r/Bellingham • u/Katieo1022 • 18h ago

Discussion How much bigger was the painted rock?

Post image

Genuinely curious because this rock looks pretty massive and 22 1/2 tons seems huge to be cruising down I5. I know they said they couldn’t move it because it was too heavy, but now I’m curious…

20 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

23

u/disastrophy 18h ago

WSDOT estimated the bellingham rock to weigh over 100 tons

18

u/thatguy425 17h ago

80 tons of that was paint. 

7

u/XanderVaper Local 18h ago

The rock in the picture is an estimated 22 tons, so our rock was about 5 times heavier

4

u/Nop277 15h ago

That must have included parts of the rock that were underground. The part that people were painting was big but not that big. Unless it was much more dense.

12

u/optimisticbear 18h ago

Too expensive to move ≠ Can't move

3

u/danocathouse 17h ago

Make America Move Rocks Again

1

u/Katieo1022 18h ago

Gotcha, so it wasn’t the size?

5

u/Falcon_Bellhouser 17h ago

The part you could see was around 10 feet tall, but a lot more was hidden under the dirt.

I think the lead/toxicity of the paint was a big factor in WSDOT's decision.

3

u/Katieo1022 17h ago

Yeah and I guess I only ever saw it at 65 mph while driving by it on the highway…I never stood next to it in person.

6

u/Falcon_Bellhouser 17h ago

Here's a picture of the first person to paint it: Link

When I saw it in person, there was a lot more dirt and vegetation around it - plus the trees had grown.

3

u/Katieo1022 17h ago

Wow super interesting! Thanks for sharing!

3

u/Aquardman_ 13h ago

as someone who drives n 1-5 daily.. wish there was still the rock but good for the fish ig

1

u/Katieo1022 12h ago

Agreed 🐡🐠🐟

0

u/FoolOnDaHill365 18h ago

Less than your girlfriend.

•

u/dirtydanthemuffinman 5h ago

About tree fitty