EIFFEL TOWER
EIFFEL TOWER
The Eiffel Tower has merged into the urban landscape of Paris for a hundred years and has become its symbol. But it is also not only the property of the whole of France, but also a monument to the great technical achievements of the late 19th century.
Who Built the Eiffel Tower?
Since the second half of the 19th century, progress has been driving many countries of the world to build high-rise structures. Many of the projects were defeated at the concept stage, but there were also those engineers who firmly believed in the success of their ideas. Gustave Eiffel was one of the latter.
For the centenary of the industrial revolution in 1886, Paris opens a competition for the creation of new outstanding achievements of our time. According to its plan, this event was to become one of the most outstanding events of its time. In the course of this idea, the Palace of Machines of metal and glass, destroyed at the beginning of the 20th century, and the famous 1000-foot Eiffel Tower in Paris were born.
Work on the Eiffel Tower project began back in 1884. By the way, Eiffel was not a beginner in his field, before that he was brilliantly able to find solutions in the field of building railway bridges. For the design competition, he submitted about 5,000 sheets of drawings of the tower parts in the original scale. The project was approved, but this was only the beginning of hard work. Before the Eiffel will forever immortalize its name in history, there were still 3 years left.
Eiffel Tower construction
Many famous residents did not accept the construction of the tower in the middle of the city. Writers, painters, sculptors, architects protested against this construction, which, in their opinion, violated the original beauty of Paris.
But, nevertheless, the work continued. A huge 5-meter pit was dug into which four 10-meter blocks were installed under each leg of the tower. Additionally, each of the 16 tower legs was equipped with hydraulic jacks to obtain the ideal horizontal level. Without this concept, the construction of the tower could have been dragged on forever.
250 workers were able to erect the tallest tower of their time in the world in just 26 months. Here, one should once again envy Eiffel's capabilities in the field of accurate calculations and organization of work. The height of the Eiffel Tower is 320 meters, the total weight is about 7,500 tons.
The tower is divided into three tiers - 60 meters, 140 meters and 275 meters. Four elevators inside the legs of the tower take visitors to the second. The fifth elevator goes to the third level. On the first floor there is a restaurant, on the second there is the newspaper's office, on the third there was Eiffel's office.
Interesting facts about the Eiffel Tower
Despite early criticism, the tower blended seamlessly with the city's views and quickly became a symbol of Paris. During the exhibition alone, it was visited by about two million people, some of whom immediately climbed on foot to the very top.
With the end of the exhibition, it was decided to demolish the tower. New technologies - radio - became her salvation. Antennas were quickly installed on the tallest structure. In subsequent years, television antennas and radar services were installed on it. There is also a weather station and broadcasting of city services.
Oh, Eiffel Tower, you are a monument!
The building, built by Gustave Eiffel by 1889, was originally called the "300-meter tower". It was intended for a world exhibition, and was supposed to demonstrate the achievement of French science. In addition, it is also a monument to the centenary of the French Revolution. Naturally, the tower disturbs the panorama of Paris and it was originally planned to demolish it 20 years after its construction.
For 41 years, it was the tallest monument in the world. Now the height is 324 meters (the increase was due to the numerous radio and television antennas mounted on the peak). Since 1991, the Eiffel Tower has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List
Oh, Eiffel Tower, you are a sport!
Since 1987, people have regularly jumped from the tower. That is, they perform sports jumps. This is done in most cases illegally. In 2010, a jump on roller skates was made from the second floor (115 meters high). And this is a world record.
Sports competitions on the tower began in 1905. Then 27 people took part in the race to the second floor. The winner overcame almost half a tower in 3 minutes 12 seconds.
In 1923, a daredevil was found who cycled down from the first floor (57 meters).
Airships flew around the Eiffel Tower, planes flew under it, tightrope walkers walked to the Trocadero, and in 2012 Frenchman Alain Robert climbed to the top of the monument without insurance and with bare hands (the temperature at the top was -10 degrees).
Oh, Eiffel Tower, you are money!
Eiffel Tower I am a private enterprise. Its shares are traded on the stock exchange. At the moment, one share in a skyscraper costs about 39 euros.
At one time, Gustave Eiffel wanted to introduce exclusive rights to replicate the image of his brainchild. However, the initiative angered many townspeople and artisans. And Gustave had to transfer the rights to the public. Thus, the company lost its percentage of only 5 billion of sold postcards, and how many more figurines, statues, bottles and bottles, bags, T-shirts and others have been sold since 1989.
True, in 1992, the owners of the enterprise seized the rights to depict the tower in the lights. The court ruled that "lighting effects aimed at identifying and highlighting the lines and shapes of the monument" is "an original design, and therefore the work is author's."
Oh, Eiffel Tower, you are the light!
As you know, in the evenings, the Eiffel Tower is illuminated. It is difficult to say what color. The color with which the monument itself is painted and the light with which it is illuminated is called the color of the Eiffel Tower. Very roughly, the color and light are light brown.
Sometimes the tower changes its lighting. In the year of China in France and the visit of the head of the People's Republic of China to Paris, all three hundred meters were illuminated in red. From July to December 2008, during the French presidency of the European Union, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated in blue, and there were 12 star-shaped lights between the first and second floors, as a result, the symbol of Paris resembled the EU flag.
Once an hour, the tower starts to sparkle with 20,000 light bulbs, and all the time the hyperboloid of engineer Garin is working on the top.
Visitors can use stairs or elevators to climb the Eiffel Tower.
• The stairs are open to all comers and lead only to the second floor area (115 m).
• There are three elevators in the tower, but all together they never work due to daily maintenance and safety concerns.
• To reach the summit (276 m), visitors must take another lift from the second floor. A wonderful panorama of Paris opens up from above. During the largest influx of tourists (May-September), you have to wait a long time in line to go upstairs.
• The “Eiffel Tower” shop offers a wide range of souvenirs.
• The Eiffel Tower has two restaurants on the second floor with panoramic views of the city, and a bar at the very top.
• In winter, a small ice rink is opened on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.
• The tower is open every day all year round, seven days a week:
• Access to the top of the tower may be temporarily closed due to inclement weather or heavy traffic.
