Humans v. the Grand Canyon

Years ago I heard that everything the whole human race ever made could be bulldozed into the Grand Canyon and not fill it.

Here's my estimate showing that is true.

How Much Has the Human Race Built?

The interstate highway system is often cited as the largest object ever built.

Here's the total volume of all the highways in the world:

50 feet wide (4 lanes) x 1 foot deep x 300,000 km

Source

That's approximately:

20 yards x .3 yards x 300 million yards = 2 billion cubic yards

Volume of the Grand Canyon

The volume of the Grand Canyon is estimated to be 5.45 trillion cubic yards, which is 3000 times larger than all the highways put together. Humans do make a few other things, like airplanes and cars, but they can't possibly add enough to fill the canyon.

Source.

Posted 11-10-20