The Eiffel Tower

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The world’s most important man made structure stands to be the Eiffel Tower. The tower which is forms a pattern of iron puddle lies in Champ de Marsin Paris, France. The Eiffel Tower has attained the status of both the nation’s and global cultural image. The tower which was built in 1889 is now among the most renowned structures globally. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower stands as the tallest building. Furthermore, it is the only monument globally which records the highest number of paying visitors. The Eiffel Tower hosts millions of visitors annually (Jonnes, 2009).

The Eiffel Tower was named after its designer engineer Gustave Eiffel. The World’s Fair in 1889 witnessed the unveiling of the magnificent structure. The tower served as the doorway arch of the World Fair in 1889 (Courland, 2011). The stature of the tower is 324 meters which is equivalent to an 81 storey building. During that era the Washington Monument held the title of being the tallest structure globally but the Eiffel Tower knocked the former off its perch. The Eiffel Tower held this title for a stunning period of 41 years. The year 1930 witnessed the construction of the Chrysler Building which overhauled the Eiffel Tower as the tallest building in the world. Conversely, further renovations on the Eiffel Tower in such as inclusion of an antenna at the summit of the Eiffel Tower made it taller in stature than the Chrysler Building. Currently, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest building in France, the Millau Viaduct being the tallest.

The Eiffel Tower is made of three levels for the paying visitors. The visitors have to purchase tickets to ascend the tower to its first or second levels. Visitors can ascend the tower by either climbing the stairs or using the elevator. The stair case from the first level to the ground level is made up of 300 steps so is the ascendance from first to second level. The aforementioned levels have restaurants for the visitors. The hectic process of the structure’s construction commenced in 1887 and was completed in ‘89. The tower was unveiled to mark the French Revolution Centennial. Its construction witnessed almost three hundred workers working collectively to merge about 18,038 bits of puddle iron with the use of two million rivets. The structural design being implemented was created by Maurice Koechlin (Jonnes, 2009).

The tower was not as a result of Eiffel’s solo effort. He received assistance from two designers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier and an architect Stephen Sauvestre. During its construction Eiffel expressed little enthusiasm although he still sanctioned the construction project further. This prompted the two other designers to compel architect Stephen Sauvestre to contribute to the decorative designs of the tower. Eiffel was in support of this enhanced version of construction thus he patented the design that the other designers and architect had come up with. The patented design was exhibited under Eiffel’s company name at a trade fair of Decorative Arts on 1884. Throughout its construction Eiffel had imposed rigorous safety rules. This led to the loss of only one life out of the three hundred workers who worked on site. Eiffel has ensured that workers used impermanent screens, guard rails and staging. The Eiffel Tower was permitted to stand for two decades before its ownership reverted back to the city. Initially the City’s plan was to demolish the tower after expiry of the permit but this never materialized since the tower proved to be precious. The tower served to hold potent radio transmitters during the First World War. The radio transmitters were used to jam the German communication frequency thus hindering the enemy’s advance to Paris (Courland, 2011).

The Eiffel Tower is part of France’s history and proves time and again to remind the French nationalists of the French Revolution. Additionally, the designers and architects involved in the construction of this magnificent structure adopted construction designs which future generations shall forever admire.

References

Courland, R. (2011). Concrete planet: The strange and fascinating story of the world’s mostcommon man-made material. Amherst, N.Y: Prometheus Books.

Jonnes, J. (2009). Eiffel’s tower: And the World’s Fair where Buffalo Bill beguiled Paris, theartists quarreled, and Thomas Edison became a count. New York, N.Y: Viking.