It is not easy to visualize what 60 meters looks like when you cannot use a ruler or measuring tape. Therefore, the best way to visualize 60 meters is using buildings, trees, and structures.
If you can reference a story building or a football field, it becomes easy to tell how long 60 meters is. Check this list of things that are 60 meters long and or tall.
1. A 20-Story Building
Not all buildings are the same as you have to factor in the shape of the roof and any towers on top of the building. However, a standard building measures 3 meters per floor, meaning a 20 story-building will be 60 meters.
2. Two Cottonwood Trees
Cottonwood trees grow to between 70 and 100 feet tall. Their height is due to how fast they grow, around 5-6 feet every year. Eastern species grow to well over 190 feet which is about 60 meters tall.
3. Roller Coaster
The famous Magnum XL-200 rollercoaster holds a Guinness Book of World Record for riding higher than any other roller coaster at 200 feet, approximately 60 meters. If you were to ride this roller coaster, it would take you almost 3 hours at 72mph.
4. Petrin Tower
The Petrin tower is a prominent landmark in Prague. It stands between 60 and 70 meters tall and has 299 steps that visitors can walk up the tower.
5. 5 Telephone Poles
Telephone poles range between 30 and 60 feet in height. However, the average height of these utility poles is 40 feet or 12 meters long. Therefore, five average telephone poles make 60 meters.
6. Half of the Mira Tower
The Mira tower is a 40-story residential skyscraper on the Francisco Skyline. It stands at 129 meters with twisted and curved windows meant to represent the city’s bay windows. Half of this iconic building is around 60 meters.
7. 20 African Elephants
When you stack twenty African elephants on top of each other, you will end up with a height of 60 meters. African Elephants are the world’s largest land animals at 7.5 meters long and 3 meters high.
8. 20 Basketball Hoops
Basketball hoops are placed 10 feet above the ground, which is around 3 meters high. This is the standard height for basketball hoops at parks, gyms, and driveways. However, young children play on shorter hoops.
9. Devil’s Cataract at Victoria Falls
The Devil’s Cataract on the Zimbabwean side of the magnificent Victoria Falls is between 60 and 70 meters high. When missionaries found the local people performing rituals at the fall, they called them devilish, which is how the name came to be.
10. The Width of CFL Field
The Canadian Football field is approximately 60 meters wide. The Canadian field has always been larger than American fields, which are only around 50 meters wide.
11. Boeing 777 Wingspan
The Boeing 777 was one of the largest passenger planes ever flown. The Boeing 777- 300 model, which flew for the first time in 1994, holds 368 passengers. The wingspan of this plane is close to 212 feet long, just above 60 meters.
12. Hockey Rink
An Ice hockey rink is where ice hockey is played. It is typically a frozen body of water usually done using chemicals. A standard ice hockey rink measures 60.9 meters long by 25.9 meters wide.
13. 80 Walking Steps
An average walking step is 0.76 meters long, while an average stride length is 1.52 meters long. It would therefore take 80 walking steps to cover 60 meters in length. And, 2000 steps will cover 1 mile.
14. 4 Semi Truck Trailers
Most trailers are about 16 meters long. You would need four of these to make 60 meters. However, when you add the truck tractor, the total length of one semi-truck trailer will reach 24 meters which means two and have of the trailers will make 60 meters.
15. 2 Blue Whales
At 30 meters long, Blue whales are gigantic. Only two blue whales will make 60 meters in length. Interestingly, females are bigger than males, with the longest blue whale at 33 meters long.
16. 8 Garden Hoses
Garden hoses range from 3 meters to 30 meters in length. However, the average length of a garden hose, especially the ones you use to water your flowers, is about 7.5 meters long. You would need eight such garden hoses to make 60 meters in length.
Conclusion
Finally, 60 meters is quite long, and not so many common structures fall within this measurement. Therefore, referencing a number or fraction of things helps in visualizing just how long 60 meters is. That’s why 80 walking steps or eight garden hoses are included because they are common things you can easily visualize.
The dimension of stuff has been an interest of mine ever since I was a child. What I believe is most fascinating about the dimension of stuff is how extremely long, tall and wide some objects are both on earth and in the universe.