Eiffel Tower | History, Height, & Facts - Encyclopedia Britannica

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Description and dimensions

“the Iron Lady”
“the Iron Lady”The Eiffel Tower along the Seine River, Paris.(more)

The Eiffel Tower stands on four lattice-girder piers that taper inward and join to form a single large vertical tower. As they curve inward, the piers are connected to each other by networks of girders at two levels that afford viewing platforms for tourists. By contrast, the four semicircular arches at the tower’s base are purely aesthetic elements that serve no structural function. Because of their unique shape, which was dictated partly by engineering considerations but also partly by Eiffel’s artistic sense, the piers required elevators to ascend on a curve; the glass-cage machines designed by the Otis Elevator Company of the United States became one of the principal features of the building.

After the 1889 fair closed, Eiffel realized that the only way to save his monument would be to find new and profitable uses for it. He supervised changes to accommodate a meteorological station in 1890, a military telegraph station in 1903, and a laboratory for studying aerodynamics in 1909. Further modifications were made for the expositions of 1900, 1925, and 1937. Additions made for television transmission added about 20 meters (66 feet) to the height.

Did you know?

It took some 2.5 million rivets to build the Eiffel Tower.

The tower stands 300 meters (984 feet) high. It rests on a base that is 5 meters (17 feet) tall, and the TV antenna atop the tower gives it a total elevation of 330 meters (1,083 feet). The Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in the world until the topping off of the Chrysler Building in New York City in 1929.

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