Christmas Trip 2012, December 13, 2012

Well here we are off on another adventure. I left home this morning at 5:30 A. M. and headed for St Louis, Mo. to see the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial ( better known as the Gateway Arch ). I arrived at 1030 A. M. so it was a smooth drive. No fog in and around home which had been a problem the last few days and traffic was light. Even managed to get to and around Indianapolis, Indiana and not get caught in the morning rush. It has been a beautiful day. In the low 20s at home and up to the mid 50 in St Louis with a stiff breeze making it feel much colder than it actually was. Over the last 40 some odd years I have driven by the Arch many, many time and have marveled at the size of it and wondered about its construction. Typical of all the travel Jan and I did by ourselves or with the girls we were always not so much in a hurry but just did not have the time needed to stop and do a 4 or 5 hour sight seeing tour. That was our loss.

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

( Gateway Arch )

You may wonder just what does the  Name " Jefferson National Expansion Memorial "  and " Gateway Arch " mean and how did the name come about. Like most of our countries history it does go way back in time. Well duh that s what is isn't it ? Here near the Arch the Missouri empties into the mighty Mississippi and Pierre LaClede founded the village of St Louis. It was planned to be a trading center using the Missouri to exploit the wealth of the West. In 1803 Lewis and Clark got supplies here as they set out to explore the Louisiana Purchase They returned 3 years later touting the western areas of the country as being rich in all resources especially beaver. St Louis became the fur trader to the world and during hot weather the smell told you what business was conducted in the buildings. The booming fur business lasted until 1840 when the price of fur fell. The stories being told by the trappers coming back into St Louis  created another rush of settlers hungry for land started moving west. You may recall in the postings on Ellis Island comment was made about immigrant from Europe and the East being hungry for land and they came west . At about the same time the steam boat emerged as a viable mode of travel hundreds of settlers came to St Louis with all their possessions to journey west to get some of this land. Many of them headed to Oregon for land and California for gold. The city grew as the merchants outfitted these settlers. In 1849 disaster struck and the whole downtown was destroyed by fire. Following this was a cholera epidemic killing hugh numbers.  Continuing the trend for advancements in travel the Eads Bridge was completed over the river in 1874 and the railroad era began. With this the steamship traffic slowed. With that brief and simplistic accounting of the history of St Louis you can begin to understand the names of the arch because indeed National Expansion came through St Louis.

Expansion of the United States was facilitated by President Jeffersons' and the Louisiana purchased. In fact this doubled the size of the nation. But what had he purchased? He sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition to find out.  Their expedition lasted 3 years. Almost daily they saw new animals, trees, rivers, Indians, great mountains and eventually to the Pacific Ocean. Great stories have been written about their travel. Certainly others travelled West going the southern route but Lewis and Clarke greatly hastened the expansion westward by exposing the vastness and riches of the land.

The route to getting an appropriate grand monument was a difficult one. President Jefferson was himself an architect had build great features into his home at Monticello. It seems they wanted to have a monument that followed some of his designs such as splendid curved lines. They considered domes, pyramids, arches and obelisks all of which have stood the test of time. Eventually, they had a national competition in 1947 to design a memorial.  Some design were not accepted because of size, weight, lack of structural strength or would not visible from a distance. Finally a high form visible for miles in the shape of an arch would represent a " Gateway to the West ". As time went along the design for the Arch was studied and restudied in the 1950s and 1960s. Further delays were encountered because of lack of funding. They still wrestled with problems of strength and stability such as twisting even in light wind and break at its feet and snap at the top. This was solved by pouring concrete between the layers of skin up 300 feet.

