The Construction of a Parisian Icon | Design & Architectural Style of Eiffel Tower

Stages of Construction of the Eiffel Tower

Design

• As part of preparations for the 1889 World's Fair, the French government commissioned Gustave Eiffel and his partners to build an iron tower 300 meters high on the Champ de Mars. After considering 107 different proposals, Eiffel's design was accepted.
• The bridge was made of lattice work girders, separated at their bases and coming together at their tops, with more girders joining them at regular intervals.
• The two chief engineers in Eiffel's company, Emile Nouguier, and Maurice Koechlin, built a very tall tower in 1884; Gustave Eiffel registered a patent for the same in September 1884.

Assembly

• The tower's construction began on July 1, 1887, and was completed twenty-two months later. All the pieces used to construct the Tower were specially designed and traced out a tenth of a millimeter and then assembled by a team of constructors who had worked on metal viaduct projects before and oversaw 150 to 300 workers on-site.
• The metal pieces were held together by rivets, a well-refined construction method. Only three-quarters of the 2,500,000 rivets used in its construction were inserted directly on-site. The tower was assembled using wooden scaffoldings and small steam cranes.
• It took five months to build the foundations and twenty-one to finish assembling the metal pieces. Construction began in January 1887 and was finished on March 31, 1889.

Materials

• The primary material used to build the Eiffel Tower was puddle iron supplied from the Pompey forges, East of France. 7,300 metric tons of iron, 18,000 parts, and 2,500,000 rivets were used to construct the tower.

Dimensions

• The Eiffel Tower is 1024 feet tall without the antennas. The total width of the tower is 410 feet (on the ground). The width of each pillar is 82 feet (on the bottom), and the 4 pillars form 410 square feet sideways square. The first, second, and third floors stand 187 feet, 377 feet, and 906 feet from the ground.

Color of the Eiffel Tower

It takes several coats of paint to ensure that the Eiffel Tower is protected from oxidation. To this end, the tower has been repainted 19 times since its construction. Painters strip and clean the entire tower, then apply two coats of rust-proofing and the final coat of paint.

However, the conditions have to be just right for the repainting campaign to take place. The weather cannot be cold or wet, as both don't allow for the paint to hold well on the structure. When the weather is right, at an average of seven years, the tower gets repainted. Since the traditional methods are still in use, a lot of attention is paid to the safety of workers. The tower is fitted with safety nets and safety lines. Painters are equipped with harnesses to work on the Eiffel Tower's beams.

Over the years, during these repainting campaigns, the Eiffel Tower turned to various shades, from red-brown to yellow-ochre to chestnut brown and finally, bronze. The tower is slightly shaded off on the top so that the color is perceived to be the same throughout.

Puddle iron, the material used to build the Eiffel Tower, can last for an eternity, as long as it is repainted. However, it is affected by other factors such as rust, pollution, and bird droppings.

History of the Eiffel Tower's colors

• 1887/88: Venetian red
• 1889: Reddish-brown
• 1892: Ochre brown
• 1899: 5 shades from yellow-orange at the base to light yellow at the top
• 1907-1947: Yellow-brown
• 1954-61: Brownish-red
• 1968 - Now: Eiffel Tower Brown, applied in three shades, with the darkest at the bottom and the lightest at the top.

Eiffel Tower Riddled with Rust

Recent reports suggest that the Eiffel Tower is riddled with rust and in need of repairs. Ideally, about 30% of the tower needs to be stripped back to the metal, repaired, and then have two coats applied. However, the tower is instead going through a 60 million euro paint job ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The delays in the work caused due to the pandemic have made SETE, the company that oversees the tower, decide to treat only 5% of the tower.

Eiffel Tower | An Architectural Wonder

The Eiffel Tower is one of the marvelous creations of man. The tower boasts every minute aspect of modernity and stands tall among the neo-gothic and baroque-styled architecture in Europe. The Eiffel Tower attracts millions of visitors annually from across the globe due to its unique charm and fascinating architectural beauty.