The Eiffel
Tower also known as the “ Iron Lady “ of
France is one of the world’s premier tourist site and was built in
commemoration of the French Revolution; it is the tallest tower in Paris; the
height of the tower including the antenna is 1,063 feet (324 m). It is also the
most visited paid monument and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Eiffel Tower was named after Gustave Eiffel
who designed and funded a big amount of money to build the tower completely;
the French government partially funded some of the expenses. After Gustave
Eiffel finished discussing and explaining the use of the tower, he finished his
talk by saying that the tower will symbolize “not
only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and
Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great
scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to
which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude.”
Although it was named after him, the original structural concept and form was
originated by Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier and the main architect was
Stephen Sauvestre. The main purpose of this tower is to be a theme structure
for an international exposition in 1889 which is to celebrate the 100th
year’s anniversary of the French revolution. But as time passed by the military
discovered that the tower can be used as an antenna for the newly invented
radio and for the television and telecoms companies. . The tower was completely built in 2years, 2
months and 5days between 1887 and 1889; it was inaugurated to the public on
March 31, 1889 and was opened on May 6, 1889. The Eiffel Tower stands next to
the Seine River and is located at the northwestern extreme of Parc du Champ de
Mars in Paris, France. It cost 8 Million Francs (US $ 1.5 Million in 1980
Dollars, US $ 34 Million in 2007 Dollars).
The Eiffel Tower is still in existence and still standing today, even
though the construction was only meant for the duration of the exposition and
despite all the protests from the artist and
many people who feared that the tower does not fit into the architecture
of Paris. These days there is no issue among the people of Paris about this
tower and in fact they can’t imagine Paris without the Eiffel Tower. And the tower
itself has become the symbol as a City of Light. Today, the Eiffel Tower is the
most famous landmark and the greatest symbol of Paris, France, and also a nice
tourist destination.
The material used
in building the Eiffel Tower is wrought iron also known as puddle iron of the
best quality; it’s very pure and strong so that even windstorms weren't able to
destroy the tower. The base is made of concrete. There’s a glass used on the
first floor of the tower. And some non-metals were also used but not steel. The
puddle or wrought iron that was used was being mined in some areas around
France and they took it to factories for processing and formatting. They took
the materials by horse-drawn carts from the factory in the nearby Parisian
suburb of Levallois Perret but before they took the materials they assembled
some parts of it. There were some
changes made from the original design such as the making of exterior appearance
temporarily by adding a horizontal extension of the third floor in order to
increase the public access. And also the spiral staircase from second the
platform to the summit was removed but was replaced by two emergency and
service staircases. Although the concept and form was made by Maurice Koechlin
and Emile Nouguier, and the main architect was Stephen Sauvestre, Gustave
Eiffel is the one who furnished and finalized everything about the Eiffel Tower. After
Gustave Eiffel’s retirement he did important work on meteorology and
aerodynamics. The main contractor was
the Companies des Establishments Eiffel. There are around 300 people who
constructed the Eiffel Tower. Some problems are encountered while making the
tower such as:
– There’s one person died by
falling down the Eiffel Tower
– Finding the site to build
the tower was a problem
– The money needed in
building the tower was also a problem
– There’s some protest from
some artists that didn’t believe that it
was feasible
– There’s criticism by comparing
the Eiffel Tower and the Egyptian Pyramid.
The Eiffel Tower is very important in history and even today seeing it standing is a living proof that this tower serves its purpose. It becomes one of the tourist destinations in Paris and also one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The peak of the tower is used as an observatory station in measuring wind speed. The tower plays a vital role as a radio transmitter, aircraft beacon and television antenna and on top of being a moneymaking tourist attraction. It’s been an icon in movies and has become undisputed symbol of Paris and even for all of France.
REFERENCES:
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"Eiffel
Tower History and Facts: When and Why was Eiffel Tower Built."
www.buzzle.com. Madhura Pandit, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.
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"Eiffel
Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower>.
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"Eiffel
tower." Corrosion science and engineering information hub. N.p., n.d. Web.
16 Apr. 2013. <http://corrosion-doctors.org/Landmarks/Eiffel.htm>.
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"The
Eiffel Tower." A Design and Technology Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.technologystudent.com/struct1
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"Eiffel
Tower changes its look – at least temporarily - DETAIL-online.com."
DETAIL-online.com - The portal for architecture and construction. N.p., n.d.
Web. 16 Apr. 2013. <http://www.detail-online.com/architecture/topics/eiffel-tower-changes-its-look-ndash-at-least-temporarily-007755.html>.
·
Calore,
Paul. "Eiffel Tower History - Cost To Build The Eiffel Tower | What It
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