The Howard Wright Construction Company broke ground at the Space Needle site on April 17, 1961. The result of a design collaboration among businessman Edward E. Carlson, architect John Graham and University of Washington architecture professor Victor Steinbrueck, the Space Needle was built for the 1962 Century 21 Exposition (World's Fair) in Seattle. With the addition of the final torch tower, the construction of the 600 foot Space Needle was completed on December 8. 1961. Seattle's Pacific Car and Foundry Company was the subcontractor for the steel fabrication and erection.
This photograph depicts Pacific Car and Foundry Company workers guiding the bottom section of one of the legs of the Space Needle onto its base. The legs of the Space Needle consist of three 36-inch wide flanged beams welded together flange-to-flange and stiffened with diaphragms to form large three-sided tubes.
Caption information source: Space Needle USA by Harold Mansfield and George Gulacsik, 1962.
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 8 x 10 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv40658
Credit: MOHAI, Alfred H. Fast Collection on the Space Needle, 2005.6.81
