Eiffel Tower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Eiffel Tower | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The Eiffel Tower as seen from the Champ de Mars | |
| Information | |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Status | Complete |
| Constructed | 1887 – 1889 |
| Use | Observation tower Radio broadcasting tower |
| Height | |
| Antenna/Spire | 324 metres (1,063 ft) |
| Roof | 300.65 metres (986 ft) |
| Top floor | 273.0 m (896 ft) |
| Companies | |
| Architect | Gustave Eiffel |
| Structural Engineer | Gustave Eiffel |
| Owner |  City of Paris, France (100%) |
The Eiffel Tower (French: Tour Eiffel, [tuʀ ɛfɛl]) is a 19th century iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris that has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris,[1] is the single most visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair.
The tower stands at 324 m (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-story building. It was the tallest structure in the world from its completion until 1930, when it was eclipsed by the Chrysler Building in New York City. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, behind the Millau Viaduct, completed in 2004. And while the Eiffel Tower is a steel structure, and weighs approximately 10,000 tonnes, it actually has a relatively low density, weighing less than a cylinder of air occupying the same dimensions as the tower.
The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend either on stairs or lifts 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 only accessible by lift. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.
The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France. The tower is a featured part of the backdrop in literally scores of movies that take place in Paris. Its iconic status is so established that it even serves as a symbol for the entire nation of France, such as when it was used as the logo for the French bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Contents[hide] |
History
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 the tower in Barcelona, for the Universal Exposition of 1888, but those responsible at the Barcelona city hall thought it was a strange and expensive construction, which did not fit into the design of 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 his tower a year later, in 1889. The tower was inaugurated on 31 March 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. However, because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died.
The tower was met with much criticism from the public when it was built, with many calling it an eyesore. Newspapers of the day were filled with angry letters from the arts community of Paris. One is quoted extensively in William Watson's US Government Printing Office publication of 1892 Paris Universal Exposition: Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture. “And during twenty years we shall see, stretching over the entire city, still thrilling with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see stretching out like a black blot the odious shadow of the odious column built up of riveted iron plates.”[2] Signers of this letter included Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, Charles Gounod, Charles Garnier, Jean-Léon Gérôme, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Alexandre Dumas.
Novelist Guy de Maupassant—who claimed to hate the tower[3]—supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.
One of the great Hollywood movie clichés is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to 7 stories, only a very few of the taller buildings have a clear view of the tower.
Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years, meaning it would have had to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiration of the permit. The military used it to dispatch Parisian taxis to the front line during the First Battle of the Marne, and it therefore became a victory statue of that battle.
The co-architects of the Eiffel Tower were Emile Nouguier, Maurice Koechlin and Stephen Sauvestre.[4]
Design of the tower
Material
The metal structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes while the entire structure including non-metal components is approximately 10,000 tonnes. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. As demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125 meter square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming a density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic meter. The tower has a mass less than the mass of the air contained in a cylinder of the same dimensions,[5] that is 324 meters high and 88.3 meters in radius. The weight of the tower is 10,100 tonnes compared to 10,265 tonnes of air.
Wind considerations
At the time the tower was built many people were shocked by its daring shape. Eiffel was criticised for the design and accused of trying to create something artistic, or inartistic according to the viewer, without regard to engineering. Eiffel and his engineers, however, as renowned bridge builders, understood the importance of wind forces and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world they had to be certain it would withstand the wind. In an interview reported in the newspaper Le Temps, Eiffel said:
Now to what phenomenon did I give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be [...] will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole.[6]
The shape of the tower was therefore determined by mathematical calculation involving wind resistance. Several theories of this mathematical calculation have been proposed over the years, the most recent is a nonlinear integral differential equation based on counterbalancing the wind pressure on any point on the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point. That shape is exponential. A careful plot of the tower curvature however, reveals two different exponentials, the lower section having a stronger resistance to wind forces.[7][8] The tower sways 6–7 cm (2–3 in) in the wind.[9]
Maintenance
Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 to 60 tonnes of paint every seven years to protect it from rust.
