1963 - Present
The St. Louis Gateway Arch, which towers 630 feet above the Mississippi River and the city that the river helped build, commemorates the 200th anniversary of the founding of St. Louis and the city’s role as the gateway to America’s westward expansion. The arch, designed by architect Eero Saarinen and architectural engineer Hannskart Bandel, sits on a ninety-one-acre park located close to where St. Louis began in 1754. Constructed from 43,000 tons of concrete and steel, the arch’s footings are 630 feet apart and buried in foundations approximately sixty feet deep. Overall, the structure, which has no steel skeleton, weighs 17,246 tons. The stainless-steel outer skin and carbon steel inner skin combine to carry the gravity and wind loads to the ground. These steel skins form a composite structure that gives the arch its strength and permanence. The Gateway Arch holds the titles of Missouri’s tallest accessible building, the highest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere, and world’s tallest arch.
Object Details
Categories: Arts & Culture, Cities & Towns, Health, Science & Technology
Date: 1963 - Present
Subject: Gateway Arch National Park (Saint Louis, Mo.)
Contributing Institution: Springfield-Greene County Library District
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Region: St. Louis Metro
Type: Object
Latitude: 38.624690
Longitude: -90.184951
