Building the Eiffel Tower (2024)

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♪

NARRATOR: The Eiffel Tower-- an engineering icon

that changed the face of the modern world.

The Eiffel Tower is not only an achievement of its time,

it's also a symbol of our contemporary world.

Skyscrapers,

tall structures, wouldn't be there today

if it wasn't for the Eiffel Tower.

♪

NARRATOR: Nothing like it had ever been built before--

a totally novel design,

an unprecedented height,

built in record time.

♪

What made it possible?

What were the secrets of Eiffel and his engineers?

How did the properties of a modern material

allow them to build such a unique structure,

one that could rise so fast and so high?

BERTRAND LEMOINE: For Eiffel, the tower is really the product

of years of innovation and experience.

♪

NARRATOR: Researchers are retracing Eiffel's career

building metal structures around the world

that pushed the limits again and again.

This is the story

of a one-of-a-kind engineering adventure.

"Building the Eiffel Tower,"

right now, on "NOVA."

♪

NARRATOR: March , .

An important day for engineer Gustave Eiffel

and for France,

as he raises the French flag , feet above ground

at the top of the tower that bears his name,

the tallest structure in the world.

LEMOINE: And you can imagine he was

probably full of a sense of pride:

pride for himself,

pride for his team, who had built this monument,

and pride for France,

because it was the highest monument in the world

which had been erected right in the heart of Paris.

NARRATOR: Even today, the size and height of the tower

is almost shocking against the Parisian skyline.

So where did such a strange idea come from in the first place?

♪

♪

Surprisingly, the concept for the Eiffel Tower

did not come from Gustave Eiffel himself.

♪

In , just five years before the tower's inauguration,

two of Eiffel's best engineers,

EÉmile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin,

have an idea.

What if they could build a monument

for the coming World's Fair in Paris?

The engineers draw the first few sketches

of a unique metal pylon that could rise above the city--

a tower made of iron , feet tall.

♪

At first, their boss is unimpressed.

The tower they designed would be inaccessible to visitors,

and he doesn't find it attractive.

MICHEL CARMONA [translated]: Eiffel doesn't seem interested in this idea

until the Paris municipality and the French government,

represented by the minister of commerce, EÉdouard Lockroy,

decide to launch an unofficial appeal for ideas.

It's not a competition, it's a request for projects.

♪

NARRATOR: A few weeks later, in-house architect Stephen Sauvestre

adds decorative arcs to the original pylon sketch,

as well as platforms for public use.

As the tower becomes less of a passive landmark,

but a structure people can actually use,

Eiffel gets excited by the project.

♪

But many obstacles remain.

Even if their design is chosen,

they will need to raise millions of francs

and figure out how to actually assemble

such an enormous iron structure of unprecedented height.

♪

♪

, feet tall.

Today, there are countless structures

that rise higher.

In China, the famous Shanghai Tower

is more than twice as tall, at , feet.

And in Dubai,

the Burj Khalifa is almost three times as tall,

at , feet.

But at the time,

a thousand-foot tower made of iron

seemed like utter fantasy.

Eiffel's tower is expected to be more than four times higher

than the towers of Notre-Dame,

more than double the height of the Great Pyramid of Giza,

and almost twice as high as the Washington Monument,

at the time the tallest human-built structure

in the world, at feet.

♪

Since the early th century,

several architects had been attempting

to break height records--

whether in France, in England,

or in the United States.

These lofty plans expressed

the optimism and aspirations of the century,

a time of relentless industrialization.

But there was a reason why none of them had ever been built.

LEMOINE: Building high,

higher than the pyramids of Egypt,

higher than the cathedrals in Europe,

was really a goal which could be only achieved

by using the modern technology

provided by the Industrial Revolution.

So the idea was in the air.

The idea was around.

But to have an idea is a good thing,

but to achieve it is even better.

♪

NARRATOR: One of the first engineering decisions in any building

is what materials to use.

Eiffel knows that in order to go high,

the materials must be light.

Limestone, used in many Parisian buildings,

is far too heavy for such a tall structure.

The only viable option is iron.

But in what form?

At the time, Eiffel had three choices.

The first: cast iron,

a material with relatively good compressive strength,

meaning it resists heavy loads.

