Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is a famous lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. Named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built it, the tower was constructed between 1887 and 1889. It was created as the centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair, celebrating the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution.

Initially, some of France's leading artists and intellectuals criticized its design, but the Eiffel Tower later became a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. Standing 330 meters (1,083 feet) tall, it was the tallest human-made structure in the world until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930.

Today, the Eiffel Tower is the most visited paid monument in the world, with millions of people ascending its three levels each year. The top level offers the highest public observation deck in the European Union, and the tower also includes restaurants and even a private apartment once used by Gustave Eiffel himself.

History

First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin including size comparison with other Parisian landmarks such as Notre Dame de Paris, the Statue of Liberty, and the Vendôme Column

The Eiffel Tower was designed by engineers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier who worked for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. They came up with the idea for the tower as a centerpiece for the 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair celebrating the French Revolution. The design was displayed and gained support, leading to construction beginning in 1887.

The tower’s construction involved careful planning and teamwork. Artists initially protested the design, but many later accepted it. The tower opened to the public in 1889 and became an instant success. Over the years, it has served many purposes, including communications and timekeeping, and remains one of the world’s most famous landmarks.

Design

The Eiffel Tower is made from a special kind of iron called puddle iron, which weighs 7,300 tonnes. When you add the lifts, shops, and antennas, the total weight becomes about 10,100 tonnes. The tower’s design is very smart — if you melted all the metal, it would only fill the base of the tower to a depth of about 6 centimeters.

When the tower was built, people worried about strong winds. The tower can sway up to 9 centimeters in the wind, but it is designed to handle this safely. The shape of the tower helps it resist wind forces. The tower has three main floors. The first floor has a restaurant called Le 58 Tour Eiffel. The second floor has another restaurant named after the famous writer Jules Verne. The top floor is the highest point and offers amazing views of Paris.

Gustave Eiffel, the engineer behind the tower, engraved the names of 72 important French scientists, engineers, and mathematicians on the tower as a way to honor their work. The tower is painted in three different shades — lighter at the top and darker toward the bottom — to match the Paris sky. It needs a lot of paint (about 60 tonnes) every seven years to keep it looking good and to stop it from rusting.

Communications

The Eiffel Tower has been used for radio transmissions since the early 1900s. Originally, wires connected to transmitters were placed around the tower, but later a permanent underground radio centre was built nearby. In 1913, the tower helped scientists measure the distance between Paris and Washington, D.C., by sending and receiving wireless signals.

Today, the Eiffel Tower sends out radio and digital television signals for people to enjoy. A television antenna was added in 1957, and later in 2000, it was made even taller. Analogue television signals stopped being broadcast from the tower in 2011.

Frequency	kW	Service
87.8 MHz	10	France Inter
89.0 MHz	10	RFI Paris
89.9 MHz	6	TSF Jazz
90.4 MHz	10	Nostalgie
90.9 MHz	4	Chante France

Frequency	VHF	UHF	kW	Service
182.25 MHz	6	—N/a	100	Canal+
479.25 MHz	—N/a	22	500	France 2
503.25 MHz	—N/a	25	500	TF1
527.25 MHz	—N/a	28	500	France 3
543.25 MHz	—N/a	30	100	France 5
567.25 MHz	—N/a	33	100	M6

Dimensions

The Eiffel Tower’s height has changed a few times over the years. It was built to be tall, and later additions, like antennas, made it even taller. From the top, you can see amazing views of Paris and its surrounding areas.

!Panorama of Paris and its suburbs from the top of the Eiffel Tower

From	To	Height (m)	Height (ft)	Type of addition	Remarks
1889	1956	312.27	1,025	Flagpole	Architectural height of 300 m (980 ft) Tallest freestanding structure in the world until surpassed by the Chrysler Building in 1930. Tallest tower in the world until surpassed by the KCTV Broadcast Tower in 1956.
1957	1991	320.75	1,052	Antenna	Broadcast antenna added in 1957 which made it the tallest tower in the world until the Tokyo Tower was completed the following year in 1958.
1991	1994	317.96	1,043	Antenna change
1994	2000	318.7	1,046	Antenna change
2000	2022	324	1,063	Antenna change
2022	Current	330	1,083	Antenna change	Digital radio antenna hoisted on March 15, 2022.

Taller structures

The Eiffel Tower was the world's tallest structure when it was completed in 1889. It held this record until 1929, when the Chrysler Building in New York City was built. Although the Tokyo Tower became taller than the Eiffel Tower in 1958, the Eiffel Tower remains the tallest freestanding structure in France.

Main articles: List of tallest towers in the world, Lattice tower, and Observation deck

Further information: List of tallest structures in France

Name	Pinnacle height	Year	Country	Town
Tokyo Skytree	634 m (2,080 ft)	2011	Japan	Tokyo
Kyiv TV Tower	385 m (1,263 ft)	1973	Ukraine	Kyiv
Dragon Tower	336 m (1,102 ft)	2000	China	Harbin
Tokyo Tower	333 m (1,093 ft)	1958	Japan	Tokyo
WITI TV Tower	329.4 m (1,081 ft)	1962	United States	Shorewood, Wisconsin
St. Petersburg TV Tower	326 m (1,070 ft)	1962	Russia	Saint Petersburg

Name	Pinnacle height	Year	Structure type	Town	Remarks
Longwave transmitter Allouis	350 m (1,150 ft)	1974	Guyed mast	Allouis
HWU transmitter	350 m (1,150 ft)	1971	Guyed mast	Rosnay	Military VLF transmitter; multiple masts
Viaduc de Millau	343 m (1,125 ft)	2004	Bridge pillar	Millau
TV Mast Niort-Maisonnay	330 m (1,080 ft)	1978	Guyed mast	Niort
Transmitter Le Mans-Mayet	342 m (1,122 ft)	1993	Guyed mast	Mayet
La Regine transmitter	330 m (1,080 ft)	1973	Guyed mast	Saissac	Military VLF transmitter
Transmitter Roumoules	330 m (1,080 ft)	1974	Guyed mast	Roumoules	Spare transmission mast for longwave; insulated against ground

Tourism

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most popular places to visit in the world. Since it was completed in 1889, over 300 million people have visited it. In 2015 alone, almost 7 million people came to see it.

The closest train station is Bir-Hakeim, and the tower is near the Pont d'Iéna. About 25,000 people visit the tower each day, making it the most-visited paid monument in the world.

Illumination copyright

Further information: Freedom of panorama § France

The Eiffel Tower and its image have been in the public domain since 1993. In 1990, a French court decided that a special lighting show for the tower’s 100th anniversary was a unique artistic creation protected by copyright. This ruling was supported by the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, in 1992. Because of this, the company that runs the tower now treats any lighting display as a separate artwork protected by copyright.

Because of these rules, taking and sharing photos of the lit tower at night for commercial purposes, like in magazines or on product packaging, often needs permission. However, if the tower appears only partly in a photo of Paris, it may not need permission. The special lighting design from 1989 will stay protected until 2091.

Replicas

Main article: List of Eiffel Tower replicas

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most famous landmarks in the world, and many places have built replicas of it. For example, Blackpool Tower in England was built after someone saw the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 World's Fair. Tokyo Tower in Japan, built in 1958, was also inspired by it, as was the Petřín Lookout Tower in Prague.

There are smaller versions of the Eiffel Tower in many places, such as Paris Las Vegas in Nevada and amusement parks like Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio and Kings Dominion in Richmond, Virginia. There are also replicas in China, Mexico, and across Europe.