Construction of the Gateway Arch, St. Louis Documentary Film (1965)

[Music] so let the historian tell how it was they toiled westward on the sun's path and by strength and skill and valor they rolled the unknown back before them the continent was crossed the republic had reached its father's frontier meriwether lewis's dream had come true and the thing was done [Music] here on the river where they set forth we have raised a monument to their dream and to all those who followed on the way [Applause] west their dream had shaped half a continent how was their monument to find its form across time said architect aerosarnan an absolutely simple shape has given the great memorials their significance and dignity here neither an obelisk a pyramid nor a dome would in this place for our time a great yet simple arch did seem right and so it was but concealed in its simple shape with a set of construction complexities which would challenge both architect and engineer unlike the arches of antiquity it was too high to be built with scaffolds each leg had to be self-supporting till they were met and joined together and each leg would have to carry on its back to 630 feet the machines and the men who would build it above 300 feet the legs would tend to sway and flutter so they'd have to stiffen them with steel tendons and bond the skins with concrete forming building blocks heavy as a locomotive it would stand higher than any monument in the land and weigh more than an aircraft carrier yet be strong enough to sway only 18 inches in 150 mile per hour wind no detail could compromise its grace and beauty but every component would have to bear its load across time including the outer surface in the winter of 1962 the work was begun they would handle over 900 tons of stainless steel before they were through 165 000 square feet of quarter inch plate more than for any other single project in history [Music] giving the metal its form they would weld it scribe saw shave grind mold and sculpture the steel [Music] before they were done they would join together metal of most every shape and size some 500 tons of stiffeners and tie rods 2 000 tons of carbon steel plate all this they would marry to the stainless creating steel rectangles larger than a box car mating the carbon steel plates to the back of the stainless finished what was labeled a subsection here they called it simply making a sandwich a 15 ton two-ply 12 by 54 foot special steel-bearing steel away from its pennsylvania origins [Music] in saint louis the triangular foundations have been formed and set 26 000 tons of concrete sunk 60 feet down into native bedrock they stood in their place now ready to bear their first burden of steel [Music] it was moving westward at a pace the pioneers could not imagine but on a path they had carved themselves [Music] finally the mississippi [Music] here on the river that still tells where the west began they made ready to raise their span of steel and the work was passed to the hand of the iron man they set forth in the spirit of those who had walked this same ground more than a century before ahead of them they saw only hard work a far off destination a thing to be done [Music] they'd push 15 tons a fraction of an inch lining it up precisely for the welder's final touch [Music] the first piece was ready february 12 1963 close by lewis and clark had set out to the sound of cannon shot and cheering only the silent snow would witness this beginning their goal was over 600 feet and several seasons in the distance but they had begun that's pretty good let's look at the other here their progress would be measured in 50 ton steel triangles put together by men who were closer kin to the trappers and pioneers than they knew [Music] they too were a mixed and scattered breed men given to roaming and reshaping the face of the land thank you [Music] so so [Music] it had been designed to fit and carefully engineered that way but there were times when its builders would have to reach back for the same tools they had used for a hundred years [Music] [Laughter] [Music] hey [Music] once seated each section had to be brought into line with the one below the welding gap would be honed to its proper eighth of an inch width and tack welded to true fit then the sections could be permanently joined bonded together along all three sides creating the continuity of strength summer 1963 six sections are up 72 feet high the ground cranes can reach no higher problem how to raise the remaining sections answer first fix supporting columns on the back side and lift the work scaffolds into place then pick up an 80 ton platform derrick swing it into position and attach it to the back side now it will hoist the sections and itself the rest of the way by the fall of 63 the distance they had come was reflected in the great river and for the first time its grand scale was apparent [Music] moving into 1964 they were approaching 300 feet up to this level much of their work was concealed in the innards before each concrete pour they placed a set of steel tendons in carefully calculated positions when spliced with the ones below these tendons formed an unbroken band of strength running down between the skins deep into the foundations of the arch when the splicing was done they were ready for the concrete [Music] they