But because it contains a lot of carbon,

it has poor tensile strength.

Used as a girder,

it is susceptible to bending or cracking under tension.

♪

Steel, by contrast, has less carbon,

giving it excellent tensile strength

and compressive strength.

But it is costly and not yet widely available in the s.

Luckily, there's a third option,

referred to as wrought iron.

It is produced in a furnace

that almost completely filters out carbon impurities.

♪

It isn't as strong as steel,

but it is a highly reliable material,

also with high compressive and tensile strength.

It is both tough and flexible,

and has the advantage of being affordable

and readily available.

♪

For Eiffel and his engineers, there is no hesitation:

wrought iron is the material of choice.

Eiffel had good confidence in this material.

When you build -meters-high tower, the highest in the world,

well, you want to use

a material with which you have a very strong habit of building,

which is reliable.

♪

NARRATOR: Eiffel's confidence comes from his long experience

working with wrought iron,

including one of his most successful projects,

the Garabit Viaduct.

This is where one of Eiffel's biggest achievements

still stands today.

[train horn blows]

Perched feet above the Truyère River,

the viaduct was built in , at the exact time

when the project for the Eiffel Tower

was first conceived.

At the time, taking on a challenge of this magnitude

was unprecedented.

[Patricia Vergne Rochès speaking French]

[translated]: You need to imagine that when this place was built

at the end of the th century, there was absolutely nothing.

The first step was to build a small village

where the workers could be housed

during the construction.

Construction lasted four years.

The first phase was devoted to the masonry

and the second to the metal structure.

♪

NARRATOR: The engineering problem was

how to build a bridge almost , feet long

feet above the river.

LEMOINE: To build this bridge,

Eiffel performs an act of pure audacity.[computer chirps]

He uses an innovative technique known as cantilevering,

which requires building the arch and the deck

from both sides at the same time.

The central part of the bridge is built

using the pylons as support points.

Then cables hold the two halves of the arch

until their junction at the central part,

meters above the river.

This requires extreme precision

both in fabrication and assembly of the elements.

Eiffel declared that they achieved that

with mathematical precision.

♪

NARRATOR: The construction of the Garabit Viaduct

required precise planning and fabrication.

But most importantly,

its success was made possible by wrought iron,

a material which allowed construction of a light

yet very strong structure, able to support heavy loads

while resisting strong winds.

This experience would prove extremely valuable.

♪

With the material chosen, the next question was,

how would such a structure behave aerodynamically?

As a tapered, vertical structure , feet tall,

the design had to withstand variable wind speeds

that would change at each level along its height.

Those winds were not well understood,

and when calculating the tower's aerodynamics,

Eiffel and his engineers only had theory to guide them.

♪

But this wind tunnel, which Eiffel built in Paris

years after the tower's completion,

today offers a unique opportunity

to understand the wind forces

he and his engineers had tried to calculate.

BENOIÎT ROMAN [translated]: At the time of the Eiffel Tower project,

the highest structure was the Washington Monument,

which is half the size of the Eiffel Tower

and built in masonry.

That construction took several decades,

as the ground underneath kept sinking.

Eiffel's idea was to use a completely different material,

to switch to metals,

which solved the weight issue.

But then they faced a new problem: wind.

NARRATOR: Here, physicist Benoît Roman compares the effects

of wind on two models:

a straight tower on one side

and the Eiffel Tower on the other.

ROMAN [translated]: So here we have a wind speed of ten miles per hour.

We see very clearly that the straight tower

is bending much more than the Eiffel Tower,

which shows its higher rigidity

and wind resistance,

even though they're the same height

and have the same quantity of materials.

♪

NARRATOR: So, why does the Eiffel Tower resist wind

so much more effectively?

Iron is a flexible material,

so the great height of the structure

makes it vulnerable to large wind forces.

But with this unusual shape,

the force of the wind and of the tower's own weight

naturally directs the resulting force downward,

following the curves of the tower.

[translated]: This is the best shape imaginable for wind resistance.

It has the elegance of a mathematical solution.

It's truly optimal.

NARRATOR: And history has proven that this entirely novel design

was the right one to stand the test of time.

