Built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle by Gustave Eiffel’s company, the wrought‑iron lattice tower began as a controversial 300‑meter experiment in wind‑resistant engineering. Refitted with antennas and constantly repainted, it evolved into a radio/TV hub and Paris’s best‑known landmark, welcoming millions annually while undergoing cyclical conservation to protect its riveted ironwork.
In 1884, senior engineers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier at Eiffel et Cie drew a radical concept: a 300‑meter lattice tower proving the structural possibilities of wrought iron. Architect Stephen Sauvestre refined the scheme with graceful base arches and pavilions. When France planned the 1889 Exposition Universelle to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, Gustave Eiffel’s firm submitted the most advanced, wind‑tested proposal. The state launched a design competition in 1886; from 100+ entries, Eiffel’s was selected for its calculable stability and constructability.
Groundworks began on 28 January 1887 at the Champ‑de‑Mars. The team prefabricated 18,038 iron elements, assembling them with some 2.5 million hot‑driven rivets. Four piers founded on masonry and iron anchorages carried a system of trussed legs meeting in stages at the first and second platforms. The open lattice minimized wind loads; Eiffel’s engineers published wind‑pressure curves to demonstrate safety at unprecedented height. Milestones followed quickly: the first level (April 1888), second level (August 1888), and completion on 31 March 1889—just over two years. Eiffel climbed 1,700+ steps to raise the tricolor, and the tower opened to the public on 15 May. At 300 m (984 ft), it became the world’s tallest structure.
A petition of 300 artists protested the “useless and monstrous” tower marring Paris’s skyline. Yet public response at the fair was enthusiastic—two million ascents in 1889 alone. Eiffel installed meteorological and aerodynamic laboratories in the tower, reframing it as a scientific instrument and securing public esteem.
The concession originally set 1909 as a removal date. Wireless experiments (from 1898) changed the calculus: the tower’s height made it ideal for telegraphy and later broadcasting. During World War I, military radiotelegraphy helped detect enemy communications; in the interwar years and after WWII, radio and television antennas renewed the tower’s strategic value. Progressive aerials now bring its height to about 330 m (1,083 ft).
The tower is wrought iron—puddled iron with low carbon content—connected by rivets that allow slight movement under wind and temperature. Its preservation depends on repeated painting: roughly every seven years, crews strip, repair, and apply tens of tons of protective coatings. Color shades have evolved—from Venetian red to the current three‑tone “brun tour Eiffel,” subtly grading from darker at the base to lighter aloft for optical balance.
Today the tower welcomes ~7 million visitors annually and has hosted well over 300 million since 1889. Redundant lifts, fencing, and monitoring systems mitigate risk; structural behavior is tracked for wind, temperature, and crowd loads. Incidents (including suicides and occasional closures) prompted successively higher barriers and controlled access. Recent works include elevator modernizations, deck glass floors, security perimeters, and energy improvements, all negotiated with heritage authorities.
Once a contested experiment, the tower is now Paris’s emblem and a universal shorthand for modernity. Its lattice logic—material placed only where forces demand—anticipated 20th‑century high‑rise engineering. Balancing utility (broadcasting), tourism, and heritage care, it remains a living laboratory of iron conservation and crowd management.
