Edmond, Oklahoma: Giant Cross

I am the structural engineer who designed this cross. Unlike other giant crosses in Groom, Texas, and Effingham, Illinois, this cross is not metal skin on a space frame. It is made of eight-inch-thick prestressed high strength concrete, 138.5 feet high and 10 feet wide across the diagonals.

Driving northbound on I-35, you'll crest a hill to see a massive white cross looming over the highway. It's in the parking lot of the main campus of a large regional church. It's the biggest cross in town, but it wouldn't last long in a fight with Groom's enormous cross a few hours down the highway to the west.

Best part about it? It marks the turnoff for Route 66, a mere five miles from Pop's Soda Ranch.

Visible from the interstate, there's a colossal cross on the property of the "LifeChurch" Edmond campus. LifeChurch is a sort of franchised Christian community, with multiple church locations sharing high-tech video via satellites.

This religious monument isn't as big as the ones in Groom, TX or Effingham, IL, but once we were in its crosshairs we had to pull over.