For that matter, libc is considerably more than 10 kLOC (on FreeBSD 9.0, it's about 140 kLOC), and it's hard to think of a more stereotypical block of C code than that.
It is stereotypical library but not stereotypical software project per se. Functions in libc have (by design) very strict interface and little data interdependency.
I would say SQL or HTTP server or game or a word processor where you have to retain sizable chunks of data in memory for longer periods is a better example of big C project. And that's where lack of automatic memory management and data abstraction in C makes it hard.