Gateway Arch and the stainless-steel curve over St. Louis

Gateway Arch rises above St. Louis and the Mississippi River as a 192 m stainless-steel curve; its precise geometry turns a simple arch into a complete horizon line.

Gateway Arch cuts a single stainless-steel curve across the Mississippi River skyline in St. Louis, Missouri, its height and span matching at 192 m (630 ft) and giving the monument a precise, almost abstract presence against the sky.

A stainless-steel arc on the Mississippi

Gateway Arch stands on the west bank of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis, where the city’s grid meets the broad sweep of the water. A landscaped park stretches around its legs and leads back towards the streets and office blocks of the city centre, so the polished curve is framed at ground level by grass, trees and paths rather than dense construction.Gateway Arch stands in St. Louis

The monument forms the visual focus of Gateway Arch National Park, a protected area that links the riverfront with a partly buried visitor centre in front of the arch. The structure itself is clad in stainless steel, so the surface mirrors the changing light through the day and picks up reflections of the river, the park and the city skyline in softened, shifting bands of colour.The Gateway Arch has a stainless-steel skin

Saarinen’s measured curve

The monument was designed by the Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, whose practice Eero Saarinen and Associates was also responsible for projects such as the former TWA Flight Center at New York’s Idlewild Airport and Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C.Gateway Arch was designed by Eero Saarinen His winning design for the St. Louis memorial was selected in a competition in the late 1940s, and the arch that resulted is a carefully calculated catenary curve in structural steel and concrete.

Construction of the monument began in 1963 and the final stainless-steel section was lifted into place on 28 October 1965, completing a project that had been in development for decades.Construction on the Arch began in 1963 and ended in 1965 Both the height and the clear span between the legs measure 630 ft (192 m), so the outline reads as a single, continuous sweep drawn with almost mathematical exactness, with no visible joints interrupting the line of the outer surface.

Inside the monument and under its legs

Behind the smooth stainless-steel exterior, the Gateway Arch is a hollow structure with internal stairways, service spaces and a small passenger system climbing within each leg. Visitors can enter a subterranean lobby set into the slope beneath the arch, where the main exhibition spaces and services are located, and from there reach the departure area for the enclosed tram capsules that rise through the structure towards the top.Visitors travel on a Tram Ride to the Top

At the highest point of the arch an observation area spans between the two legs, with small windows set into the cladding so that visitors can look out across St. Louis on one side and the Mississippi River and Illinois on the other. At ground level, the grassed slopes below the stainless-steel legs offer open views up the sides of the monument, emphasising the way the curve rises out of the parkland before returning to the earth at a distance equal to its height.The structure stands 192 metres tall and wide

Visiting Gateway Arch: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Gateway Arch stands on the west bank of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri, in the central United States, within Gateway Arch National Park.
• The monument rises to 192 m (630 ft), and access to the interior begins in an underground visitor centre reached by gently sloping paths from the surrounding park.
• St. Louis is a major city in the state of Missouri, with long-distance rail and air links; the closest international airport is St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
• The official language is English and the currency is the United States dollar.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about Gateway Arch

Where is Gateway Arch?

Gateway Arch stands in St. Louis, Missouri, in the central United States, on the west bank of the Mississippi River within Gateway Arch National Park.

What can visitors expect inside Gateway Arch?

Visitors enter through an underground centre with exhibitions and services and can ride enclosed tram capsules inside the legs to an observation area at the top.

What makes Gateway Arch distinctive among monuments?

Gateway Arch combines a stainless-steel cladding with a mathematically precise catenary curve whose height and span are identical, giving St. Louis a single, instantly recognisable horizon line.