Daily Archives: November 8, 2009
The Gateway Arch…
Today is our last full day in the St. Louis area, so we left the coach about 10:30, heading about 60 miles away to St. Louis and the Gateway Arch.
But rather than going straight to the Arch, we stopped at a nearby Hooters for a hot wing fix. But even from there we could see the Arch.
After lunch we drove to the nearby park. Walking from the Arch parking garage we could see the Arch thru the trees.
The Gateway Arch was designed in 1947, but construction did not start until 1963. The Arch is basically built inside a imaginary square. It is 630 feet high and 630 feet wide at the base, making it the tallest monument in the US. Finally finished in 1965, it is covered in sheets of stainless steel, making it shine like a mirror.
Each triangular base is 54 feet on a side and had to be positioned on the ground within 1/64 of an inch or the Arch would not have met at the top. That would have been a bummer.
And even getting this part right, they still had problems. During construction, both legs were built up simultaneously. When the time came to connect both legs together at the apex, thermal expansion of the sunward facing south leg prevented it from aligning precisely with the north leg. This alignment problem was solved when the St. Louis Fire Department sprayed the south leg with water from firehoses until it had cooled to the point where it aligned with the north leg.
We entered the Arch thru an underground passage that took us to the Arch Visitors Center. To do this, we had to pass thru airport-style security, doing everything except taking our shoes off.
Another fascinating fact about the Arch is that there’s a Ferris Wheel built inside. Well, kind of. It consists of 16 cars like the one below, 8 on each side. Each car holds 5 people and makes the trip to the top of the Arch in a little over 4 minutes.
Because you are going up and around the Arch, the cars are gimbaled like a Ferris Wheel so they always stay level.
And the 5 people who cram into these are going to get real friendly. Luckily, going up it was just Jan and I.
Once we got to the top we were in a narrow open area with 16 small (7” x 27”) windows on each side. They let us look out over the city.
There’s a plaque at the top showing the height.
The windows look even smaller from the ground,
But the view is spectacular!
And here’s some more pics.
The trip back down is faster, about 3 1/2 minutes.
I didn’t take this picture, but thought it was neat!
Before we left the Arch area, we purchased a National Park pass that will give us a 50% discount at other National Parks.
Leaving the Arch we did some shopping and then stopped off for supper at Sweet Tomatoes, a soup and salad place we had last eaten at in Fort Myers, FL. They some of the best soups I’ve ever tasted.
Tomorrow we’ll head down the road to Branson, MO.
More then…