Aesthetic considerations
In order to maintain a uniform appearance to an observer on the ground, three separate colors of paint are used on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. On occasion the colour of the paint is changed; the tower is currently painted a shade of brownish-grey.[10] On the first floor there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of painting.
The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grillwork arches, added in Stephen Sauvestre's sketches, which served to reassure visitors that the structure was safe, and to frame views of other nearby architecture.[11][12][13]
Tourism
Popularity
More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889,[14] including 6,719,200 in 2006,[9] making it the most visited paid monument in the world.[15][16]
Passenger lifts
Ground to second level
[17] [18] The original lifts to the first and second floors were provided by two companies. Both companies had to overcome many technical obstacles as neither company (or indeed any company) had experience with installing lifts climbing to such heights with large loads. The slanting tracks with changing angles further complicated the problems. The East and West lifts were supplied by the French company Roux Combaluzier Lepape, using hydraulically powered chains and rollers. Contemporary engravings of the lift cars show that the passengers were seated at this time but it is not clear whether this was conceptual. It would be unnecessary to seat passengers for a journey time of around a couple of minutes. The North and South lifts were provided by the American Otis company using car designs similar to the original installation but using an improved hydraulic and cable scheme. The French lifts had a very poor performance and were replaced with the current installations in 1897 (West Pillar) and 1899 (East Pillar) by Fives-Lille using an improved hydraulic and rope scheme. Both of the original installations operated broadly on the principle of the Fives-Lille lifts.
The Fives-Lille lifts from ground level to the first and second levels are operated by cables and pulleys driven by massive water-powered pistons. The hydraulic scheme was somewhat unusual for the time in that it included three large counterweights of 200 tonnes each sitting on top of hydraulic rams which doubled up as accumulators for the water. As the lifts ascend the inclined arc of the pillars, the angle of ascent changes. The two lift cabs are kept more or less level and indeed are level at the landings. The cab floors do take on a slight angle at times between landings.
The principle behind the lifts is similar to the operation of a block and tackle but in reverse. Two large hydraulic rams (over 1 metre diameter) with a 16 metre travel are mounted horizontally in the base of the pillar which pushes a carriage (the French word for it translates as chariot and this term will be used henceforth to distinguish it from the lift carriage) with 16 large triple sheaves mounted on it. There are 14 similar sheaves mounted staticly. Six wire ropes are rove back and forth between the sheaves such that each rope passes between the 2 sets of sheaves 7 times. The ropes then leave the final sheaves on the chariot and passes up through a series of guiding sheaves to above the second floor and then via a pair of triple sheaves back down to the lift carriage again passing guiding sheaves.
This arrangement means that the lift carriage complete with its cars and passengers travels 8 times the distance that the rams move the chariot which is the 128 metres from the ground to the second floor. The force exerted by the rams also has to be 8 times the total weight of the lift carriage, cars and passengers plus extra to cater for various losses such as friction. The hydraulic fluid was water, normally stored in the 3 accumulators complete with counterbalance weights. To make the lift ascend, water was pumped using an electrically driven pump from the accumulators to the two rams. Since the counterbalance weights provided much of the pressure required, the pump only had to provide the extra effort. For the descent, it was only necessary to allow the water to flow back to the accumulators using a control valve. The lifts were operated by an operator perched precariously underneath the lift cars. His position (with a dummy operator) can still be seen on the lifts today.
The Fives-Lille lifts were completely upgraded in 1986 to meet modern safety requirements and to make the lifts easier to operate. A new computer controlled system was installed which completely automated the operation. One of the three counterbalances was taken out of use, and the cars were replaced with a more modern and lighter structure. Most importantly, the main driving force was removed from the original water pump such that the water hydraulic system provided only a counterbalancing function. The main driving force was transferred to a 320 kW electrically driven oil hydraulic pump which drives a pair of hydraulic motors on the chariot itself thus providing the motive power. The new lift cars complete with their carriage and a full 92 passenger load weigh 22 tonnes.
Due to elasticity in the ropes and the time taken to get the cars level with the landings, each lift in normal service takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each floor. The average journey time between floors is just 1 minute.
