Around the world, thousands of airplanes, ships, and vehicles reach the end of their service life and are sent to storage or dismantling sites. These locations mark the final destinations of transportation machines: some wait in the Arizona desert where over 4,000 military aircraft are preserved thanks to the dry climate, others are anchored in Suisun Bay in California as strategic reserves, while still others are dismantled at industrial sites in Chittagong, Bangladesh, where workers recover metal from large commercial ships. Some of these sites have taken unusual forms: in Bangkok, former passenger planes have been converted into homes where residents live; in Alliance, Nebraska, 39 gray cars replicate the exact arrangement of Stonehenge. From Roswell to rusted wrecks in Staten Island and abandoned radioactive vehicles near Chernobyl, these locations tell the comprehensive story of machines that have transported generations of travelers and goods.
Bangkok, Thailand
This site displays several retired commercial aircraft repurposed as living spaces. Families occupy the converted airplane fuselages in a residential area of the city.
Suisun Bay, California, USA
This fleet consists of several dozen decommissioned military and commercial ships anchored in the shallow waters of the bay, serving as a national security reserve.
Alliance, Nebraska, USA
Carhenge is a replica of Stonehenge constructed from 39 gray painted automobiles arranged to mirror the layout of the English stone monument.
Tucson, Arizona, USA
This facility houses more than 4000 military and civilian aircraft in the Arizona desert, where low humidity favors the preservation of structures.
Chittagong, Bangladesh
This yard in Chittagong dismantles decommissioned commercial ships into components and recovers steel and other materials.
Roswell, USA
This facility spans 300 hectares and serves for storage and maintenance of retired commercial and military aircraft.
Bali, Indonesia
This cemetery of the Bali Aga people preserves a ritual where deceased are placed under a large banyan tree, without cremation or earth burial.
Chernobyl, Ukraine
This site gathers radioactive vehicles from 1986 that were deployed for decontamination operations after the reactor disaster and subsequently left here.
Staten Island, USA
Over one hundred rusting ship hulls lie in the Arthur Kill waterway between New Jersey and New York.
Vancouver, Canada
This McDonald's restaurant on a floating platform was constructed for Expo 86 in Vancouver and later abandoned.
Nouadhibou, Mauritania
Over 300 ship wrecks line the coast of the Mauritanian port city since the 1980s.
Asmara, Eritrea
Hundreds of military vehicles and tanks from the Eritrean War of Independence rust in the sun.
Uyuni, Bolivia
This graveyard contains over 100 locomotives and wagons from the mining era, abandoned since the 1940s in the salt desert at 3700 meters elevation and exposed to corrosion.
Båstnäs, Sweden
This site gathers approximately 1000 abandoned vehicles from various eras, standing in the Swedish forest landscape since the 1950s.
Sinsheim, Germany
This technical museum displays a collection of Concorde and Tupolev TU-144 aircraft mounted on the building's roof.
Arizona, United States
Phoenix-Goodyear Airport served as a storage facility for surplus United States military aircraft following World War II.
California, United States
This facility serves as a storage location for retired aircraft in the dry desert environment of California.
Arizona, United States
This airport serves as a storage and dismantling facility for retired commercial aircraft that are recycled here.
Victorville, California, United States
This airport serves as a long-term parking facility for retired commercial aircraft in the dry desert climate of California.
Arizona, United States
Pinal Airpark is a facility for maintenance, storage and dismantling of commercial aircraft in the Arizona desert.
Northern Territory, Australia
This facility provides controlled storage conditions for commercial aircraft that have been temporarily or permanently retired from service.
Châteaudun, France
This base stores numerous retired French military aircraft awaiting dismantling and parts recovery.
Tarbes, France
This airport operates a facility for storing and dismantling retired commercial aircraft from airlines across Europe and other continents.
Teruel, Spain
Teruel Airport serves as a parking and storage facility for European commercial aircraft that have been temporarily or permanently retired from operation.
Tripoli, Libya
The airport was heavily damaged during the Libyan civil conflicts and contains numerous destroyed and decommissioned aircraft on its grounds.
Texas, United States
This regional airport operates a facility for the storage and dismantling of retired aircraft.
Tucson, Arizona, United States
This base houses the largest aircraft storage facility in the world, with thousands of military aircraft held for preservation, maintenance, and dismantling.
Tucson, Arizona, United States
This museum displays a collection of military aircraft from various periods of aviation history in the Arizona desert.
Sonoran Desert, Southwestern United States
These desert locations host decommissioned aircraft stored for parts recovery, recycling, or eventual scrapping in the dry climate.
Gadani, Pakistan
This facility operates on the Balochistan coast and processes decommissioned commercial vessels through manual dismantling for material recovery.
Marana, Arizona, United States
Location used for aircraft storage including some planes for part harvesting.
Staten Island, New York, United States
This coastal zone contains several rusted ship hulls partially submerged in the water, serving as remnants of maritime history.
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
This airport maintains a storage area where decommissioned passenger and cargo aircraft from the Soviet period await dismantling or potential reuse.
Al Hudaydah, Yemen
This harbor region is regularly used for the scrapping of tanker vessels.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
This underwater site contains aircraft wrecks from Navy training flights during World War II.
Fort Eustis, Virginia, United States
The fleet comprises decommissioned military vessels anchored along the James River, awaiting scrapping or possible reactivation for national defense needs.