Cleaning the St. Louis arch

[Dennis the menace]

Many of you may have seen the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri in FS, and some of you may have seen it real life. I have seen it in person, and gone up to the top to the viewing room. It is EXTREMELY high up there, and the wind makes the arch vibrate and you can feel it sway at times. I do not like heights, and so I was glad to get back down to the ground again.

I did not know, that the arch, which is stainless steel, must be periodically cleaned. Access is only from a small hatch at the very top of the arch. The sides are welded, polished, and as smooth and slippery as ice. Still, somebody has to get up there and clean the thing.

I could barely watch this video without my skin crawling!

www.kmov.com/great-day-st-louis/Todays-Favorite-Talkers-279444072.html

[Pixel Pilot]

Oh heck Dennis the menace a little swaying in the breeze is nothing. The top of the arch is 630'. So I guess in that observation room you are close to that. I've been up there a couple of times myself. The real concern is that the arch was built with no consideration for the nearby New Madrid fault line. No one really knows what will happen in an earthquake. You buy your ticket to the top and take your chances.

St. Louis native
Ed Phipps

[Dennis the menace]

Being in the observation lounge is one thing, I was there, its a tiny little room with small oval windows.

I was referring to the workers cleaning the arch on the OUTSIDE that are dangling from ropes and using suction cups to try to keep from being blown off the sides by the wind. There is no way I would get up on the outside of that thing! That video of them is something else......