Finally design and engineering factors being solved construction started by pouring massive concrete foundations sunk deeply into bedrock. This foundation was formed by pouring four 11 foot courses of concrete laced with high-strength steel. Remember there are 2 legs or ends of the arch so this work has to be doubled. Following completion of the foundations the first triangular section is placed on the foundation of the south leg Feb 12, 1963. In August 1963 the legs reach the 72 foot level and a " creeper derricks " are in place to hoist the upper sections. As the Arch rises in height the creeper derricks climb higher on tracks. In September 1964 the arch is at the 300 foot level and at this point they stop pouring concrete between the skins of the arch. This concrete has been what stabilized the legs of the arch legs so they will support themselves as they arch over from vertical positions. July 4, 1965 saw the arch completed to the 530 foot level. Now the legs cannot support themselves so a lateral stabilizing strut is installed between the legs. On October 28, 1965 the keystone is hoisted into place. Interestingly they had to use powerful hydraulic jacks to push the legs apart so the final triangular piece would fit into place. It is this final piece that gives the arch arch its strength. If any of you have read the book  " Pillar's of  The Earth "  ( I think this is the name )   which is placed in the older days of England and covers the life of a builder of cathedrals and his inability to get arches to support themselves then you recall he finally comes to understand that a " keystone " is needed.

The arch is constructed of triangular sections which are doubled walled. Each is made of a stainless steel plate on the outside and carbon steel on the inside. They are manufactured at steel mills far from the construction site. A critical aspect of the construction was the precise surveying procedures that were used. All surveys were done at night to avoid expansion of the materials due to heat. Surveying used a procedure with an accuracy of 1 in 11,000 to control the construction.

So the thing is constructed. How do you get up there to the top. There are two passenger trams. One in each leg to carry passengers on a 4 minute ride to the observation deck. Each tram has 8 capsules and each has seating for 5 people. They are small and confining. There are 2 forces at work as you progress up the leg. One is the pulling and the other is the movement to keep the capsule level. The leveling action is done with electric motors. It sort of reminded me of climbing a stair as the capsule rocks back and forth to stay level. Now you are at the observation deck. It is 6 feet 9 inches high, 7 feet 2 inches wide, 65 feet long and can accommodate about 100 people. The observation deck has small windows which provide a view of the river and Illinois on one side and the other looks out to St Louis and Missouri. The view of St Louis is very attractive. Like all tall structures in windy conditions the Arch will sway several inches side to side. The Arch is designed to withstand any foreseeable natural situations. It is estimated in 150 MPH wind the top would sway only 18 inches.

You can enter at either leg by going down below ground. There you are greeted by security screening. I had to remove my belt take off my coat empty my pockets just like airport screening. The museum, gift shops, movies and other activities are below ground. The ticket for the tram ride to the top is $10.00 and with my senior park pass it was $7.00. They ask you how you feel about being closed up in a small space and can you walk several stairs. So down 2 more flights of stairs to the loading area and guess what it is on and is a flight of stairs. The doors open you get in and the climb starts. About 4 minutes and you are at the top the door opens to your capsule and you climb another flight of stairs to the observation deck. Stay as long as you want. The trams run about every 10 minutes.

Example Of A Tram Capsule

Looking Out And Down At Cardinal's Stadium

Down Town St. Louis

Old Court House Where Dred Scott Case Was Heard

Mississippi River Cruise Boats

Lady Blue Far Below, Alone In River Parking Lot

 

Looking Out Of Door Of Capsule

Seats In Tram Capsule

Height Of Arch

Under This Large Park Area Is The Museum

Windows At Top Of Arch

Plaque About Dred And Harriet Scott

Statue Of Dred And Harriet Scott

  

Another wonderful day. As I said earlier I am pleased to finally get a close look at the Arch. It is amazing that the tram feature in the Arch is 1960s technology. I wonder how they would do it today. The one thing I was disappointed about is they did not have any explanations of how they constructed the tram and all the stuff inside the Arch. As we were going up I could see out the door and he steel structure was fascinating and I could see sets of stairs so I suppose you could climb up stairs to work on the tram if it broke down. I will cover the museum at another time. It was great and told a great story.

Good night. I hope you get as good night sleep as I hope to. God bless you and I love you.

Grandpa Bill.