Just how big is the Stone Mountain sculpture?
by Google Earth Blog on Aug.19, 2011, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA
Peter Olsen has built some great 3D models for Google Earth in the past, including items such as the animated Disney monorail and the Tenerife Airport disaster.
When he told me he was working on a model of Stone Mountain, I was excited to see what he could come up with because it's located very close to where I live. However, things got interesting when he tried to start finding the exact measurements of the sculpture.
The carving on the mountain is widely thought to be 190 feet x 90 feet, provided by their official website as well as on Wikipedia. However, based on measurements made in Google Earth, Peter believed the actual size to be closer to 167' x 77'. After repeated inquiries, Stone Mountain Park was able to confirm the actual size of the carving at 158' x 76' -- even smaller than he had suggested (though still quite massive).
It's also widely advertised that the total cutout on the mountain covers 3 acres. As it turns out, the cutout are is roughly 359' x 191' which amounts to 1.57 acres.
Peter's new model just recently went live in the 3D Warehouse, so you can use this KML file
to fly there and see it in Google Earth.
As Peter says, it's "another win for "armchair archaeology". Great work!