The Arch Celebrates 60 Years: Fewer Than 100 Workers Built It for $13M; Set Safety Record
Pictured Above: Photo by Arteaga
Date Posted: October 16, 2025
Posted In: Projects, Workforce,
From St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune: In two weeks, on Oct. 30, the union-built St. Louis Gateway Arch will celebrate its 60th birthday with four days of activities Oct. 25-28.
History will record a special highlight for St. Louis construction unions: not a single union trades person was killed despite the project’s complexity, its height and insurance company projections that 13 workers would die during the two-year build out.
“This is a record our trades can be proud of as it highlights the skills and attention to safety that our members demonstrate every day on every project,” said John Stiffler, St. Louis Building Trades Council executive secretary-treasurer. “Our tradespeople are the best.”
Begun on Feb. 12, 1963, and completed on Oct. 28, 1965, the Arch is 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide, made of sections of stainless-steel equilateral triangles with 54-foot sides at the base, tapering to 17-foot sides at the top. Each section has an inner steel wall of reinforced concrete.
Initially promoters said it would employ up to 5,000 workers; the project used fewer than 100 to do the job, but what a job those talented union tradesmen and women did!