Did you know there is a tram system to take passengers to the top of the Gateway Arch? The Gateway Arch is a 192 m monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world’s tallest arch and Missouri’s tallest accessible structure. Some sources consider it the tallest human-made monument in the Western Hemisphere.
source.image: Jared Owen
The cross-sections of the arch’s legs are equilateral triangles, narrowing from 16 m per side at the bases to 5.2 m per side at the top. Each wall consists of a stainless steel skin covering a sandwich of two carbon-steel walls with reinforced concrete in the middle from ground level to 91 m, with carbon steel to the peak. The arch is hollow to accommodate a unique tram system that takes visitors to an observation deck at the top.
The center houses offices, mechanical rooms, and waiting areas for the arch trams, as well as its main attractions: the Museum of Westward Expansion and two theaters displaying films about the arch. Each tram is a chain of eight cylindrical, five-seat compartments with glass doors.
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As each tram has a capacity of 40 passengers and there are two trams, 80 passengers can be transported at one time, with trams departing from the ground every 10 minutes. The cars swing like Ferris-wheel cars as they ascend and descend the arch.
