Maintenance
The first act of vandalism was committed in June 1968; the vandals etched their names on various parts of the arch. The 1968 expenditure for repairing damage from vandalism was $10,000. The arch was first targeted by graffiti artists on March 5, 1969, but the vandalism was easily removed. In 2010, signs of corrosion were reported at the upper regions of the stainless steel surface. Carbon steel in the north leg has been rusting, possibly a result of water accumulation, a side effect of leaky welds in an environment that often causes rain inside. Maintenance workers currently use mops and a temporary setup of water containers to mitigate the problem. According to NPS documents, the corrosion and rust pose no safety concerns.
In 2006, architectural specialists studied the corrosion on the arch and suggested additional examination. A 2010 Historic Structure Report was conducted and found that the corrosion required a more comprehensive study. In September 2010, the NPS granted Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. a contract for a structural study that would "gather data about the condition of the Arch to enable experts to develop and implement the right long-term solutions."
Read more about this topic: Gateway Arch
Famous quotes containing the word maintenance:
“It is an injustice that an old, broken, half-dead father should enjoy alone, in a corner of his hearth, possessions that would suffice for the advancement and maintenance of many children.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“In public buildings set aside for the care and maintenance of the goods of the middle ages, a staff of civil service art attendants praise all the dead, irrelevant scribblings and scrawlings that, at best, have only historical interest for idiots and layabouts.”
—George Grosz (1893–1959)
“... in the fierce competition of modern society the only class left in the country possessing leisure is that of women supported in easy circumstances by husband or father, and it is to this class we must look for the maintenance of cultivated and refined tastes, for that value and pursuit of knowledge and of art for their own sakes which can alone save society from degenerating into a huge machine for making money, and gratifying the love of sensual luxury.”
—Mrs. H. O. Ward (1824–1899)