  We investigate some properties of thick vortices and thick monopoles in the
SU(2) lattice gauge theory by inserting operators that create these
excitations. We measure the derivative of the free energy of the vortex with
respect to the coupling and we find that it falls exponentially with the cross
sectional area of the vortex. We also study the monopole-monopole potential
energy of thick and thin monopoles. Our results suggest that vortices and
monopoles of increasing thickness will play an important role in the large
$\beta$ limit.