The original Otis lifts in the North and South pillars in their turn proved inferior to the new (in 1899) French lifts and were scrapped from the south pillar in 1900 and from the north pillar in 1913 after failed attempts to re-power them with an electric motor. The north and south pillars were to remain without lifts until 1965 when increasing visitor numbers persuaded the operators to install a relatively standard and modern rope hoisted system in the north pillar using a rope hauled counterbalance weight, but hoisted by a block and tackle system to reduce its travel to one third of the lift travel. The counterbalance is clearly visible within the structure of the North pillar. This latter lift was upgraded in 1995 with new cars and computer controls.
The South tower acquired a completely new fairly standard electrically driven lift in 1983 to serve the Jules Verne restaurant. This was also supplied by Otis.
A further 4 tonne service lift was added to the south pillar in 1989 by Otis to relieve the main lifts when moving relatively small loads or even just maintenance personnel.
The east and west hydraulic (water) lift works are on display and, at least in theory, are open to the public in a small museum located in base of the East and West tower, which is somewhat hidden from public view. Because the massive mechanism requires frequent lubrication and attention, public access is often restricted. However, when open, the wait times are much less than the other, more popular, attractions. The rope mechanism of the North tower is visible to visitors as they exit from the lift.
Second to third level
The original lift from the second to the third floor were also of a water powered hydraulic design supplied by Léon Edoux. Instead of using a separate counterbalance, the two lift cars counterbalanced each other. A pair of 81 metre long hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level reaching nearly half way up to the third level. A lift car was mounted on top of the rams. Ropes ran from the top of this car up to a sheave on the third level and back down to a second car. The result of this arrangement was that each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway walking between the cars along a narrow gangway with a very impressive and relatively unobstructed downward view. The 10 tonne cars held 65 passengers each or up to 4 tonnes.
One interesting feature of the original installation was that the hoisting rope ran through guides to retain it on windy days to prevent it flapping and becoming damaged. The guides were mechanically moved out of the way of the ascending car by the movement of the car itself. In spite of some antifreeze being added to the water that operated this system, it nevertheless had to close to the public from November to March each year.
The original lifts complete with their hydraulic mechanism were completely scrapped in 1982 after 97 years of service. They were replaced with two pairs of relatively standard rope hoisted cars which were able to operate all the year round. The cars operate in pairs with one providing the counterbalance for the other. Neither car can move unless both sets of doors are closed and both operators have given a start command. The commands from the cars to the hoisting mechanism are by radio obviating the necessity of a control cable. The replacement installation also has the advantage that the ascent can be made without changing cars and has reduced the ascent time from 8 minutes (including change) to 1 minute and 40 seconds. This installation also has guides for the hoisting ropes but they are electrically operated. The guide once it has moved out of the way as the car ascends automatically reverses when the car has passed to prevent the mechanism becoming snagged on the car on the downward journey in the event it has failed to completely clear the car. Unfortunately these lifts do not have the capacity to move as many people as the 3 public lower lifts and long queues to ascend to the third level are common. Most of the intermediate level structure present on the tower today was installed when the lifts were replaced and allows maintenance workers to take the lift half way.
The replacement of these lifts allowed the restructuring of the criss-cross beams in upper part of the tower and further allowed the installation of two emergency staircases. These replaced the dangerous winding stairs that were installed when the tower was constructed.
Restaurants
The tower has two restaurants: Altitude 95, on the first floor 311 ft (95 m) above sea level; and the Jules Verne, an expensive gastronomical restaurant on the second floor, with a private lift. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide. In January 2007, the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse was brought in to run Jules Verne.[19]
Engraved names
Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower seventy-two names of French scientists, engineers and other notable people. This engraving was painted over at the beginning of the twentieth century but restored in 1986–1987 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company contracted to operate business related to the Tower.
