As a homeschooling family, we always take every opportunity to explore cool educational things.

My brother is stationed near St. Louis, so when we went to visit him last year, we had to visit the St. Louis Arch. The children (and Jim and I) thought it was amazing, and we were very psyched to go to the top of it.

I got a bunch of facts about the arch from the Gatewary Arch website and will be listing them here.

Fact #1: “The Arch is the tallest national monument in the United States at 630 feet; it is the city’s best known landmark and a popular tourist attraction.”

Fact #2: “Construction began February 12, 1963 and the last section of the Arch was put into place on October 28, 1965.”

Observation #1: Parking isn’t super convenient, so bring a stroller or prepare to carry little ones:

Fact #3: “The Arch is a structure known as a catenary curve, the shape a free-hanging chain takes when held at both ends, and considered the most structurally-sound arch shape. The span of the Arch legs at ground level is 630 feet, the same as its height.”

Fact #4: “Each year, approximately a million visitors ride the trams to the top of the Arch. The trams have been in operation for over 30 years, traveling a total of 250,000 miles and carrying over 25 million passengers.”

Observation #2: The arch is a popular spot, so be prepared for a wait.  But they do a good job putting around educational stuff to entertain and distract educate.

Observation #3: Anybody who makes soap always has to take photos of anything having to do with soap, no matter how silly:

Observation #4: When one child pulls the steam boat whistle, all the children want to pull the whistle:

Fact #5: “The Arch weighs 17,246 tons. Nine hundred tons of stainless steel was used to build the Arch, more than any other project in history.”

Observation #5: The pods to get to the top are small.  Do not attempt if you are claustrophobic (which we’re not):

Observation #6: You’re never too old to be curious:

Fact #6: “The Arch was built at a cost of $13 million. The transportation system was built at a cost of $3,500,000.”

Observation #7: The windows are much smaller than I expected them to be. When I googled it I discovered that, “Over 500 tons of pressure was used to jack the legs of the Arch apart for the last four-foot piece to be inserted at the top. A larger window would not withstand that pressure.” Source

Fact #7: “In order to ensure that the constructed legs would meet, the margin of error for failure was 1/64th of an inch. All survey work was done at night to eliminate distortion caused by the sun’s rays. Since the Arch was constructed before the advent of computer technology, relatively crude instruments were used for these measurements.”

Observation #8: The arch really is right on the Mississippi River:

Fact #8: “The Arch sways a maximum of 18″ (9″ each way) in a 150 mph wind. The usual sway is 1/2″.”

Observation #9: It is possible to get a non-blurry photo of the arch while driving 60 mph over the bridge.

Personal Opinion #1: If you get a chance to visit the arch, definitely spend the money to ride to the top.  The children still talk about it a year later!