Known as the largest monument in the United States, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri is more than a symbol of the nation’s territorial expansion to the west. To architect Eero Saarinen, it was his heart and soul and he unfortunately died before he could see his now famous arch completed. It all began with a two-stage architectural competition in 1947 in which there were over 170 entrants. Many of the big name architects of the era had submitted, including Eero’s father, Eliel. Rumor has it, when the telegram was sent out to “E. Saarinen,” the family mistakenly assumed that Eliel was selected as one of the five finalists. Winning the design competition now established Eero as an independent architect, allowing him to step out from his father’s shadow.
Receiving his first commission was the easy part for Eero. Getting it designed and built was another story. The arch is made up of triangular shaped sections that are stacked on top of each other, gradually decreasing in size as the arch gets taller. The inner walls of the triangular sections are carbon steel plates and the outer walls are stainless steel plates with post tension cables and concrete grout filling the spaces in between. As the arch got taller, a creeper derrick was specially designed to lift sections of it into place. When the arch reached about 600 feet, a stabilizing truss was installed to brace each of the legs. To install the final section, jacks were utilized to separate the legs. It would take 16 years for the first triangular stainless steel section of the arch to be installed and another two years for it to be completed on October 28, 1965. The Gateway Arch is known as a weighted centenary curve that stands 630 feet high and 630 feet wide. It cost less than $15 million to build.
A visit to the Gateway Arch is worth including on your next vacation . Museum tours and tram rides to the top are available.
In 1990, the Gateway Arch won the American Institute of Architect’s 25-Year Award. In 1962, Eero Saarinen was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal, the highest achievement an architect can attain. Today, the arch serves as a powerful symbol honoring those pioneers who sought a new life out west.
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Tags: tram rides to the top