AmericaTheBeautiful.com © 2015

 - All Rights Reserved.

Peter’s Travel Log

• Travel Blog
• See America
• Travel Videos

The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high.  Its name is derived from the nickname for New York, the Empire State. It stood as the world's tallest building for 40 years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Center's North Tower in 1972. An iconic structure.

Empire State Building, New York, New York

Everywhere in America, one can find buildings and structures that are truly marvels of architecture. Each of these construction marvels is a means of human expression and at times depict pure genius.  The Top 10 list we have selected is once again - a list of those “must see in 2013” architectural wonders scattered across these United States. These awe inspiring structures are filled with meanings and symbols not just for those that built them, but also for entire generations.

Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada.   Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives.  Construction began in 1931, it had an opening date 1936

And Construction cost $49 million ($821 million with inflation). The construction story is amazing and is a very worthwhile visit.  America!

Hoover Dam - Arizona & Nevada

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) includes the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the world's largest pipeline systems. It is commonly called the Alaska pipeline but those terms technically apply only to the 800 miles of the pipeline with the diameter of 48 inches that conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay, to Valdez, Alaska. The pipeline was built between 1974 and 1977.  Amazing!

Trans - Alaska Pipeline - North America

The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle and a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. It was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over 2.3 million visitors in all for the Worlds Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet high at its highest point and 138 feet wide at its widest point. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude.

Seattle Space Needle - Seattle Washington

St. Louis Arch - St. Louis, Missouri

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, popularly known as Washington National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in the United States and the fourth-tallest structure in Washington, D.C.  Construction started September 29, 1907, with an address by President Theodore Roosevelt and was completed in 1990, 83 years later.  Absolutely Stunning!

Washington National Cathedral- Washington, DC

Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, on August 30, 1984, until its final landing on March 9, 2011. Discovery has flown more than any other spacecraft having completed 39 successful missions in over 27 years of service.  Discovery was the shuttle that launched the Hubble Space Telescope.  The Discovery Space shuttle can be seen in the Smithsonian's display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

Space Shuttle Discovery -  Virginia

Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor, is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park -Chicago, Illinois.  Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed "The Bean" because of its bean-like shape. Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It is 33 by 66 by 42 feet an weighs 110  tons.  Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture's surface reflects and distorts the city's skyline. Cloud Gate was dedicated on May 15, 2006, and has since gained  popularity, both domestically and internationally. See it!

Cloud Gate “The Bean” - Chicago, Illinois

USS Theodore Roosevelt (also known by crewmembers as "the Big Stick") is the fourth Nimitz-class super-carrier. Her radio call sign is Rough Rider, the name of President Theodore Roosevelt's volunteer cavalry unit during the Spanish-American War. She was launched in 1984, saw her first action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and is currently homeported at Newport News Shipyard, Virginia.  An unbelievable construction by Americans to preserve our Freedoms.

USS Theodore Roosevelt - Virginia

The Lincoln Tunnel is a 1.5-mile long tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey and Manhattan, New York City. An integral conduit within the New York Metropolitan Area, it was designed by Ole Singstad and named after U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. It is one of two automobile tunnels built under the river, the other being the Holland Tunnel. Construction began on the first tube in March of 1934. The cost of construction was $85,000,000, equal to $1,476,716,418 today.  The tunnel carries approximately 108,655  vehicles per day(2011).

Lincoln Tunnel - New York / New Jersey

The Gateway Arch, or Gateway to the West, is an arch that is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri. It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of America. At 630 feet, it is the tallest man-made monument in the United States, Missouri's tallest accessible building, and the largest architectural structure designed as a weighted or flattened catenary arch. The arch is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River. WOW

The arch is located at the site of St. Louis' foundation,[6] on the west bank of the Mississippi River