All sights in Michigan

Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Nuclear Power MegaPost : Redux

Sunday, 22nd January 2006 by

The last Nuclear Power Megapost proved successful so here is another! I’ve been collating all the nuclear power themed entries since then and here are the most interesting of them.

Shoreham Nuclear Power Station

This is a plant that was never completed due to community opposition. In the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident residents were increasingly worried about proximity to nuclear power stations. Shoreham was never finished because residents argued that if anything did go wrong, the population of Long Island couldn’t be evacuated with only one direction to go (west) and only one major road to take (the Long Island Expressway).

Thanks Chris & Thomas Paul

Sequoyah Nuclear Plant

I know you’ve already done a “Nuclear Power Megapost,” but I just ran across this, and think it’s cool that you can almost see directly down the cooling towers. BTW, it’s TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Plant.

Thanks Jay K

Chinon Nuclear Power Plant

This is the nuclear power plant of Chinon, a french town best known for its Cabernet Franc wine, with four very pretty cooling towers churning out steam.

Thanks Julien

Weldon Springs

The Nuclear Waste Adventure Trail and Museum at Weldon Spring, Missouri is where the government opened the Weldon Spring site to the public in 2002. The huge waste tomb spans 45 acres and is seven stories tall.

Thanks Bill

Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant

This is Bohunice nuclear power plant in Slovakia. A proper old-skool soviet era reactor. In February 22, 1977, the reactor suffered a major accident during refueling. Because of its age and old design the plant is currently undergoing a decommissioning process.

Thanks FeroG

Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

This is the Iranian nuclear power plant under construction near the city of Bushehr. These two plants are one of the reasons that Iran and the west don’t get along. In 1995, Russia signed a contract to supply a light water reactor for the plant. Although the agreement calls for the spent fuel rods to be sent back to Russia for reprocessing, the US has expressed concern that Iran would reprocess the rods itself, in order to obtain plutonium for atomic bombs.

Thanks Paul, Bunsen, Pejvak DehDari & Bubba

Enrico Fermi Nuclear Power Plant

This reactor is named after the first physicist to create a nuclear reactor and is located between Detroit, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio. On October 5, 1966 a 94MWe prototype fast breeder reactor called Fermi-1 suffered a partial nuclear meltdown here. Thankfully no radiation was released off-site, and no one was injured.

Thanks David & Joe

I’m sure there are still plenty more interesting nuclear power sites so keep them coming!

Celeb Spotting

Saturday, 24th December 2005 by James

Possibly the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan’s 29,000-square-foot estate near Chicago features a basketball court (of course) as well as a tennis court and putting green. Loads more info and pictures here.

Bill Gates’ 40,000-square-foot mansion in Washington is a constantly requested sight, but is in fact quite boring to look at from above (apparently it’s mostly underground). Loads more info and pictures here.

Bill Gates\' House

George Foreman’s Texas home is still being constructed in the satellite photo, but he’s so proud of the finished building that he’s put his name on it. The large building on the East side is the 64 car garage.

Muhammad Ali’s Michigan home is currently for sale but for your $3,200,000 you only get a measly 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. However, the 81 acre plot does feature a gymnasium, steam room, tennis & basketball courts and full size boxing ring. More pictures on the Real Estate listing.

The Californian coastline mansion with a tear shaped swimming pool is home to Barbara Streisand who famously tried to sue an aerial photography website which featured her house in the middle of 12,000 photos of coastline (she lost the case). Loads more information and the offending photo here.

Thanks: MisterKen, randy phillips, Dennis, Pete, IvyMike, Matt, Ivan, Lois, Mile, Andrew, Heath, greg, Chris Blackwell, Andrey, mark, MC, Thomas van Longerich, Nelson, Slugs On Toast & Wifey!

Big boat crossing railroad tracks

Thursday, 27th October 2005 by James

A large boat coming from lake Michigan passes through a railroad bridge, with a road bridge up ahead. It looks like it’s going to be a squeeze getting the boat through those narrow waterways. I wonder what it’s carrying?

Thanks: Nelson

Bridge Shadow Award

Monday, 9th May 2005 by Alex

And the nominees for this year’s Google Sightseeing ‘Coolest Looking Bridge Shadow’ Award are as follows…

Ironcladlou for the wallet-burning Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York, New York.

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Punk floyd, Greg Small, Duane Homick, PegO and TZ for the fantastic Ambassador Bridge which links Windsor, Ontario with Detroit, Michigan. (Windsor is on the south and Detroit is on the north side of the river.)

Ambassador Bridge

Steve Hale for the the world’s (second) tallest suspension bridge, the Fred Hartman bridge in Baytown, Texas.

Fred Hartman Bridge

But the winners are… (Drum-roll please!)

Tim, Dave Isaacs and khendron for the 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland!

Francis Scott Key Bridge

Congratulations guys! ;-)

Ford Proving Grounds, Dearborn

Tuesday, 26th April 2005 by James

Giant Ford logo at the Ford Proving Grounds, Dearborn. A little to the east is what appears to be a large black vehicle driving around the track.

Ford

Thanks: Rick

World’s Largest Tyre, Allen Park

Thursday, 21st April 2005 by James

Reader Tim Gregory found the 80 foot tall world’s largest tyre in Michigan. It apparently started life as a giant tyre-shaped ferris wheel at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, and was moved to Allen Park, Michigan to be a roadside attraction in 1966. According to this page at roadsideamerica.com it was once punctured with the world’s largest nail as a publicity stunt.

World\'s Largest Tyre

The Mackinac bridge

Saturday, 16th April 2005 by Alex

The Mackinac bridge (which connects the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan) is the 3rd largest suspension bridge in the world. At five miles in length, it is the third-longest suspension bridge in the world.

Seriously, check it out… it’s pretty big. There’s actually a traffic jam on there too.

The Mackinac Bridge

Thanks to Ryan, Soyle Mycelf, Otterpop and Parker. More info about the bridge is available at mackinacbridge.org.