Tour Eiffel
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Tour Eiffel is the tour that became the symbol of Paris.
Its proportions and formation are unexpected and exceptional and it represents the production of engineering and architecture.
Tour Eiffel is enlightened from the ground upwards, at night it is skilled at dominating the other monuments; by day it gives a unique view of the entire Paris.
It embodies the originality of imagination and conquest of mankind.
It was produced for the International Exhibition in 1889; it was the age of the industrial revolution. At this time it was necessary to use new materials in order to enter the new modern age. In 1885 various projects for a tower of 300 m height were compared and the project by G. Eiffel was taken into consideration.
The final decision raised numerous protests. The newspaper "Le Temps" published the petition of the "300", in which, among others were the names of Gounot, Maupassant, Dumas the younger... They denounced the dishonour of Paris: "Will the image of Paris be for ever more associated with the bizarre, mercantile ideas of a construction of machines, in order to be rendered ugly and dishonoured? For 20 years shall we have to see the widening as of an ink stain, the hateful shadow of a column of bolted steel".
In spite of these criticisms the erecting yard was opened on the 26th January 1887 and the enormous work project was started. At the end of 1887 only the first floor had been built. It was not until 1889 that the last nail was sent home; on this occasion there was a small ceremony among workers and engineers, during which G. Eiffel pronounced a famous phrase: "The tricolour flag will be the only one in the world to fly on top of a pole 300 metres high".
Its role in the field of communications has allowed it to stand up to various "attacks". In fact, during the 1st World War it became the transmitting radio station. In 1916 it made the first transatlantic wireless communications possible. The first transmissions of the TSF (Wireless telegraph) created by Gen. Ferie (1921) were also sent from its summit. Lastly, in 1957 it was provided with an aerial television which brought its height to 320,75 m and with two laboratories, one of meteorology and the other of air navigation.
This immense tower 320,75 m high, is constructed of 15000 pieces and with intertwined metal beams of extreme lightness. Its feet rest on enormous cement pillars, which are capable of bearing the weight of 7000 tons.
The Eiffel tower has three floors: the first is 57 m high, the second 115 and the third 274. For those who wish to ascend, there are elevators that make it possible not to have to climb 1652 steps.
After the International Exhibition, the government wanted to remove it, but the and it costed the creator a lot of efforts to keep it. Nowadays the tour brings big income to Paris.
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