The Eiffel Tower

In the beginning… The tower was erected for the Paris Exposition of 1889; Exposition Universelle in French—the Paris World’s Fair. The Paris Exposition of 1889 was the Centennial of the French Revolution. The Constuction Period was from January to March 1889—two years, two months, 5 days. The tower was inaugurated on March 31, 1889.

Engineering Base of the Tower is on 4 piers which hold names of the four cardinal points Each main support rests on blocks of masonry, masonry rests on beds of concrete Concrete beds cover 60 square meters In the center of each—iron bars (25 ft, 6 in long & 4 in thick) unite the masonry by clamps To ensure the Tower was level, Eiffel left room for hydraulic presses at the angles of each pier

History So many people visited the Tower in it’s 1 st year that all almost all construction costs were recovered w/ticket sales Tower was slated to only stand for 20 years, but after 20 years, it proved to be a valuable communication tool for radio broadcasting Tallest structure in the world at original construction When Paris fell to the Nazis in WW2, French rebels cut the cables to the elevator so Hitler had to climb stairs

History, cont. Eiffel used open latticework of wrought iron to help the Tower hold up to wind gusts. Wanted wind to blow through the Tower, not against it. Even during strong winds, the Tower never sways more than 4.5 inches.

Tourism To use the stairs to the 1 st & 2 nd floor it is 4,00 Euro To go all the way to the top in the elevator it is 12,00 Euro—cheaper if we are in a group The Tower opens at 9:30 am, and the stairs close earlier than the elevator— last lift at 11 pm To reach the top of the Tower (276 meters), visitors must take another elevator from the second floor.

Interesting Tidbits Engineers of the project were: Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier. Stephen Sauvestre was the architect. Gustave Eiffel was the contractor. Number of Iron Workers = 300 Number of Workers Killed in Construction = 1 Rivets = 2,500,000 Iron Pieces = 18,038

Interesting Tidbits, cont. Height = meters (986 ft) +/- 15 cm depending on temperature 1 st level = 57 m 2 nd level = 115 m 3 rd level = 276 m Height w/ antenna = m (1052 ft) Weight = 7,000 tons 1000 tons removed during renovation in 1990s Base = 412 sq. ft (2.5 acres) Paint = 50 tons every 7 years Paint color is actually Dark Brown Use 3 different colors— dark to light

Tower under construction—April 1888

Tower under construction—July 1888

Tower under construction—December 1888

Completed—May 1889

Sources Discover France! Website The Eiffel Tower: A Classic of Engineering The Science News-Letter, Vol. 18, No (aug. 16, 1930), pp Other websites: