Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower
France
Did you know...?
¬ There were more than 5,300 plans and drawings for the
Tower
¬ The Tower was built in 2 years, 2 months and 5 days, from
1887 to 1889. It was an instant financial success.
¬ There were 18,000 components, made by 100 ironworkers
off-site, then assembled by 130 workers on-site.
¬ It measures 410 feet (125 m) on each side and stands
1,024.5 feet (312.27 m), and weighs 9,500 tons
¬ The tower sways only 4.5 inches at the top.
¬ For many years, the Tower was the world’s tallest structure
with a safety elevator designed by Otis
¬ Not one fatality occurred during construction.
¬ Guy de Maupassant, Alexander Dumas, Emile Zola, and
other luminaries signed a petition objecting strenuously to
the Tower
¬ Eiffel also designed the iron framework inside the Statue of
Liberty.
“We, the writers, painters, sculptors, architects and lovers of the
beauty of Paris, do protest with all our vigor and all our indignation, in the
name of French taste and endangered French art and history, against the
useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower.” Clearly, initial reaction to the Tower
was mixed, as evidenced by this quote from a petition presented to the
government of the City of Paris. The petition was signed by—among others—
Guy de Maupasssant, Alexander Dumas, Emile Zola, Charles Gounod, and
Paul Verlaine.
Paris’s soaring, open-lattice, wrought-iron Eiffel Tower, originally
built for the International Exposition of 1889 commemorating the centennial
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of the French Revolution, remains a universally recognized symbol of France,
and indeed all Europe. Over 700 proposals had been submitted by architects,
engineers, sculptors, and artists. One was selected unanimously, the design by
Gustave Eiffel.
The tower became an instant icon, the site of many romantic moments,
as well as staggering feats of individual bravado. In 1923, the man who would
become Mayor of the district of Montmartre showed his derring-do by
bicycling down the tower using its legs as a ramp! In 1954, a mountain
climber scaled its height, and in 1984 two English chaps parachuted from the
top.
HISTORY
The plan for the tower was submitted to the design competition by the
civil engineer Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), already well-known for such works
as the arched Gallery of Machines for the Paris Exhibition of 1867, the dome
for the Nice Observatory, a harbor in Chile, a 541-foot arched bridge in
Garabit, France, a pre-constructed spanned bridge in China, and an iron bridge
at Bordeaux (the construction of which involved the first use of compressed
air to drive piles). Eiffel’s viaduct over the Truyère, which stretched 1,850
feet (564 meters), with a central arch span of 541 feet (165 meters),
constituted an engineering record: with a height of 400 feet (122 meters) over
the river, it was for years the world’s highest bridge.
While Eiffel receives all the credit for the tower, it must be noted that
the original conception for the 1889 exposition tower came from two
engineers at Eiffel’s firm: Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier. It took
years of work by more than fifty engineers and designers to prepare the
approximately 5,300 plans and drawings for the tower.
Reproduced here is the official agreement of January 8, 1887, which
outlines Gustave Eiffel’s construction and operation of the tower. In addition
to Eiffel, it was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister, Edouard
Lockroy, who, as commissioner general of the Exposition, organized the
design competition, and by Eugène Poubelle, prefect of the Seine.
Once approval was given, the project proceeded at a rapid pace.
Excavation commenced on January 26, 1887, and assembly of the metal
structure on July 1. The tower’s 18,000 component parts were made by more
than 100 ironworkers at the workshops of Eiffel’s company in the outskirts of
Paris, and were assembled by more than 130 workers at the exposition site.
The exposition was scheduled to open on May 6, 1889. Contrary to the
expectations of many observers, Eiffel easily fulfilled his commitment to
complete the project on schedule, finishing on March 30, 1889. In a ceremony
the following day, a small group of dignitaries accompanied Eiffel to the top
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where he raised a huge French flag with the letters “R. F.” (République
Française), and was awarded the Legion of Honor.
The tower rises from a square base measuring 410 feet (125 meters) on
each side, to a height of 1,024.5 feet (312.27 meters) (even higher today
because of the addition of broadcasting antennas). Until the completion in
1930 of New York City’s Chrysler Building, the Eiffel Tower had been the
tallest man-made structure in the world. Despite its immense height, the tower
weighed approximately 9,500 tons, with the metal framework accounting for
7,300 tons. Because of its cross-braced, latticed structure, wind had little
impact on its stability.
The Eiffel Tower was an immediate success. Construction costs, said
to be approximately 8 million gold francs, were quickly covered by receipts
earned from visitors. By the time the fair closed in early November 1889, two
million people had visited the tower. By the end of that year, receipts totaled
5.9 million gold francs. As of 2002, the total number of visitors to the tower
had exceeded 200 million.
CULTURAL CONTEXT
France is the country that coined the phrase Les Grands Travaux
(Large-scale Engineering Works). In a French encyclopedia, an article on Le
Canal des Deux Mers (The Canal of the Two Seas) states that the Canal was
the greatest public work since the time of the ancient Romans. Thus, Eiffel
was in the authentic tradition of Les Grands Travaux. Perhaps the world’s
greatest artist in the medium of iron, Eiffel also wrote a book entitled
L’Architecture Métalique.
He attended the Ecole Centrale, a school for the arts and
manufacturing. But if his school prepared him for art, he also participated in
its manufacturing mission, as Eiffel continued to design projects using iron—
railway viaducts with supports of iron, and a bridge over the Douro River in
Portugal. He decided to open his own factory just outside Paris in the town of
Levallois-Perret. This combination of artistry, experience with iron, his own
manufacturing and production facilities, and extensive business management
experience enabled Eiffel to be one of the first macro-engineers to complete
his great work not only within the prescribed budget but ahead of the
estimated schedule.
While France was the nexus of great engineering works, it may have
been Eiffel’s experiences in the United States that sparked his the idea for the
tower. In 1876, he saw a proposal by two Americans, Samuel Fessenden
Clarke and Arthur M. Reeves, who had designed a circular iron-framed tower
intended as an engineering monument and icon for the Centennial Exposition
of 1876. Clarke and Reeves’ design was included in the 100th anniversary of
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the American Revolution—a fact that may have influenced Eiffel as he
considered a piece for the 100th
anniversary of the French Revolution. Eiffel
himself credited Clarke and Reeves as the source of his inspiration.
Eiffel’s design took advantage of new materials with which architects
and engineers were beginning to become familiar. Before this time, Les
Grands Travaux were large in the sense of wide and long, and often based on
stone construction—canals, aqueducts, bridges; they were not especially high,
except of course for the famous medieval cathedrals. Eiffel’s monument is a
marvel of physics. He was a pioneer in the aerodynamics of high frames,
using a mathematical formula to determine the exact curve of the structure’s
base that would withstand the force of the wind against it and transform that
force into added structural support. It is noteworthy that the Eiffel Tower
sways only 4.5 inches at the top. The exact math of Eiffel’s discoveries can be
found in his 1913 work, The Resistance of the Air. Eiffel’s physics paved the
way for the modern skyscrapers erected in recent years.
The tower’s height is an important factor in its endurance. Although
the contract set twenty years as the length of time the tower would remain in
the Parisian park, the Champs de Mars, when the contract expired, the tower’s
height made it the obvious choice for siting communication antennae. So it
remained in the park—to send telegraph signals.
Eiffel saw the advantages of adding communication antennae to the
tower. When the first radio signals were sent by Eugène Ducretet in 1898, it
was Gustave Eiffel who approached the military in 1901 and suggested that
the tower be incorporated into an infrastructure for long-distance radio
communications. By 1903, radio signaling had made major progress, and the
military was sending messages from the tower to bases around Paris, and by
1904 to the French east coast. A permanent radio station was installed in the
tower in 1906. In 1910, its antenna became part of the International Time
Service. Ever an enthusiast for the modern and new, Eiffel was gratified when
the first European public radio broadcast came from the tower in 1921, just
two years before his death. It would have pleased Eiffel that in 1957 television
signals were added; no doubt he would approve of the web cam that today
allows people from all over the world to see vistas from the Eiffel Tower via
the Internet.
