ST. LOUIS -USA
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The Gateway Arch is a really neat building and is unique. The idea for it came from an architect named Eero Saarinan who won the design contest in 1948. It is made of 143 triangular sections. At the bases they start out 54ft (17M) across and narrow gradually to 17 ft (5.2M) across at the top where they meet. It sways only 1" (2.5cm) in 20 mph winds. The formula for wind load is: Wind load = CdqhA - where Cd = pressure coefficient; qh = velocity pressure 1/2 pv^2; A = exposed surface area. It weighs 16,878 tons.The surrounding Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Park was established on December 21, 1935. It commemorates the westward growth of the United States between 1803 and 1890 when the pioneers went across the prairie in Conestoga wagons. There is also an underground visitors center with a museum, a theater and a really great gift shop with cedar Conestoga wagon lamps. The Conestoga wagons were named after a town in Pennsylvania where they were made.