Image copyright claims
The tower and its representations have long been in the public domain; however, a French court ruled, in March 1992, that the night-time light display is protected under copyright, except in a panoramic view. SNTE (Société nouvelle d'exploitation de la tour Eiffel) installed a special lighting display on the tower in 1989, for the tower's 100th anniversary. Court of Cassation, France's judicial court of last resort, decided that the display was an "original visual creation" protected by copyright.[20] Since then, the SNTE considers any night-time image of the lighting display under copyright. As a result, it is no longer legal to publish contemporary photographs of the tower at night without permission in France and some other countries.[21][22]
The imposition of copyright has been controversial. The Director of Documentation for SNTE, Stéphane Dieu, commented in January 2005, "It is really just a way to manage commercial use of the image, so that it isn't used in ways we don't approve." However, it also potentially has the effect of prohibiting tourist photographs of the tower at night from being published,[23] as well as hindering non-profit and semi-commercial publication of images of the tower. Besides, French doctrine and jurisprudence traditionally allow pictures incorporating a copyrighted work as long as their presence is incidental or accessory to the main represented subject[24], a reasoning akin to the De minimis rule. Thus, SNTE could not claim copyright on photographs of panoramas of Paris incorporating the lit tower.
In popular culture
As a global landmark, the Eiffel Tower is featured in media including films, video games, and television shows.
Reproductions
As one of the most iconic images in the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the inspiration for dozens of duplicate and similar towers around the world.
- The Eiffel Tower was the inspiration for the Blackpool Tower in Blackpool, England. After visiting the Great Paris Exhibition in 1889, the towns mayor John Bickerstaffe commissioned the building of the tower, which has a very similar design and was completed 1894. The main differences are that the Blackpool Tower is approximately half the height of the Eiffel Tower and is not freestanding, the base being contained within buildings which house the Tower Circus. Both the Eiffel Tower and Blackpool Tower feature on the list of the World Federation of Great Towers.
Other Eiffel-inspired towers, in order of decreasing height:
- In front of the Paris Las Vegas hotel/casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Paradise, Nevada, near Las Vegas, Nevada — 165 m (541 ft) (scale 1:2). 36°6′45″N 115°10′20″W / 36.1125°N 115.17222°W
- Tianducheng, Hangzhou, China ~108 m[25][26] 30°23′6.72″N 120°14′36.60″E / 30.3852°N 120.2435°E
- Kings Island Amusement Park, Mason, Ohio — ~101 m (~332 ft, scale 1:3) 39°20′36″N 84°16′1″W / 39.34333°N 84.26694°W [1]
- Kings Dominion Amusement Park, Doswell, Virginia — ~101 m (332 ft, scale 1:3)
- Shenzhen, China — ~100 m (~328 ft, scale 1:3) 22°32′13.33″N 113°58′9.51″E / 22.5370361°N 113.9693083°E
- Slobozia, Romania — 54 m (177 ft)
- In Parizh, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. Built by South Ural Cell Telephone company as a cellphone tower — 50 m (164 ft) 53°17′51.02″N 60°5′59.46″E / 53.2975056°N 60.09985°E
- In Zoo, Copenhagen, Denmark. Wooden replica — 50 m (164 ft) 55°40′19.16″N 12°31′24.70″E / 55.6719889°N 12.523528°E
- Fayetteville, North Carolina — The Bordeaux Tower is about 45 m (148 ft) (150 ft) featuring an elevator that takes people to the top for a small view.
- Walt Disney World's EPCOT theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (at the France Pavilion in World Showcase) — 23 (76 ft, scale 1:10)[27]
- Paris, Texas — 20 m (66 ft) (65 ft)
- Eiffel Tower (Paris, Tennessee) in Paris, Tennessee — about 60 feet (18 m) tall.
- As a Meccano model, housed at the Technology Museum of Georgia (Atlanta, Georgia) — 11 m (36 ft)[28]
- On the roof of the catering company Rungis Express in Meckenheim and Satteldorf, Germany — (height unknown)
- Centerpiece of the Falconcity of Wonders — a planned new development project in Dubai. UAE, featuring seven modern wonders of the world (planned).[29] 25°5′43.8″N 55°20′31.5″E / 25.0955°N 55.342083°E (approximate coordinates)
- Inwald Miniature Park, Inwald, Poland
- Mini-Europe, Brussels, a 12.96 m model (a proportion of 1:25 to the original).
- Model on the roof of the Rue De Paris cafe in Brisbane, Australia — (roughly 12 m (39 ft) tall)
- Montmartre, Saskatchewan - 8.5 metres tall.