PLANNING
The Eiffel Tower was perhaps more carefully and meticulously
planned than any macro project in history—and all the planning was done by
Eiffel himself. In fact, planning may have taken longer than building. As a
result of such fastidious preparation, the project was finished ahead of
schedule. In just two years, two months, and five days, Eiffel and his team
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successfully accomplished this engineering feat with such perfection that the
individual pieces were tooled to an accuracy of one-tenth of a millimeter.
It took tremendous planning to foresee that most of the parts would
have to be forged, machined, and assembled off-site and then installed.
Workers at Eiffel’s factory at Levallois-Perret made the parts; many had
previous experience working on Eiffel’s viaducts.
The on-site work crews required special organization. Teams of four
men were needed to install each rivet: one held the rivet in place, one heated it
red-hot, a third made sure the head of the rivet was positioned exactly right,
the fourth hammered it into place. Eiffel had planned the process with such
precision that the hot rivets could cool right in place, expand as they cooled,
and thereby strengthen the structure by taking advantage of natural
thermodynamic principles.
The Eiffel Tower was one of the most meticulously planned and bestmanaged
macro construction projects in history.
BUILDING
The tower was constructed of iron and held together by 2.5 million
rivets, all resting on a masonry base. The foundation was made of caissons
filled with concrete and sunk into the ground; these were 50 feet long, 22 feet
wide, and 7 feet deep. The tower consisted of two platforms and a laboratory
at 896 feet for Eiffel’s use. All sections of the tower were prefabricated; seven
million holes were drilled off-site, and remarkably there were no significant
difficulties with on-site assembly.
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The precision of the planning shows up in the contract presented here.
For instance, one curious but highly specific detail is the reference in Article
2: “Widow Bourouet-Aubertot, owner of the hotel on the avenue de la
Bourdonnaye, 10.” The widow had approached the Prefect of the Seine
threatening to require demolition of the Eiffel Tower, which was in the midst
of construction. The contract states: “The aforementioned widow has
withdrawn a provisional execution of a judgment to intervene.” That settled
the matter, and in the process made the Widow Bourouet-Aubertot forever
famous or infamous. Her story is just one of many complaints from abutters,
interested parties, affected parties, and others whose viewpoints Eiffel had to
confront.
Article 3 of the contract is noteworthy for more substantive reasons. It
addresses park landscaping, which would be disturbed by the tower
construction. The contract stipulates that Eiffel will be responsible for any
plantings moved, and “will support the costs of removal by the gardeners of
the city the trees, bushes, and plants that must be displaced.” Note that the
city’s gardeners would do the work, not a work crew of riveters.
Another concern in Article 3 was: “Mr. Eiffel will not cause any
changes to the hydrants, sewer drains, or water pipes situated in the Garden of
the city.” Here we learn of the exquisite city planning for Paris, which located
a water source under the park. There are two advantages to such a placement.
First, the water pipes could be used to assist in irrigation of the plantings.
Second, the pipes are located beneath a surface that is subject to little
vibration except running children; hence there would be few disturbances to
the critical infrastructure of the Parisian water system. Gardeners and students
of Indian architecture might recall that the Taj Mahal used a similar design,
locating water pipes under the gardens.
Les Egouts (the sewers) of Paris remain a tourist highlight, with an
entrance beneath one of the bridges crossing the Seine. The sewer was
designed during the administration of Haussmann, Napoleon III’s famous
Prefect of the Seine. Paris had been one of the unhealthiest cities in the world,
assailed by repeated epidemics. Haussman insisted on cutting wide avenues
that provided fresh air, thereby opening up narrow streets that had remained
unchanged since medieval times.
