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 23 1887 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 1st 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 1st & 2nd

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 = 300.51 meters (986 ft)

+/- 15 cm depending on temperature

1st level = 57 m 2nd level = 115 m 3rd level = 276 m Height w/ antenna =

320.755 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

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Monuments-Paris/Eiffel.shtml

The Eiffel Tower: A Classic of Engineering

The Science News-Letter, Vol. 18, No. 488. (aug. 16, 1930), pp. 107-108. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0096-4018%2819300816%2918%3A488%3C107%ATETACO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6

Other websites: http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/

http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Landmarks/eiffel-history.htm