[thunder crashing]

During the great storm of ,

a record-breaking wind speed of miles per hour

was recorded at the top,

and the tower stood strong.

♪

NARRATOR: Eiffel has just received good news.

After months of negotiations,

his iron tower has won the official competition

for the World's Fair gateway monument

and construction has finally

been given the go-ahead.

The site will be on the bank

of the Seine River,

where it will be allowed

to stand for years.

LEMOINE: So the World's Fair had a very

important signification in the time, politically,

of course, to show one country's strengths,

but also to show

what the industry could deliver,

and how everyday life could be changed by these new products.

NARRATOR: For Eiffel's company,

it's the beginning of a race against time,

a race that will test all the talent and skill

of the country's best engineers...

...to produce sketches for each of the tower's , pieces...

...and a plan to assemble more than , tons of iron,

through summer and winter, rain and snow.

♪

After months of preparation,

the tower's construction can finally begin.

But being so close to the river

means the soil is soaked with water.

How to build the foundation for the world's tallest building

on such potentially unstable terrain?

Once again,

Eiffel looks to his own experience for the solution.

♪

This bridge was inaugurated in .

It's the first major iron structure

Gustave Eiffel worked on as a construction manager.

The idea was to build a railway bridge

across the wide and turbulent Garonne River.

MYRIAM LARNAUDIE-EIFFEL [translated]: For the young Gustave Eiffel,

this bridge is the chance of a lifetime.

He knows he's competing with another engineer,

who's building a similar bridge in Strasbourg,

and he really needs to do better,

faster, and cheaper.

So he decides to standardize his parts.

The construction gets more efficient,

less costly, and he ends up winning the race,

building a decidedly modern bridge.

♪

NARRATOR: The biggest obstacle was building the piers,

or support structures, anchored in the river.

The question was:

how do you build a foundation feet underwater?

[computer chirps]

LEMOINE: Eiffel implements a new technique

discovered through his first employer, Charles Nepveu.

It involves large cast-iron tubes, . meters in diameter.

The lower part rests on the bottom level

and the upper part is above the water level.

It is divided into three chambers.

The lower chamber is pressurized,

constantly fed by compressed air,

and it allows workers to work on a dry bed.

The middle section is a decompression sas,

and the upper section is open-air

to allow evacuation of the rubble.

This innovative technique,

which ensured fast completion of the foundations,

is a key factor in the construction

of the Eiffel Tower.

♪

NARRATOR: In the middle of the Paris winter,

the work begins.

Soon, around workers gather to dig the foundation

of the tower's north and west pillars,

the nearest to the Seine.

Piece by piece, just like in Bordeaux,

large watertight metal boxes are assembled

which will form the pressurized chambers, or caissons,

to allow construction of the foundation

to be protected from flooding.

♪

Then the project encounters a serious problem.

FLORENCE ALLORENT [translated]: When the pressurized air chambers come into use,

workers develop an unknown illness.

They report tingling sensations, bleeding,

difficulty breathing,

and partial paralysis.

No one understands the cause of this ailment,

nor the importance of making decompression stops

when coming back to the surface.

NARRATOR: Today, the illness is known as the bends,

or caisson disease.

Inside the caisson, much like underwater divers,

workers breathe air at a high pressure.

But if they return to the surface too quickly,

and the pressure drops rapidly as a result,

nitrogen bubbles can form in their blood,

causing decompression sickness.

Nobody understands what is happening.

Even the government is concerned about the potential danger.

[translated]: In April ,

the minister of commerce and industry decides

to go down himself into the foundations,

and he comes back up alive.

LEMOINE: It was a demonstration that the caisson

was not so harmful,

and it was not a problem which could delay

the construction of the tower.

♪

NARRATOR: Despite the discomfort,

work resumes until the piers are in place.

Soon, solid masonry rises from the foundations

to support the metal structures at the bottom of the tower.

Now they can begin the ironwork.

One by one,

the fabricators melt, cut, trim, and drill the future tower's

, pieces to exact specifications.

For the assembly method to work,

millimeter precision is absolutely crucial

from start to finish.

LEMOINE: The Eiffel Tower is kind of complex.

But when you look at it closely, it's only made

with sections in the shape of T, L, U.