Another portion of the contract presented here provides specific
guidelines for the use of the Eiffel Tower in case of war. In Article 8, Eiffel is
instructed: “In order to facilitate scientific or military purposes or use, Mr.
Eiffel will reserve on each floor a special room which will remain free for the
disposition of persons designated by the Minister of the General
Commission.” In a note of finesse, it is added that said Minister will get 300
free admissions per month and the admissions can use the elevators.
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Article 13 requires that in times of war or a state of siege, the
government will have the right to use the tower, perhaps for its vantage point
as a lookout, but more likely for sending signals. The contract is meticulous in
outlining how Eiffel will be repaid for time lost during military use, and
provides that “the term of concession will be extended one year for every
period of three months or fraction of three months during which the
suspension occurs.”
A discussion of the construction of the Eiffel Tower is not complete
without consideration of the elevators. Never before had ascenseurs risen to
such heights. The French company Roux, Combaluzier and Lepape built the
first elevators, which carried passenger to the first platform by means of
hydraulics, utilizing a double-looped chain for extra safety. In 1897, those
elevators were replaced by equipment from the French firm Fives-Lille; these
lasted 90 years until they were improved in 1987. But even the Fives-Lille
company only had the technical know-how to bring the elevators to the first
level.
How could visitors get further without climbing the endless stairs
upward? This was a task for the world’s best-known elevator man, Elisha
Graves Otis. In 1853, Otis introduced the world’s first safety elevator in
Yonkers, New York. From that point on, buildings could rise beyond the
limitations of stairs. In one of his greatest works, Otis designed elevator
cabins as two-decked rooms mounted on sloping runners and pulled by a cable
that was powered by a hydraulic piston.
The piece de résistance was the vertical lift designed by Leon Edoux
to bring visitors to the top of the tower. Passengers changed cars halfway up,
as only one car could continue upward, counterbalanced by the other going
down, in a design not unlike a water clock and similarly powered by water
tanks that helped provide the hydraulics. Of course, Edoux’s ingenious
engineering did not work in the winter when frozen water in the tanks made
operations impossible until the spring thaw. Edoux’s marvelous invention
operated until 1983 when technology had advanced sufficiently to offer a
replacement.
At his own risk—and his own profit—Eiffel was free to conduct the
construction in any manner he chose. He also was given the right to fix the fee
for admission to the tower: higher on weekdays than on weekends. In return
for these allowances, and for the right to lease and collect rents from the shops
and cafés associated with the tower, Eiffel was required to pay 1,000 francs to
the Exposition Commission. Eiffel was also legally bound to pay the City of
Paris for rental of the land on which the tower was built—a nominal 100
francs per annum (Article 12).
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The contract for building the Eiffel Tower contains insurance
provisions, a feature lacking in many other contracts of similar vintage. Eiffel
was required to put aside one percent to cover potential expenses for sick or
wounded workers. In addition, Eiffel was bound to set aside a reserve fund to
deal with accidents. It should be noted that there were no fatalities during the
course of the construction—a tribute to Eiffel’s well-orchestrated planning.
The one recorded death of a workman occurred off site and off duty.
Like his fellow engineer/entrepreneur, John Roebling, who built the
Brooklyn Bridge in the United States using steel ropes manufactured in his
own factory in New Jersey, Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel Tower six years
later utilizing a similar management process: coordination of on-site work
with ongoing construction being prepared in his own nearby factory. Both of
these mechanical engineers were not just designers but also business owners
and managers—Eiffel was Mr. Iron, and Roebling was Mr. Steel. Both built
structures higher than had ever been done before.
The tower bears the names of 72 of France’s greatest technical minds,
18 luminaries on each of the four sides of the base. For most French people,
however, one name is mentioned even more frequently than Eiffel’s:
Monsieur Poubelle, the Prefect of the Seine, who signed the contract featured
here on behalf of the government. M. Poubelle is the inventor of the garbage
pail, which is still used all over Paris and France. The ubiquitous receptacle is
actually called a poubelle.