- Model in the First World Plaza shopping mall in Genting Highlands, Malaysia[30]
- In Austin, Texas there is a 7.5 m (25 ft) tall replica at the Dreyfus Antique Shop.
- An 18 m model in Filiatra, Messinia, Greece, at the entrance of the village[31][32]
- Paris, Michigan; approximately 3 m (10 ft) (10 ft) tall and in a park
- Baku, Azerbaijan, Sahil Trade Center, at "Parfums de France" shop. Approximately 3 m (10 ft) tall.
- Golden Sands sea resort in Varna, Bulgaria — A tower with a ratio of 1:10 to the original is built in the town as a tourist attraction.
- Aktau, Kazakhstan — model at the front of the office of Oil Construction Company
- Satteldorf near Crailsheim, Germany. On the top of a company building
- In 2007 the Lego company released a 1:300 scale model of the Eiffel tower as a set.[33] It contains 3428 pieces and stands 108 cm (42.5 in) tall and 50 cm (19.7 in) wide and deep.
Timeline of events
- 10 September 1889
- Thomas Edison visited the tower. He signed the guestbook with the following message— To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison.
- 1910
- Father Theodor Wulf took observations of radiant energy radiating at the top and bottom of the tower, discovering at the top more than was expected, and thereby detecting what are today known as cosmic rays.[34]
- 4 February 1912
- Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping 60 metres from the first deck of Eiffel tower with his home-made parachute.
- In 1925
- The con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal on two separate, but related occasions.[35]
- 1930
- The tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building was completed in New York City.
- 1925 to 1934
- Illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's four sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.
- 1940-1944
- Upon the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French so that Adolf Hitler would have to climb the steps to the summit. The parts to repair them were allegedly impossible to obtain because of the war. In 1940 German soldiers had to climb to the top to hoist the swastika, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and it was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. It was said that Hitler conquered France, but did not conquer the Eiffel Tower. A Frenchman scaled the tower during the German occupation to hang the French flag. In August 1944, when the Allies were nearing Paris, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order - it is rumored that Hitler was later persueded to leave up the tower, as he could use it to his advantage for radio broadcasts. The lifts of the Tower were working normally within hours of the Liberation of Paris.
- 3 January 1956
- A fire damaged the top of the tower.
- 1957
- The present radio antenna was added to the top.
- 1980s
- An old restaurant and its supporting iron scaffolding midway up the tower was dismantled; it was purchased and reconstructed on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana, by entrepreneurs John Onorio and Daniel Bonnot, originally as the Tour Eiffel Restaurant, known more recently as the Red Room. The restaurant was re-assembled from 11,000 pieces that crossed the Atlantic in a 40-foot (12 m) cargo container.
- 31 March 1984
- Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza through the arches of the tower.[36]
- 1985
- James Bond action/adventure film A View to a Kill, Sir Roger Moore as James Bond chases May Day played by actress Grace Jones up the Eiffel Tower. She parachutes from the structure to escape. The video of the film's theme tune, performed by the group Duran Duran, also included several scenes of the band staged on the tower intercut with clips from the film. A full 20 years earlier, the Bond film Thunderball (1965) featured an establishing shot of the tower as the villainous Largo, played by Adolfo Celi, parks outside the headquarters of SPECTRE in Paris.
- 1987
- A.J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Upon reaching the ground, Hackett was immediately arrested by the Paris police.[37]
- 14 July 1995
- Bastille Day, French synthesiser musician Jean Michel Jarre performed Concert For Tolerance at the tower in aid of UNESCO. The free concert was attended by an estimated 1.5 million people, filling the Champ de Mars. The concert featured lighting and projection effects on the tower, and a huge firework display throughout. Exactly three years later, he returned to the same spot for a more dance music orientated show, Electronic Night.
- New Year's Eve 1999
- The Eiffel Tower played host to Paris' Millennium Celebration. Fireworks exploded from the whole length of the tower in a spectacular display. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event.
- 2000
- Flashing lights and four high-power searchlights were installed on the tower. Since then the light show has become a nightly event. The searchlights on top of the tower make it a beacon in Paris' night sky.
