Seattle Space Needle
About the Needle
The Seattle Space Needle is a very cool monument. It is basically the symbol of Seattle. There's a lot of things about it that most people didn't know. Something really intresting about the Needle is that it only took 400 days to build, that's a little over a year.
Purchased in 1961 the Needle is about 605 ft tall and weighs 3,700 tons. The 400 day project was record breaking earning itself the nickname "The 400 Day Wonder". The whole project costed around 4.5 million dollars to build. It took 467 cement trucks 12 hours JUST to fill the foundation hole which goes 30 ft underground. It was the largest continuous concrete pour in the West.
The total project was completed in 1962. The first manager of the needle was actually scared of hieghts! The needle was strapped to the foundation with 72 straps all 30 ft long. There are 848 steps from the basement to the observation deck.
The time from the basement to the top is 43 seconds. That's crazy fast! Also at the top of the Needle has a beacon, warning aircrafts of the tall Space Needle. There's something crazy about the Needle, on a hot day the top expands an inch, and on a windy day it moves one inch every 10 mph of wind.