IMPORTANCE IN HISTORY
What distinguishes the Eiffel Tower is not just its beauty or
symbolism. Like the Colossus of Rhodes, it was a technological marvel of its
time, pushing the limits of existing engineering knowledge. It is a little known
fact that Eiffel helped build the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. In
1885, he worked with Frederic Bartholdi to create the wrought-iron pylon
inside the statue.
Eiffel was duly recognized for his tremendous achievement. On the
200 franc banknote (the currency of France before the adoption of the euro in
2002), there was a depiction of Gustave Eiffel and on the reverse side, the
Tower. It is a distinction afforded few engineering projects, and a sign of his
place in French history. Even in France today, the top of the social hierarchy
is not, as some might imagine, painters, designers, or aristocrats, but instead it
is engineers.
While standing at the top of his completed monument, Gustave Eiffel
proudly received the Legion of Honor, inducting him into that elevated society
that has given special distinction and national renown to France.
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The Eiffel Tower has made such an impression on the world that it
was especially honored in Shanghai, China in a cultural exchange featuring
the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, built for telecommunications, and one of the
world’s highest buildings (468 meters or 1535 feet).
Eiffel continues the tradition of Les Grands Travaux as a worthy
successor to Pierre-Paul Riquet (the Canal des Duex Mer), Ferdinand de
Lesseps (the Suez Canal), French-born Isambard Kingdom Brunel (the RMS
Great Eastern and the Thames Tunnel), and more recently Louis Armand
(modernizer of the French railways).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Books
Clark, Ronald W. Works of Man. New York: Viking: 1985.
Fletcher, Sir Banister. Sir Banister Fletcher’s A History of Architecture.
Revised by J.C. Palmer. New York: Charles Scribner’s & Sons, 1975.
Harris. S. The Tallest Tower: Eiffel and the Belle Époque. Washington:
Regnery Gateway, 1989. ISBN 0-89526-764-0.
Hawkes, Nigel. Structures: Man-Made Wonders of the World. London:
Marshall Editions, 1990.
Internet
For an update on what’s new currently in events involving the Eiffel Tower,
see: http://www.tour-eiffel.fr (Accessed 2/05).
For the construction process, especially the rivets and the elevators, see:
http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk (Accessed 2/05)
For a 3D model of the tower and many images, see:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Eiffel_Tower.htm (Accessed
11/04)
For Eiffel’s advocacy of radio signals from the tower, see:
http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel (Accessed 11/04)
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For Eiffel’s physics and the use of air to strengthen high building
construction, see: http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/MonumentsParis/Eiffel.html
(Accessed 2/05)
For a more comprehensive bibliography of Gustave Eiffel and the Tower,
featuring books, films and CDs, see: http://www.tour-eiffel/fr.tieffel/uk.
(Accessed 2/05)
Video
Perkins, Jack. “Modern Marvels: The Eiffel Tower.” Modern Marvels, 1994.
VHS ISBN 63034 20 699.
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Document of Authorization
Agreement Concerning the Eiffel Tower
Paris, Imprimerie et Librairie Centrales Des Chemins De Fer, Imprimerie
Chaix, Société Anonyme au Capital de Six Millions, Rue Bergèree, 20, 1889.
Agreement Concerning the Eiffel Tower
Between Mr. Edouard LOCKROY, Minister of Commerce and Industry,
Commissioner General of the Universal Exposition of 1889, acting in the
name of the State;
Mr. Eugène POUBELLE, Prefect of the Seine, acting in the name of the City
of Paris, thus here is that which was authorized by the Municipal Council
during deliberations from the 22 of October to the 28 of December 1886 and
that which is fixed and limited by the deliberations, which remain enclosed as
exhibited here:
As one party;
And Mr. EIFFEL, Engineer-Constructor, living in Leval-lois-Perret, rue
Fouquet, number 42; acting under his own personal name;
As the other party.
These parties have made the following agreements.
