GATEWAY ARCH

An arch consists of two weaknesses which, leaning one against the other, make a strength.Leonardo Da Vinci

BESC105 - ART APPRECIATION

ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURE

Prefer by: Mary-Genevive A. De La Cruz, ARC 51

August 30, 2014/ Sat

ABOUT
Alternative names:
Architectural style:
Location:

Gateway to the West, St. Louis Arch

Structural expressionism/Modern architecture,High-tech architecture
Memorial Drive, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Area:

25ha

Construction started:
Completed:
Inaugurated:
Cost:
Height:
Architect:
Architecture firm:
Structural engineer:

February 12, 1963; 51 years ago

October 28, 1965; 48 years ago
May 25, 1968; 46 years ago
US$13 million (c. $97,300,000 today)
630 ft (192 m)
Eero Saarinen
Saarinen and Associates
Severud Associates

The Gateway Arch, or Gateway to the West, is the

principal component of the Jefferson National
Expansion Memorial, an extraordinary monument built
on the west bank of the Mississippi River in St. Louis,
Missouri, the oldest European city in the Midwest.
The Gateway Arch is the tallest man-made
monument in the United States (630 feet, or 192
meters) and the second tallest freestanding
monument in the world after the Eiffel Tower.

The entire Memorial is about 91 acres. This includes

the Gateway Arch and grounds (about 62 acres), plus
another 30 acres or so encompassing the Old
Courthouse, Luther Ely Smith Square and a good bit
of the surrounding streets (managed as easements).

HOW GATEWAY ARCH IS?

ARCH FACTS

Height/ Tall: 630 feet, 63 stories, 192 meters, or 7560 inches tall.
Wide: The span is 630 feet at ground level between the outer sides of the legs.
Wide of Legs at the base: 54 ft
Wide in Top: 17 ft
Many stainless steel sections: 142
Deep of the foundations: about 60 ft deep
Weight: 17,246 tons
Made out of: Steel and Concrete
Windows at the top: 7 x 27-16 windows on each side of the observation deck.
Speed of tram capsules:340 feet per minute, approximately 3.86 miles per hour.
Shape: The Arch is a catenary curve. Catenary means it is the shape a free-hanging
chain takes when held at both ends.
Stairs: 1,076 steps
The top of the Gateway Arch is not wheelchair accessible. To reach
it and return, you must manage a minimum of 96 steps, which are
separated by 6 flights of stairs. Please be aware you may need to
stand for30-60 minutesor longer, especially during the busy
summer season. There is no seating or restrooms at the top of
the Arch. There are no facilities at the top of the Arch; Attractions
within the Arch are the Journey to the Top, the Museum of Westward

ARCH FACTS
The viewing area at the top can hold up to 160 people.
Why are the windows so small? Over 500 tons of pressure was used to jack the north and south legs
of the Arch apart for the last four-foot piece to be placed at the top. A larger window would not
withstand that pressure.
Does the Arch sway? The Arch is designed to sway as much as 18 inches, and can withstand an
earthquake, however under normal conditions the Arch does not sway. It takes a 50-mile an hour wind
to move the top 1.5 inches each side of center.
How long can we stay at the top? All visitors are allowed to stay as long as they like. However, the
approximate time of a complete trip is 45 minutes (or until closing time).
Do we go back down the same side we came up? If only one tram is operating on a given day, you must
return on that tram, but if both trams are operating you may return on either side.
How often do the trams go up? If one tram is running, every 10 minutes. If both trams are running,
every 5 minutes.
How many people can the trams take to the top of the Gateway Arch in one hour? If one tram is
running, 240 passengers. If both trams are running, 480 passengers.

BACKGROUND
Inception and early funding
(19331935)
Land acquisition, opposition,
demolition, and early railroad
negotiations (19361939)
Design competition (1945
1948)
Railroad agreement (1949
1952)-Amendment of railroad
agreement and authorization
(19531958)-Zoning, start of
railroad move, and
appropriation (19591968)

The design intended to include:

"(a) an architectural memorial or
memorials to Jefferson; dealing (b) with
preservation of the site of Old St. Louis
landscaping, provision of an open-air
campfire
theater,
reerection
or
reproduction of a few typical old
buildings, provision of a Museum
interpreting the Westward movement; (c) a
living memorial to Jefferson's 'vision of
greater opportunities for men of all races
and creeds;' (d) recreational facilities,
both sides of the river; and (e) parking
facilities, access, relocation of railroads,
placement of an interstate highway."

BACKGROUND
The federal government became interested in the park
proposal, and on June 15, 1934, then-President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signed a bill instituting the United States Territorial
Expansion Memorial Commission to develop plans for a
national memorial commemorating Thomas Jefferson, the
Louisiana Purchase, and westward national expansion.

The father of the Memorial is St. Louis attorney and civic

leader Luther Ely Smith (18731951) who in the 1920s had
been appointed by his Amherst schoolmate, Calvin Coolidge, to
build the George Rogers Clark Memorial in Vincennes, Indiana.
Ten years later, the U.S. government desired to build a memorial
to Thomas Jefferson, which finally materialized as the Jefferson
Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Symbolism and culture

The Gateway Arch packs a significant symbolic wallop just by standing
there. But the Arch has a mission greater than being visually affecting. Its
shape and monumental size suggest movement through time and space,
and invite inquiry into the complex, fascinating story of our national
expansion

Delays and lawsuits

Aftermath
Topping out and dedication

GATEWAY ARCH CONSTRUCTION

PHOTO SEQUENCE: FEBRUARY 29,
1964 THROUGH "TOPPING OUT" ON
OCTOBER 28, 1965.

