A FAMOUS PARISIAN LANDMARK, the Eiffel Tower was designed and built for the great Paris Exhibition of 1889 by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, an enterprising and brilliant engineer. The structure is 984 feet high, and is situated in the Champ de mars, beside the River Seine. This photograph shows the upper section of the tower and the second intermediate platform, 379 feet above the ground. In planning the ironwork, 12,000 working scale drawings were required.
This photograph was also used on the cover of this part.
The Eiffel Tower 2
FROM THE GROUND TO THE FIRST PLATFORM proved the most difficult and dangerous section in the building of the Eiffel Tower. Although Eiffel had contrived to build many of his great bridges without the aid of centering, the weight and inclination of the box girders made it necessary for them to be temporarily supported by triangulated wooden columns. When the four great legs, however, had been united by the massive horizontal girders of the first platform, the whole formed a strong, rigid base for the rest of the tower.
The Eiffel Tower 3
THE COMPLETED BASE of the Eiffel Tower formed a rigid support for the remaining portion of the tower. The level of the first platform is 189 feet above the ground. The four legs continue to converge until they meet the second platform, at a level of 379 feet. Lifts run up to this platform along inclined shafts in all four legs.
The Eiffel Tower 2