- 2002
- The tower received its 200,000,000th guest of all-time.[38][39]
- 22 July 2003
- At 19:20, a fire occurred at the top of the tower in the broadcasting equipment room. The entire tower was evacuated; the fire was extinguished after 40 minutes, and there were no reports of injuries.
- Since 2004
- The Eiffel Tower has hosted an ice skating rink on the first floor during the winter period.[40]
- 2008
- At the start of the French Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2008, the twelve golden stars of the European Flag were mounted on the base, and whole tower bathed in blue light. In addition every hour, on the hour, 20,000 flash bulbs give the tower a sparkly appearance.[41]
Communications
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the tower has been used for radio transmission. Until the 1950s, an occasionally modified set of antenna wires ran from the summit to anchors on the Avenue de Suffren and Champ de Mars. They were connected to long-wave transmitters in small bunkers; in 1909, a permanent underground radio centre was built near the south pillar and still exists today.[citation needed] On 20 November 1913, the Paris Observatory, using the Eiffel Tower as an antenna, exchanged sustained wireless signals with the United States Naval Observatory which used an antenna in Arlington, Virginia. The object of the transmissions was to measure the difference in longitude between Paris and Washington, D.C.[42] Today, both radio and televisioni stations broadcast their signals from the top of the Eiffel.
FM-radio
| Programme | Frequency | ERP |
|---|---|---|
| France Inter | ||
| Regional | 90,35 MHz | 3 kW |
| France Culture | 93,35 MHz | 3 kW |
| France Musique | 97,6 MHz | 3 kW |
TV
| Programme | Channel-Number | Frequency | ERP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canal+ | 6 | 182,25 MHz | 100 kW |
| France 2 | 22 | 479,25 MHz | 500 kW |
| TF1 | 25 | 503,25 MHz | 500 kW |
| France 3 | 28 | 527,25 MHz | 500 kW |
| France 5 | 30 | 543,25 MHz | 100 kW |
| M6 | 33 | 567,25 MHz | 100 kW |
Taller structures
Although it was the world's tallest structure when completed in 1889, the Eiffel Tower has since lost its standing both as the tallest lattice tower and as the tallest structure in France.
Lattice towers taller than the Eiffel Tower
| Name | Pinnacle height | Year | Country | Town | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiev TV Tower | 1,263 ft (385 m) | 1973 | Ukraine | Kiev | Tallest lattice tower of the world |
| Tashkent Tower | 1,230 ft (375 m) | 1985 | Uzbekistan | Tashkent | |
| Pylons of Yangtze River Crossing | 1,137 ft (347 m) | 2003 | People’s Republic of China | Jiangyin | 2 towers, tallest pylons in the world |
| Dragon Tower | 1,102 ft (336 m) | 2000 | People’s Republic of China | Harbin | |
| Tokyo Tower | 1,091 ft (333 m) | 1958 | Japan | Tokyo | |
| WITI TV Tower | 1,078 ft (329 m) | 1962 | U.S. | Shorewood, Wisconsin | |
| WSB TV Tower | 1,075 ft (328 m) | 1957 | U.S. | Atlanta, Georgia |
Architectural structures in France taller than the Eiffel Tower
| Name | Pinnacle height | Year | Structure type | Town | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longwave transmitter Allouis | 350 m | 1974 | Guyed Mast | Allouis | |
| HWU transmitter | 350 m | ? | Guyed Mast | Rosnay | Multiple masts |
| Viaduc de Millau | 343 m | 2004 | Bridge Pillar | Millau | |
| TV Mast Niort-Maisonnay | 330 m | ? | Guyed Mast | Niort | |
| Transmitter Le Mans-Mayet | 342 m | 1993 | Guyed Mast | Mayet | |
| Transmitter Roumoules | 330 m | 1974 | Guyed Mast | Roumoules | spare transmission mast for long wave, insulated against ground |
Other structures carrying this name
- Eiffel Tower (Paris, Tennessee)
- Eiffel Tower Co-op in Hackensack, New Jersey, USA[43]
See also
- List of tallest buildings and structures in the world
- List of tallest buildings and structures in Paris
- The 72 names on the Eiffel Tower
- List of towers
- List of tallest freestanding structures in the world
References
- ^ The Eiffel Tower as a World monument
- ^ William Watson, Paris Universal Exposition: Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture (Washington: Government Printing office, 1892), 833.