CONSTRUCTIONS

DETAIL OF ONE
OF THREE
INTERIOR
CORNERS OF
THE GATEWAY
ARCH,
SHOWING THE
SYSTEM OF
STIFFENING
BRACES OR
BEAMS,
APPROXIMATELY
HALF WAY UP

CONSTRUCTIONS
TOPPINGS AND DEDICATION

Dedication of the Gateway Arch

The completion of the arch climaxed
32 years of planning and the three
years it took to construct the Arch
itself. At the time, literary luminary
Bennett Cerf Arch claimed that since
the arch looks something like a huge
wicket, wags are calling St. Louis the
Wicket City.

CHARACTERISTICS
Physical characteristics
Mathematical elements
Lighting

The windows of the observation deck are located around

the apex of the arch.

The arch illuminated in pink in honor of Breast

Cancer Awareness Month

The arch is a weighted catenaryits legs are wider

than its upper section.
The arch's lighting system

PUBLIC ACCESS
VISITOR AREA

Southern entrance to the subterranean visitor center

THE ENTRANCE TO THE MUSEUM OF WESTWARD EXPANSION,

SITUATED UNDERGROUND, DIRECTLY BENEATH THE ST. LOUIS
GATEWAY ARCH.

The Park Over the Highway is a component of the CityArchRiver

2015 project that will physically connect downtown St. Louis, the
Gateway Arch, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and the
Mississippi Riverfront. Construction on the project is in progress as
of 2014.

ONE OF THE TWO ENTRANCES TO THE SAINT LOUIS GATEWAY

ARCH AND VISITORS CENTER. BECAUSE OF THE EVENTS OF 9/11,
GATEWAY ARCH, BOTH ENTRANCES HAVE SECURITY
CHECKPONTS.
Inside the visitor center

PUBLIC ACCESS
OBSERVATION AREA
The Observation Room is 7-feet-by-65-feet
(2.13 meters-by-19.8 meters) and has 32
rectangular windows (16 on each side), each
measuring 7-inches-by-27-inches (180 mm-by690 mm) and 1/2-inch (12.7 mm) in thickness.
VIEW FROM GROUND LEVEL (DIRECTLY
BENEATH THE ST. LOUIS GATEWAY ARCH) OF
THE OBSERVATION AREA AT THE TOP OF ARCH.

The observation deck

has a capacity of about
160 people.

PUBLIC ACCESS
Modes of ascension

THE GATEWAY ARCH TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS

A TRAIN OR TRAM OF EGG-LIKE CAPSULES THAT
CAN STAY HORIZONTAL DESPITE TRAVELING
BELOW, TO THE SIDE OF, AND ABOVE THE TRACK
AND CABLING. ITS WORKINGS ARE REMINISCENT
OF BOTH A FERRIS WHEEL AND AN ELEVATOR.
The Gateway Arch Transportation Systemthe Tram
The tram system for the interior of the Gateway Arch was
designed by Richard B. Bowser (19212003).

NEIGHBORHOOD OF
GATEWAY ARCH

PART OF JEFFERSON EXPANSION

THE GATEWAY ARCH AND THE ST.
LOUIS SKYLINE ARE REFLECTED IN
A SERENE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

ONE BUILDING THAT WAS

SPARED DEMOLITION
DURING THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE
JEFFERSON NATIONAL
(WESTERN) EXPANSION
MEMORIAL WAS THE
BASILICA OF ST. LOUIS,
ALSO KNOWN LOCALLY
AS THE OLD CATHEDRAL.
COMPLETED IN 1834, IT IS
THE OLDEST CATHEDRAL
WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER.

LOOKING EAST, THE

KIENER PLAZA AND THE
MORTON D. MAY
MEMORIAL
AMPHITHEATER
COMMAND A DRAMATIC
VIEW OF THE OLD COURT
HOUSE (WHERE DRED
SCOTT SUED TO OBTAIN
HIS FREEDOM IN 1846)
AND THE GATEWAY
ARCH. THE PARKS
CENTERPIECE IS A POOL
AND FOUNTAIN
CONTAINING A STATUE
KNOWN AS THE
RUNNER BY SCULPTOR
WILLIAM ZORACH (18871966).

OTHER VIEW OF ARCH

OTHER VIEW OF ARCH

PROJECTED APPEARANCE OF THE WEST
GATEWAY PROJECT. IT SHOWS A
REDESIGNED KIENER PLAZA, THE OLD
COURT HOUSE, THE PROPOSED
SHUTTING DOWN OF MEMORIAL DRIVE
AND CREATION OF A WALKWAY OVER
HIGHWAY 70 AND A NEW ENTRANCE TO
THE ARCH GROUNDS AND MUSEUM.

SOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Arch

http://www.interestingamerica.com/2011-0409_Gateway_Arch_Architecture_by_R_Grigonis_41.html
http://www.gatewayarch.com/experience/arch-facts-faq/
http://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm
http://www.slfp.com/View-of-Arch.html
http://www.nook-sucasa.com/2009/12/gift-guide-architects-buildersand-city.html

END of
presentation
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