Article 1
Mr. Eiffel promises to the Minister of Commerce and Industry, The
Commissioner General of the Universal Exposition of 1889, to construct, in
the role of entrepreneur, in the enclosure of the Exposition, in the Champ de
Mars, a Tower made of iron of the height of 300 meters as part of the
construction of the Exposition, for which the plans and estimate are here
attached to the present agreement.
This Tower will be completed and put into use by the opening of the
Exposition of 1889.
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Article 2
The Tower will be erected in one part of the Champ de Mars, placed
according to the disposition of the minister of Commerce and Industry by the
City of Paris, as has resulted from the deliberations of the Municipal Council
of the City of Paris during the dates from October 22 to December 28 1886.
It will occupy the site indicated in the plan here attached, seen in the
deliberations of the Municipal Council.
It is explained here, for purposes of clarification, according to the terms of the
agreement dated in Paris on the 28 of December 1880, registered, handed over
by the State to the City of Paris that a Park for the Exposition will be
established in the Champ de Mars (next to the Seine) so that it can now
proceed and be required, by the authority of the City of Paris, to complete and
finalize the aforesaid Park and maintaining it in good condition with this
stipulation:
“In the case where the Universal Exposition will take place in the Champ
de Mars, the free use of the park will be assured by the State, with the
responsibility of restoring it to good condition after the Exposition.
“And the City may transfer power to the vendors to construct on the
frontage of the two avenues of Suffren and of La Bourdonnaye, two zones
of 40 meters each in breadth, including the areas reaching up to the
avenues to the Park.”
It is agreed that the ground plot, already having been allocated into several
lots, will be awarded to various vendors, following the official proceedings of
diverse dates; and that the aforesaid proceedings, under the rubric: Origin of
Rights of Ownership, recalling the outcomes of the agreement of the 28 of
December 1880 between the State and the City of Paris; which, under the
rubric: Terms and Conditions, is stated in article 5:
“Legal Rights and Methods of Access.
“Each proprietor will have the right of egress to the Park in the Champ de
Mars through the means of a grill gate cross-barred and set within the gate
(Editor’s Note: such as in a convent, e.g., a gate within a gate); this will be
established during the Exposition in the Champ de Mars, and the right of
egress will be suspended and the grillgate will be closed in some manner
during the Exposition.
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“The successful bidders for the area around the façade of Avenue A and
Avenue B will have the rights of opening and exiting through the
pathways.”
It is further agreed that the enunciations and stipulations which preceded are
being restated: two of the claimants to property have maintained that the
establishment of the Eiffel Tower in the Park of the Champ de Mars was
contrary to their legal rights that had already been consented to by the City of
Paris.
That one of these, the Widow Bourouet-Aubertot, owner of the hotel on the
avenue de La Bourdonnaye, 10, has herself addressed to the Prefect of the
Seine, on the 6 of November 1886, a previous memo concerning a suit which
she intended to introduce before the Civil Tribunal of the Seine, for the
purpose of forbidding the City of Paris to act or to allow the establishing of
the Eiffel Tower in the Park of the Champ de Mars and to require the
demolition of all the work which had begun in contempt of the suit. The
aforementioned widow has withdrawn a provisional execution of a judgment
to intervene.
That the City of Paris may not mortgage the Park in the Champ de Mars for
profit through real estate sales, but has the legal right to exercise the power
being impeded or hindered by the establishment of the Eiffel Tower, and that
the vendors are without legal rights, either to oppose this establishment or to
claim legal damages.
This having been said, Mr. Eiffel promises to do his utmost to support the
damages which could result from the construction and the exploitation of the
Tower, without the power to invoke any of the previous cases or provisions
here in the guaranty of the City or of the State.
Article 3
Mr. Eiffel may not occupy temporarily any part of the Garden of the city.
except for the placement of the Tower, without the authorization of the Prefect
of the Seine. He will support the costs of removal, by the gardeners of the city,
the trees, bushes, and plants that must be displaced. He will furthermore be
responsible for all the damage that may result to the garden during the
construction of the Tower, and for these he will reimburse the City.