So you can see that the very simple parts

used in the Eiffel Tower, combined

in the complex structure,

can achieve the highest monument in the world.

♪

NARRATOR: Horse-drawn carts deliver the prefabricated components

to the construction site on the Champ de Mars.

Six months after the start of construction,

four -degree inclined pillars,

each composed of four large assembled tubes,

called trusses, rise from the ground.

So far, all the pieces fit together as designed.

But how do the engineers ensure that nothing moves out of place?

Once more, Eiffel calls on lessons learned

building another famous structure.

♪

In these Parisian workshops,

France built another monument which remains just as iconic:

the Statue of Liberty.

And under its skin lies one of the secrets

to the Eiffel Tower's structural strength.

♪

In , renowned French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi

imagines a -foot-high statue in the form of a woman,

celebrating the signing

of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

DARCY GRIMALDO GRIGSBY: Certainly, monumentality has a long history

prior to the th century.

But the notion of creating the colossal

is so profoundly a modern ambition.

And Bartholdi began his thoughts about the Statue of Liberty

in Egypt-- he was making terra-cotta little models.

But when it's about realizing,

he has to turn sculpture into a modern phenomenon.

Um, the reason it can be that gigantic

is that it's hollow.

♪

NARRATOR: Tall and in the shape of a person,

yet hollow.

How does this structure hold together?

It's : a.m. in New York City.

Before thousands of visitors arrive,

ranger Matt Housch leads the way on an exclusive tour

into the heart of the statue.

The similarities with the Eiffel Tower

are easy to spot.

♪

HOUSCH: What's most impressive about the interior

of the Statue of Liberty is how all of this iron and steel

works together to hold her over feet above New York Harbor.

Over years of wind and rain,

and she still stands because of this interior structure.

NARRATOR: After the teams riveted together

the internal structure's iron beams,

they next installed a secondary structure,

made out of hundreds of iron bars.

On top of these bars, they attached the copper skin,

piece by piece.

And the secret to these layers holding together

is in one simple but incredibly effective solution: rivets.

The inside of the Statue of Liberty

can be a disorienting place.

But what you are seeing are hundreds of copper plates.

So that's the dark metal that you see

all along the interior here-- that's her skin.

And those copper plates were all riveted together with thousands

of little copper rivets,

but the copper skin has to be held up,

so we can see there's thousands of steel bars

connect the copper plates to the secondary iron bars,

and all of those iron bars connect back here

to this iron pylon.

♪

NARRATOR: Building high, building light,

and building strong:

mastering the art of riveting for the Statue of Liberty

would prove crucial for years to come.

♪

Today, rivets are not common.

High-strength bolts are more often used

to attach large steel components.

But in Gonesse, north of Paris,

a few highly skilled workers still practice

the efficient assembly technique of riveting.

[speaking French]:

Okay.

NARRATOR: In this workshop,

Eiffel-style beams are sometimes produced

to restore old structures.

♪

These rivets are pins,

but unlike bolts, they don't have threads or nuts.

Instead they are heated, softened,

and custom-fit into place.

[tool whirring]

The first step is for a worker

to heat the rivet in a small furnace

and then place it in the assembly hole.

A worker holds the rivet's head in place,

while another uses a hammer

to crush the emerging end.

As it cools, the rivet retracts

between the two pieces of steel.

♪

The technique might look straightforward,

but during the construction of the tower,

teams of four riveters worked up to hours per day

in highly dangerous conditions.

On average, workers installed fewer than , rivets each day

out of a total of two-and-a-half million.

It was really a long, a bit tedious process,

but very strong, which could last, of course,

for a long time.

And if the tower is still there today,

it's also because

its way of assembling its parts was very efficient.

♪

NARRATOR: Hundreds of workers are now giving their all

to meet the deadline.

And the construction progress is impressive,

with the metallic structure

rising fast to the incessant beat of hammers.

[hammers clanging]

As the tower grows,

lifting thousands of tons of iron

to greater and greater heights

becomes increasingly difficult.

But Eiffel has an innovative solution:

placing mobile steam-powered cranes

attached to each of the tower's legs.

[computer chirps]

LEMOINE: These -ton cranes,

installed on sloping and then vertical rails

that will later be reused by the elevators,

drive the progress of the building site.

