LA TOUR EIFFEL The Eiffel Tower, or as the French call it, La tour Eiffel, isthe last metal construction from the 1887 exhibition. From top tobottom the Eiffel tower is a naked construction showing its rivetsand seams proudly. Work on the Eiffel Tower began on January 28, 1887. With new techniques for metal construction the Eiffel Tower wascompleted in 26 months. With little cost and little labor theonly complaints about it were directed at its starkness. The Parisian skyline is forever changed by this tower ofsteel. Three hundred meters tall when finished, it dominated the landscapeof Paris. Later a telecommunications antenna was added to raisethe tower's height to almost 350 meters. The Eiffel Tower was thetallest building in the world until 1930 when the Chryslerbuilding was built.The Eiffel Tower was built to commemorate the FrenchRevolution. A competition was held for designs for a suitable monument. More than 100 plans were sent in, only three were picked. Of the three theonly one standing today is the Eiffel Tower.

Conceived by Gustave Alexandre Eiffel, who was anaccomplished bridge engineer, the towers' designs were sent in to theCentennial Committee. The reply came not more than a month later, theywere to build the tower. Work on the actual tower began more than fivemonths after the designs were accepted. Progress was very fast, and byAugust of 1887 the first section had been completed. Throughout thebuilding of the tower complaints flowed in about its aesthetic value. Makinguse of new techniques, the rest of the tower was finished with a minimum oftime and money. The four semicircular arches that made the tower's base were dictatedby Gustaves artistic sense. The curve of the trusses required the elevators toascend on a curve. The elevators made by a U. S manufacturer became oneof the principal features of the tower. The Eiffel Tower was the first of its kind. Preceding towers had triedto copy Greek architecture instead of being original. The Eiffel tower begana revolution in civil engineering and architectural design. The End41