters.

Conclusion

Determining the single largest continuous structure ever made is a complex question with various answers depending on the criteria used. While skyscrapers like the Burj Khalifa and ancient monuments like the Great Pyramid of Giza are impressive feats of engineering, other structures like the Fresh Kills Landfill, the Great Wall of China, the Walls of Benin, and extensive road networks present compelling cases for the title. Ultimately, the answer depends on how we define "structure" and what aspects we prioritize: height, volume, length, or interconnectedness.