Eiffel's cranes are steerable,

have a range up to meters

and a lifting capacity of three tons.

They will contribute to the success

of this colossal project.

♪

NARRATOR: The legs of the tower are now

rising above the Parisian skyline.

So far, no major disasters.

None of the workers have died,

the foundations are not sinking,

and the structure stands strong.

♪

But it's still early days.

The real test will come during the next stage:

joining the legs and constructing

the tower's second-level platform,

to support the huge tower that will rise above.

♪

Turning hand-drawn designs into forged pieces

and then finally bringing them together

to connect perfectly.

It's a pivotal moment for the engineers.

♪

But how to ensure the tower and the platform

will remain level and true?

Once again, Eiffel and his team prove extremely inventive.

[computer chirps]

Eiffel designed two devices:

sandboxes, an ancient technique used by the Egyptians,

and hydraulic jacks,

to help level out the position of the piles.

To push them up slightly

just to adjust the final position

and the junction of the four pillars.

In addition,

sandboxes were placed at the top of the scaffolding,

between the box girders, and to adjust them,

just simply drill a hole and let the sand flow out.

By combining sandboxes and hydraulic jacks,

the exact position of the holes

drilled in the horizontal girders and in the box girders

to adjust precisely the first platform.

And this was really the crucial event

of the construction of the tower.

♪

NARRATOR: Finally, the main platform's last rivet is set.

♪

After years of work, months of uncertainty,

the construction's most delicate step is now complete.

The tower finally stands on its own,

aligned to support what will now rise above it.

♪

The most difficult phase has been completed,

but there is still just over a year left

to build about feet.

As winter wears on, Eiffel hits a rough patch.

His construction has been hindered by the weather

and tarnished by considerable backlash.

♪

LEMOINE: You have a very strong criticism

by eminent artists of the time,

writers like Maupassant, architects like Charles Garnier,

the architect of the new opera in Paris.

Intimately,

I'm sure it, it was a bit, uh, uh,

shock, or maybe a harm for him,

not to be felt understood

as really doing something exceptional for its time.

♪

NARRATOR: Eiffel is determined to turn public opinion around.

His business may be engineering,

but he also understands the importance of public relations.

♪

A few months later, Eiffel has an unusual idea:

organize a special banquet at the tower's second level.

He's hoping everyone will finally understand

that this project isn't just an engineering challenge,

it's a unique and timeless work of art.

[metal tapping glass]

Right in the middle of the construction site,

tables have been set to welcome a select crew of journalists.

[guests applauding]

And it works.

According to "The New York Herald,"

the guests are dazzled.

♪

It appears that the road to success is clear.

At least for now.

Step by step, the construction continues.

Following the second floor,

the tower's third floor comes together,

feet above the ground.

These X-shaped structures may appear decorative,

but they serve an important function.

Why include this feature?

The answer comes down to the fundamentals

of structural engineering.

When held by a single diagonal,

a structure is vulnerable

to the horizontal force of the wind,

depending on where it comes from.

But with two diagonals,

the structure resists horizontal force more effectively.

As one cross-brace is pushed or pulled,

the other resists in the opposite direction,

maintaining the structure's stability.

LEMOINE: In all Eiffel structures,

you can find these cross-shape sections

to brace the elements, vertical and horizontal.

Very typical of Eiffel construction,

but also of the iron construction of its time.

♪

NARRATOR: This principle was long used in wood construction,

but Eiffel was the first one who used it extensively

in metal construction.

It became a key to his method,

whether in the tower, in the Garabit Viaduct,

or the Statue of Liberty.

♪

NARRATOR: Since the start of the construction,

Eiffel knows that time pressure is high.

So he takes pains to treat the workers well.

ALLORENT [translated]: Carpenters were the best paid, earning cents an hour.

Fitters and riveters, centsan hour.

And laborers, known as the mousses,

cents an hour.

They were paid almost twice as much as workers

on other Parisian construction sites at the time.

NARRATOR: But as the structure narrows towards the top,

the workers go on strike,

and Eiffel's busy building site grinds to a halt.

ALLORENT [translated]: They work at ever greater heights.

