eiffel tower

Historical Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, [tuʁ ɛfɛl], nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars inParis. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris[10] and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named for its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair.
The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. Upon its completion, it surpassed the Washington Monumentto assume the title of tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930; however, due to the addition in 1957 of the antenna, the tower is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France after the 2004 Millau Viaduct.
The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift, to the first and second levels. The walk to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by elevator. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.
The structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair, marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. Eiffel originally planned to build it in Barcelona, for the Universal Exposition of 1888, but those responsible at the Barcelona city hall thought it was a strange construction, and expensive, which did not fit into the city. After the refusal of the Consistory of Barcelona, Eiffel submitted his draft to those responsible for the Universal Exhibition in Paris, where he would build a year later, in 1889. The tower was inaugurated on March 31, 1889, and opened on 6 May. Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of puddled iron (a very pure form of structural iron), using two and a half million rivets, in a structural design by Maurice Koechlin. The risk of accident was great, for unlike modern skyscrapers the tower is an open frame without any intermediate floors except the two platforms. Yet because Eiffel took safety precautions including use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died.and its is belived that the engineers used 7,300 tonnes of pig iron and 10,000 tonnes of non metelic meterials to build effel tower which should be enaugh to cover the worlds diamention twice and also 62 tonnes of paints is used every 7 years to paint this.15,000 metel parts were used.
The Eiffel Tower is the undisputed symbol of the French capital. Many believe that this structure is anything but not beautiful. At night it is illuminated by thousands of lights and then you can definetly not deny the special unique charm that the Eiffel has.
In fact, the beauty and harmony of theEiffel Tower can be felt best at night. In the 19th century it was lit with 10, 000 gas lanterns which illuminated the steel structure. They were completed with both the projector and lights of blue, white and red colors to symbolize the national flag of France.
In 1900, the Eiffel Tower had been equipped with electric lamps. The current light show, which is visible today in the night from the Eiffel Tower was installed in 1985 and for the first time was switched on, on the 31st December. Today, every hour for five minutes silver lights are included in the illumination which finally completes the magic of the Eiffel Tower.

eiffel tower