Volume of the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China, winding through green mountains

The Great Wall of China, if you include all the sections of standing wall, trenches and natural impediments (like hills and cliffs), stretches for 5,500.3 miles. The actual wall, though, is 3,889.5 miles long. Since there are 5,280 feet per mile, the structure stretches for 20,536,560 linear feet.

Height

Turret on the Great Wall of China

With its turrets and stone railings, the Great Wall varies significantly in height from section to section. The turrets rise to 30 feet, while the raised pathway is only 15 feet. Because the turrets make up only 20 percent (or less) of the volume of the wall, you can assume that the average height is between 15 and 20 feet. For the sake of calculation, call it 17.

Width

View from the stone railing showing the width of the wall

The wall varies least in its width--about 5 yards. To compute the calculation, convert that to 15 feet.

Volume

The Great Wall of China has a volume of 5,236,822,800 cubic feet.

Once you have the dimensions of the wall, you can easily calculate the volume by first multiplying the length by the height. This gives you the square footage, which you then multiply by the width to find the volume. The length of the wall is 20,536,560 feet, and the height is 17 feet. Therefore, the square footage is 349,121,520 square feet. If you multiply that sum by the width--15 feet--you arrive at a volume of 5,236,822,800 cubic feet.

References

• China Highlights: How Long Is the Great Wall of China?
• TravelChinaGuide.com: Great Wall Construction
• Think Quest: The Great Wall of China