brought up over 25 000 tons of it and its weight between the skins gave greater stability to the legs the concrete also served as a bond between the inner and outer skins and it was here that the steel tendons were brought into play the tendons possessed great tensile strength which must now be captured and blocked squeezing the concrete and skins together to stretch them to the locking point would take 70 tons of pull [Music] so [Music] summer 1964 they have built a railroad into the sky and move the creeper derrick up its tracks [Music] on this day more track must be laid and the creeper pulled up to its next station 400 feet first the steel i-beam track is maneuvered onto the back side eased into position and bolted to the leg [Music] at 400 feet they were handling the same tonnages and tasks as they had down below but there were differences the wind had increased with the height they could feel more shift and sway in the legs and they had less room when the lifting bar and cable were fastened down tight they were ready to lift to stay within reach of its work the 80-ton creeper would haul itself up four sections at a time to the top and they would have to bring it down the same way taking the track off as they went [Music] after each lift they would lock it off level and adjust the platform legs then they'd be ready once more to build higher to minimize error and ensure uniform temperature conditions they took their geometry control readings at night citing on target lights they would locate exact points on the corners of the legs their readings would be compared with computerized ideal points their margin for error 1 64th of an inch could mean failure at the top coming up easy june 17th 1965 on this morning a 60-ton bridging strut will be lifted 530 feet they have raised the legs too high now to stand alone they must join them together before they can build any higher money right [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] we're going to get earthquake so swinging right he's going right just as easy as you can just keep her nice and easy easy down and close over there hold that swing just uh get a little belly in here and maybe you know no but we picked it down here it was different the devil that's a good support well it is [Music] late summer 65 they've gained a pitchover point and can see now the cross-section of their work the decreasing distance between them has become the measure of their goal okay with luck in a few weeks time they'll be close enough to touch september 1965 more than two and a half years since they first began getting to work now has become a job in itself what used to be a short climb up the ladder is now a 12-minute ride on the back side there were other signs the decreasing size of the sections told them how far they had come when they saw the ventilator hole for the hoist motor they knew it was section number six only five more to bring up back when they began the project had attracted its share of skeptics but through the long cycle of the seasons whatever the wind or the weather they had pushed their work higher and higher [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] this [Applause] [Music] in the beginning it was predicted that 13 of them would never make it this far but not a single man would be lost and the closer they came the more carefully and deliberately they moved [Music] section by section piece by piece they were closing in on their goal and though no one spoke openly of it or revealed any outward sign the end was clearly in sight [Music] october 28 1965 sky clear temperature 40 degrees wind 10 miles an hour from the east [Music] down below the final piece moved toward its liftoff on top the tension began to mount with the temperature the engineers figured it was a race with the sun to set the last piece they must first jack the legs apart but the south leg had begun to expand and deflect in the sun's heat the last piece must be brought up before the legs were forced too far out of line they would fight the heat with as much water as they could pump but they sent up word that it would only work for a while 45 minutes at the outside now they would shove 500 tons of pressure against the legs jacking them slowly apart the final four feet they needed [Music] uh [Music] two feet to go [Music] [Music] [Music] you're already going yes sir everything ready full of gas just waiting on you brother boy good boy you feel good thank you take it out of here [Music] all right [Music] oh you're about 180 feet up about 200 feet [Music] 810 feet [Music] be easy now bill be ready to stop anytime keep coming up like yours i may stop [Music] celebrate the historian was writing of lewis and clark but the spirit of his words belongs just as truly to those who shaped and raised this monument by strength and skill and valor they rolled the unknown back before them they were too weary uncomfortable and much too seasoned to rejoice but an idea in the restless mind of thomas jefferson had been given flesh meriwether lewis's dream had come true and the thing was done [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign you

Channel: Justin J.M. Higner

Views: 587,119

Keywords: St. Louis, Gateway Arch

Id: ZjVvMkFjf1k

Length: 28min 54sec (1734 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 30 2021