Passage III

“Topping Out” the Gateway Arch

During the early morning hours of October 28, 1965, engineers stationed 630 feet above the ground made careful measurements for the days work. The results indicated a problem that threatened to postpone and delay the topping-out ceremony marking the placement of the final section between the two freestanding legs of the St. Louis Gateway Arch. (35)

Thirty-two years of planning and effort resulted in this moment. In 1933, attorney and civic leader Luther Ely Smith envisioned a memorial that would recognize St. Louis’s major role in the westward expansion of the United States. (37) Architect Eero Saarinen, who created the design that symbolized the memorial’s theme of St. Louis as the “Gateway to the West.” Meanwhile, the arch would have a stainless steel exterior and interior structural supports made of concrete. Both legs of the arch would be built simultaneously using triangular sections. Those at the base of each arch leg would be the largest, with the higher sections progressively smaller.

After nearly three years of construction, the day had come to place the final section at the top of the arch and finish the project. But a problem had arisen. The engineers confirmed that the heat of the sun had caused the south leg of the arch to expand five inches. This small but critical deviation caused concern that the two legs and the final section might not connect properly. The engineers called in local firefighters in the hope that spraying the leg with water to cool it would make it contract. The firefighters, using 700 feet of hose, were able to reach as high as 550 feet on the south leg in they’re attempt to reduce its expansion.

The plan worked. By late morning, the crowd cheered as, welded to the two legs of the arch, the final section was hoisted up. Over three decades and more than thirty years of planning and building had come to a conclusion, and the tallest monument in the united States was now complete.