The Eiffel Tower – From Plan To Reality
The Eiffel Tower is perhaps one of the most recognizable symbols of France and Paris, towering above this old and beautiful city with its majestic stature of 1,063 feet. As you may or may not know, this landmark was initially built as a temporary structure that would commemorate the fulfilling of a century since the establishment of the French Republic. The Eiffel Tower was built for the World’s Fair of 1889, and its design was envisioned and penned down by none other than Gustave Eiffel himself, who is also responsible for the designing of the metal framework of the renowned Statue of Liberty. As we mentioned before, the tower was supposed to be a temporary installation that would be torn down a few years after its construction, but the landmark was saved from doom once certain officials realized that it could serve a very practical purpose if it was outfitted with an antenna.
Once the plans were finished and the money for the construction process were secured, the Eiffel Tower begun to take shape in February 1887, when its primary pillars were set in place. These pillars were assembled specifically in order to match with the 4 compass points. However, what made this tower special is that it appeared to be ahead of its time, mostly because it was built using a special process that relied on 18,000 pre-assembled parts put together by 132 workers. These iron parts ensured that the tower could rise to unprecedented heights at the time, and as you can probably imagine, they were bolted together using a vast amount of rivets, 2.5 million to be precise.
After 2 years and $1 million of expenses, the Eiffel Tower was finally complete, and it flaunted a height of 1,025 feet, which meant that it was officially the tallest structure in the world, a title that it would hold for the next 4 decades. But even though it was obviously quite a sight to behold, the landmark wasn’t received with open arms by Parisians or by tourists, since many of them actually saw it as vulgar and unattractive. Strangely, the structure is now regarded as one of the most amazing architectural masterpieces in the world. Aesthetics apart, the Eiffel Tower was used extensively during World War I and World War II as a relay and communications hub. Due to its incredible height and its 120 antennae, the tower still plays a key role in global communications to this day.