This wrought iron
lattice Tower was named after the engineer whose company designed the tower. It
was open to the public for the first time on May 6, 1889, and you can climb the
1665 steps to the top. Initially they wanted to dismantle the tower in 20 years
but by the by then the telegraph had come in to use and due to its height it
made an excellent transmitter. Today it is the most visited paid for monument
in the world.
French Tour Eiffel, Parisian landmark that is also a
technological masterpiece in building-construction history.
When the French
government was organizing the International Exposition of 1889 to celebrate the
centenary of the French Revolution, a competition was held for designs for a
suitable monument. More than 100 plans were submitted, and the Centennial
Committee accepted that of the noted bridge engineer Gustave Eiffel. Eiffel’s
concept of a 300-metre (984-foot) tower built almost entirely of open-lattice
wrought iron aroused amazement, skepticism, and no little opposition on aesthetic
grounds. When completed, the tower served as the entrance gateway to the
exposition.