In response to their complaints about this danger,

Eiffel replies that there's no more danger at , feet

than at feet.

So he tells his workers to get back to work,

warning them that if they don't punch in the next morning,

they'll be fired.

NARRATOR: When only workers show up the following morning,

Eiffel quickly does the math.

♪

If the strike continues, even just for a few days,

the tower might not be completed on time for the World's Fair.

♪

LEMOINE: If the tower would be, uh,

completed after the opening of the exhibition,

it would be a major failure for him,

for himself, but also for France.

[speaking French]

[translated]: Eiffel gives in.

He offers the workers

a gradual increase of five cents a month

until December.

And for those who climb the highest,

he adds a -franc bonus upon completion of the work,

plus warm clothes to face the winter.

NARRATOR: By the time construction begins again,

the deadline for completion looms.

♪

Following the end of the strike, which lasted a week,

the tower reaches feet,

becoming the tallest structure on Earth.

From now on, progress will be faster.

The structure is thinner at the top

and requires fewer parts to assemble.

The tower now grows by more than three feet each day.

By March , ,

the fourth upper level is almost complete.

But there is still much left to do.

Painting the tower,

setting up the lighthouse and the lighting system,

and, last but not least,

installing the elevator trolleys.

From the start, the city's specifications were clear.

If the tower was to be , feet high,

it should be accessible to the public.

And that meant elevators.

But how to power them,

especially in such a tall and unusually shaped structure?

♪

In this space, located right below

one of the tower's pillars,

Eiffel built a one-of-a-kind elevator

based on the same technology he used to level the tower:

hydraulic pressure.

[translated]: In , water pressure

was already used to move the elevators.

NARRATOR: Behind this complex set of tubes

is a somewhat simple idea.

Water is pressured from a first cylinder into a second one.

This generates a big push at the other end,

where the pressure is released.

This move is translated into a series of pulleys

that stretch cables to allow the elevator

to move up and down.

♪

ROSEC [translated]: From to , there was a person

underneath the elevators in the pilot's cabin,

and this person had a big steering wheel.

When the pilot was steering the elevator,

the passengers depended on the smoothness of his movements.

If he opened up the throttle quickly,

the elevator would sh**t up.

♪

NARRATOR: But Eiffel's promise was to take visitors

to the tower's very top.

[camera whirring]

For that purpose, he built another set of elevators

between the third and fourth floors.

♪

[computer chirps]

LEMOINE: An ingenious system

of two cabins connected by a cable

ensure the transport to the top,

thanks to an -meters-course hydraulic piston.

When the piston pushes at the lower cabin,

up to meters,

the upper cabin goes down meters.

At halfway,

visitors pass from one cabin to another

on a platform which offers an impressive view over Paris.

And then the other cabin continue its ascent.

♪

NARRATOR: Today, the tower's elevators remain a testament

to Eiffel's bold sense of innovation.

But they weren't ready for the opening of the World's Fair,

so the first visitors

would have to climb to the top on foot.

[wind howling]

Just over a month before the World's Fair inauguration,

the tower's construction is finally complete.

And it has officially become

the tallest building in the world.

♪

For Eiffel and his team,

this success is the result of more than five years of work.

♪

But the monument would be more than just impressive.

It would be striking-- even colorful.

♪

Since its construction,

the Eiffel Tower has received layers of paint

to protect it from corrosion,

an average of once every seven years.

♪

Today's Eiffel Tower has a different color

than it did on opening day.

To better understand the history of the tower's coloration,

heritage restorers Claire Dandrel and Annick Texier

are examining the layers of pigment that cover the iron.

DANDREL [translated]: Here's my incision,

which should be pretty good.

Now I'll sand it.

On this beveled cut I just made,

I place my device,

which is very small and very precious.

It's a digital field microscope

connected to my computer,

and Annick checks the image from the microscope.

Looks good.

[translated]: Yeah, you're pretty much

in the middle there.

You just have to focus.

NARRATOR: These photos will be used

to document the history of the tower's painting.

[translated]: We see all the stratigraphic layers,

meaning all the colored layers on the metal--

the metal of the tower.

Here we see black with metal chips.

On this metal, we can see a bright red layer.

This is Eiffel's first preparation layer.