- ^ Jonnes, Jill (2009). Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count. Viking Adult. pp. 163–64. ISBN 978-0670020607.
- ^ Conception and design of the Eiffel Tower
- ^ The Eiffel Tower Official Website
- ^ Translated from the French newspaper Le Temps of 14 February 1887. Extrait de la réponse d'Eiffel
- ^ Elegant Shape Of Eiffel Tower Solved Mathematically By University Of Colorado Professor
- ^ The Virginia Engineer: Correct Theory Explaining The Eiffel Tower’s Design Revealed
- ^ a b A few statistics
- ^ Painting the Eiffel Tower
- ^ Corus in construction - Exhibition buildings
- ^ The annotated arch: a crash course in the history of architecture, By Carol Strickland, Amy Handy - Google Books
- ^ Space, time and architecture: the growth of a new tradition, By Sigfried Giedion - Google Books
- ^ Number of visitors since 1889
- ^ The Guardian: New look for Eiffel Tower
- ^ LeMonde.fr : Tour Eiffel et souvenirs de Paris
- ^ http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/documentation/dossiers/page/construction.html
- ^ Société nouvelle d'exploitation de la tour Eiffel
- ^ Paris France Guide: Paris Hotels, Food, Wine and Discounts - The Eiffel Tower Breaking News
- ^ Cass. 1re civ., 3 March 1992, RIDA 1994 no. 159, p.113.
- ^ Statement that publishing pictures of the lighting requires a fee
- ^ In the United States, for example, 17 U.S.C. § 120(a) explicitly permits the publication of photographs of copyrighted architecture in public spaces. In Germany this is known as Panoramafreiheit.
- ^ Eiffel Tower: Repossessed
- ^ E.g. "La représentation d'une œuvre située dans un lieu public n'est licite que lorsqu'elle est accessoire par rapport au sujet principal représenté ou traité"; Cass. 1re civ. 4 juillet 1995. Christophe Caron, Droit d'auteur et droits voisins, Litec, 2006, §365.
- ^ Reuters.com
- ^ Le Figaro – Actualité en direct et informations en continu
- ^ Disney's official French Pavilion page — lists the Eiffel Tower as approximately 1/10th the height of the original.
- ^ Eiffel Tower
- ^ :: Falconcity of Wonders (L.L.C) ::
- ^ First World Plaza. Retrieved on 2008-09-13
- ^ Tower model at Filiatra
- ^ Photograph of Filiatra tower
- ^ LUGNET Set Guide
- ^ Wulf, Theodor. Physikalische Zeitschrift, contains results of the four-day long observation done by Theodor Wulf while at the top of the Eiffel Tower in 1910.
- ^ Letcher, Piers (2003). Eccentric France. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 105. ISBN 978-1841620688.
- ^ "A Bonanza in Paris". http://proairshow.com/Eiffel.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/extreme-bid-to-stretch-bungy-record/2007/02/27/1172338606150.html
- ^ "The Eiffel Tower: Paris' Grande Dame". france.com. http://www.france.com/docs/97.html. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
- ^ "Soirée réussie le 28 novembre pour fêter l'année du 200 millionième visiteur" (in French). Official Site. 2002. http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/fr/actualites/page/news_list.html?Year=2002#News122. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
- ^ Porter, Darwin; Prince, D; McDonald, G; Mastrini, H; Marker, S; Princz, A; Bánfalvy, C; Kutor, A; Lakos, N (2006). Frommer's Europe. 9th ed.. Frommer's. p. 318. ISBN 978-0471922650.
- ^ "All You Need To Know About the Eiffel Tower". Official Site. http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/documentation/pdf/about_the%20Eiffel_Tower.pdf?id=4_11. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^ "Paris Time By Wireless," New York Times, 22 November 1913, pg 1.
- ^ Eiffel Tower Co-op — SkyscraperPage.com
