EIFFEL TOWER – was inaugurated on 31st March 1889. The Eiffel Tower, the masterpiece of Gustave Eiffel and the most visited monument in Paris Eiffel Tower seen from Champ de Mars The Eiffel Tower is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The district boasts an impressive number of monuments and listed buildings which turn it into the most visited area of Paris. Everything has been said over and over on this old Lady that is the Eiffel Tower. The amazing tower was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. The metal tower was the result of new architectural concepts which emerged in the second half of the 19th century. It was the focus of the exhibition which attracted millions of visitors worldwide. Its construction began in 1887, and it was inaugurated on 31st March 1889. The Eiffel Tower is today the iconic image of Paris and part of our cultural heritage. However, it was highly controversial and criticized at the time of its construction. The purists demanded its immediate destruction, arguing that its silhouette was polluting the beauty of the Parisian landscape! Eiffel-Tower-close-up Eiffel Tower close up At a height of 300m it remained the tallest building in the world until the construction of the Empire State Building in 1931. Condemned to a temporary existence of 20 years, it however escaped demolition thanks to its height… Between 1904 and 1911, scientific experiments led to the installation of wireless communication antennas. These soon found their use during WWI when the tower was requisitioned by the army. Its career had begun and continued with the installation of meteorological observation instruments (French Central Weather Bureau) and an aeronautical beacon. In 1916 it was equipped with a transmission terminal which established the first transatlantic telephone radio link. The first broadcasts of Radio France took place in 1921 and became regular the following year. The Eiffel Tower found a new use in 1925 when lights were installed to illuminate the Decorative Arts Exhibition which took place on the Esplanade des Invalides. Eiffel-Tower-close-up-2 On the Eiffel Tower! The first tests of television broadcast began that same year to become regular after WWII. Since 1957 the French television transmitter has increased his height from 300m to 320m. The tower added another string to its bow in 1981 when the radio transmitter of the local radio station Paris TourEiffel was installed on its pinnacle. One would have thought that the old Lady would stop there! But no, she adorned herself with a thousand lights and displayed the countdown which marked the start of the new millennium. Born in the 19th century, it survived two world wars and the fantastic changes and scientific advances of the 20th century. It entered the 21th century with lights and glitter, as famous and prestigious as ever. The Eiffel Tower in numbers The Eiffel Tower is made of wrought iron, a metal flexible, durable, strong and relatively cheap. Eiffel-Tower-pillar Close up on pillar Its base forms a square with 129.22 m side. It has three floors which are located respectively at a height of 57.63m, 115.73m and 276.13m. Its pinnacle peaks at 320m above ground level. It does not sway more than 12cm by strong winds as it was built on a system of hydraulic jacks. The corners are oriented to the four cardinal points. The Eiffel Tower is a true feat of architecture and engineering. The nearly 10.000 000kg weight is evenly spread so that it has a minimal ground pressure. The Eiffel Tower’s size varies from about 15cm depending on temperature which affects metal density. It takes 30 painters and 50 tonnes of paint every three years to repaint the 7000 tons of metal. All three platforms are accessible to the public. They offer greta view points, a panoramic restaurant, souvenir shops and a small audiovisual museum (located on the first floor) which relates its extraordinary epic welcome visitors. Gustave Eiffel A golden bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was placed under the tower in 1930 to pay tribute to one of the most talented engineers of his time. Eiffel-Tower-bust-Gustave-Eiffel Bust of Gustave Eiffel under the tower Eiffel was one of the world specialists in the metal construction. He has left his name to the most famous tower in the world. Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) was born in Dijon in the département of Côtes-d’Or in Eastern France. His father came from Westphalia in Western Germany. He changed his surname Bönickhausen (unpronounceable by the French!) in Eiffel, the name of his native village. Gustave Eiffel graduated in science at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris, a prestigious engineering school. He landed his first job as project manager in a company based in Bordeaux (south-west France) and specialized in the design of metal railway bridges. He then started his own construction company. The lightness, appearance and reduced cost of one of his projects earned him the contract for the Maria Pia Bridge (1877) which connects Porto to Vila Nova in Portugal until 1991. Eiffel-Tower-and-roofs-of-Paris Eiffel Tower and the roofs of Paris This launched his career and worldwide fame. The Viaducts of Rouzat and Bouble and the famous Viaduct of Gabarit (1885) in Central France were built in his workshops. Eiffel participated in the construction plans of the Panama Canal. He suffered the negative consequences related to the bankruptcy of the French company in charge of the project. He recovered from this disaster and in 1886 built the weight-bearing vertical steel beams embedded in the base of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the French Republic to the USA. From 1887 he devoted his time to building the Eiffel Tower for the Universal Exhibition of 1889. He also built the Ruche (15th district of Paris) for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. The huge circular three-storey building which looks like a beehive (hence its name) replaced the artists’ studios Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre. Gustave Eiffel is one of our most celebrated French personalities. He was buried in the cemetery of Levallois-Perret in Western Paris.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 10:58:10 +0000
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