[translated]: When it was constructed.

[translated]: At that time, red was the protection layer.

It was applied in the workshop

as the metal parts were manufactured,

and added as the tower was being assembled.

NARRATOR: The conclusions are surprising.

From one painting campaign to the next,

the tower's colors have changed several times:

from red at the time of the World's Fair

to much darker today.

But now the tower is being repainted again,

in keeping with its color of ,

when its long-term survival was settled.

♪

Covering every inch of the structure,

a team of acrobatic painters

follow the same methods as their predecessors,

using tools such as the guipon,

an angled brush similar to those used by the Eiffel workers.

♪

It took tons of paint

to complete the tower's th paint job.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: It is a day of celebration for Parisians,

and for thousands of tourists

who join them from across the globe.

After a two-year-long race against the clock,

the long-awaited World's Fair of

is officially open.

♪

At this climactic moment,

Gustave Eiffel is surrounded by his engineers,

now close friends,

EÉmile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin.

♪

Although the tower will only go by Eiffel's name,

it is the team's accomplishment and masterpiece.

The product of years of collaboration

with a common goal, to push boundaries

and explore uncharted territory.

♪

LEMOINE: Eiffel is proud for himself,

but he's also proud for his team.

Not only him, but his own company

can be really proud of this success.

♪

NARRATOR: As the World's Fair gateway,

the Eiffel Tower is a huge success.

From the tower's heights,

visitors from all over the world discover Paris

from a completely new vantage point.

On the evening of May , ,

as a grand celebration unfolds,

Eiffel is riding high.

♪

But the tower's story is far from over.

♪

Eiffel is worried about the monument's future.

He knows it has only about a decade left

before its lease expires.

After that, the tower's fate is uncertain.

♪

LEMOINE: If the tower had to be destroyed

after the years' concession which he had,

he would have been like an orphan,

losing his major structure,

losing the structure which made him famous.

And probably it was for him inacceptable.

♪

NARRATOR: In ,

Eiffel is eager to find a scientific justification

to keep the tower alive.

[telegraph beeping]

Soon, he invites two engineers

to carry out wireless radio transmission experiments

from the top of the tower.

The experiment proves that the height of the tower

can extend transmission range.

But that confirmation alone is not enough to save the tower.

As wireless telegraphy is rapidly developing,

Eiffel realizes the tower could be

an invaluable tool for communication.

And in ,

the monument is equipped with a cutting-edge antenna,

allowing the French army a reliable radio link

with its defense posts miles away.

[telegraph beeping]

The tower proves its strategic importance.

And in ,

Eiffel finally receives the news he was hoping for:

the tower's lease is renewed.

It will not be destroyed.

LEMOINE: Then he could be relieved

when the concession he had

was extended to years.

And for him,

it's really something to be proud of,

to be sure that the tower will remain.

It was, in the beginning of the th century,

one of his main objectives.

♪

NARRATOR: An emblem of the th century and the Industrial Revolution,

the Eiffel Tower ushered in the age of skyscrapers,

like the Chrysler Building, completed in ,

and the Empire State Building, completed in .

LEMOINE: The Eiffel Tower is not only

an achievement of its time,

it's also a symbol of our contemporary world.

Skyscrapers,

tall structures, wouldn't be there today

if it wasn't for the Eiffel Tower.

NARRATOR: Standing through the roaring 's,

where it introduced radio

to Parisians for the very first time...

[man speaking French on radio]

[crowd cheering]

Enduring two world wars,

where it was used as a one-of-a-kind antenna...

[cheering]

NARRATOR: Bringing major contributions to science and technology...

The tower steadily claimed its place

as a timeless icon and a crucial part of French identity.

♪

Today, the Eiffel Tower continues reinventing itself.

In , , strobing lights

were placed directly on the tower's structure.

♪

And years later,

a team of specialists installed a new antenna

to set up Paris's new digital radio network.

Although it is very representative

of the th century, the Eiffel Tower

still stands today as a source of inspiration

for engineers, architects, builders in the world.

♪

NARRATOR: A universal icon of Paris and France,

the Eiffel Tower continues to stand

the test of time,

inspiring those who see her to dream bigger and bigger.

♪