Eiffel Tower

The story of Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is the lattice tower that dominates the Champ de Mars here in Paris, and its most striking fact is simple: at 330 metres, it is the tallest structure in the city. It was designed and built by Gustave Eiffel’s company from 1887 to 1889, and it was created as the centrepiece of the 1889 World's Fair, to crown the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution.

The tower’s design is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. Koechlin first sketched the idea in May 1884 as “a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals”. Eiffel at first showed little enthusiasm, but he approved further study, and Stephen Sauvestre, the head of the company’s architectural department, added decorative arches to the base and a glass pavilion to the first level. In the end, the tower was chosen from among more than 100 plans.

What you are looking at began as a response to the 1889 Exposition Universelle. Britannica says the tower was initially built to serve as the entrance gateway to the International Exposition of 1889 and as a testament to French industrial ingenuity. The tower was also the target of controversy before and during construction, with criticism from artists and intellectuals who objected to its design and from people who doubted that such a height was even possible. That mattered because no structure had previously been built to 300 m, or even 200 m.

Work started on 28 January 1887. The foundations were completed on 30 June, and then the ironwork began. The west and north legs, closer to the river Seine, needed compressed-air caissons driven down to 22 m to support the concrete slabs. The tower’s base is square, with each side measuring 125 metres. It was built from puddled iron, and the total weight of the ironwork is 7,300 tonnes; with lifts, shops and antennae, the total weight is approximately 10,100 tonnes. The tower’s upper platform is 276 m above the ground, and it is the highest public observation deck in the European Union.

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889, and on 31 March Eiffel led officials, press representatives and others to the top by foot, because the lifts were not yet operating. The public opening came on 15 May 1889. Since then, it has become one of the most visited monuments in the world: more than 300 million people have visited since completion, and 6.91 million ascended it in 2015.

Look closely at the tower’s details. Eiffel engraved the names of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians on the building, calling it an “invocation of science” in response to the criticism. Those engravings were painted over at the beginning of the 20th century, then restored in 1986–87 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, the company operating the tower. The tower has three visitor levels, with restaurants on the first and second levels, and access by stairs or lift to the first and second levels; the climb from ground level to the first and from the first to the second is over 300 steps each time. There is also a staircase to the top level, though it is usually reachable only by lift.

Today the Eiffel Tower is owned by the Government of the French Republic and the municipality of Paris, and it was designated a monument historique in 1964. In 1991 it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Paris, Banks of the Seine”. If you want to orient yourself, the nearest Paris Metro station is Bir-Hakeim and the nearest RER station is Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel, and the tower stands at the intersection of the quai Branly and the Pont d'Iéna.