Mr. Eiffel will not cause any changes in the hydrants, sewer drains, or water
pipes situated in the Garden of the city, without the prior authorization of the
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Prefect of the Seine. The expenses resulting from any changes or authorized
displacements will be the responsibility of Mr. Eiffel.
Article 4
The enterprise will be comprised of the foundation of the basement, the
substructure of masonry, the complete metal framework, the construction and
interior equipment for all the rooms and floors, as well as all the lightening
rods and their accessories; but it will not include the fitting out of the grounds
around the perimeter of the Tower, nor the transformation of the avenues,
squares, and other fixtures as per the wish of the Director of the Exposition,
which in no case will be the responsibility of Mr. Eiffel.
Article 5
The Tower will be constructed in conformity with the preliminary plan which
was submitted to the Special Commission named by the Minister of
Commerce and Industry by order of the date of the 12 of May 1886, modified
in the estimate and the design sketches here attached following the
conclusions of the report of that Commission. The project will moreover be
completed with regard to the electrical works in conformity to the conclusions
in the report of that Commission dated the 24 of June 1886, which is attached
to the present document.
Article 6
Pursuant to these conditions, Mr. Eiffel will be responsible for the definitive
plans and the complete execution of the Tower, which will be under his
responsibility. He will present the project in the execution of the foundation,
which will be submitted for examination to the Commission specially
instituted by the order of the 12 of May 1886. The project thus is ordered to be
put into execution, with the modifications that are judged necessary through
common accord in the course of execution. Mr. Eiffel will remain, during the
execution of the work, under the direction of the Engineers of the Exposition
and the Controller of the Commission specially instituted on the 12 of May

Mr. Eiffel is required to obtain approval for all the project details and
especially the elevators that will be employed in the interior of the Tower, and
he may undertake the establishment of the elevators only after the approval of
the Minister of the General Commission.
The Tower may not be put into use until after it has been approved and
accepted by the special Commission, even if the acceptance requires some
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amendments, whatever they may be, and these will be the responsibility of the
constructor. It is understood that the modifications or rework recognized as
necessary by the special Commission will not give rise to any additional
expenses that will be the responsibility of the Exposition.
Article 7
For the price of the work, such as is evaluated in the estimate here-attached, it
is agreed that the payment to Mr. Eiffel the sum of 1,500,000 Francs for the
credits allowed by the Exposition, and the enjoyment and dividends resulting
from the exploitation of the Tower during the year of the Exposition and
during the twenty years that follow, from the date of the first of January of
eighteen hundred and ninety, during the whole of which time the following
conditions must be followed:
The sum of 1,500,000 Francs will be paid out as follows:
Firstly, 500,000 (five hundred thousand) Francs when the metal framework
has reached the height of the floor of the first stage;
500,000 (five hundred thousand) Francs when the metal framework has
reached the second stage;
500,000 (five hundred thousand) Francs when the work is complete and has
been provisionally received and accepted for exploitation and use;
Secondly, during the total duration of the Exposition, Mr. Eiffel will exploit to
his own profit and at his own risk and peril the aforesaid construction in a
manner that will be judged as best conforming to his own interests, as much as
can be gained from the elevators for the public and from the installation of
restaurants, cafes, etc.
He will remain the master for the fixing of tariffs to be applied without
exceeding the maximums indicated as follows:
Elevators to the top: Weekdays: Fr. 5
Sundays and holidays: Fr. 2
Elevators to the first stage: Weekdays: Fr. 2
Sundays and holidays: Fr. 1
These numbers, which are applicable to the elevators effective between the
hours of 11am and 6pm, may be modified at the request of Mr. Eiffel if
experience demonstrates the necessity, and if the Minister of the General
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Commission judges necessary. In all cases, as concerns the cafés, restaurants,
and other related establishments in the construction of the Tower, the
concessions made to these third parties by Mr. Eiffel must be approved by the
Minister and must follow the rules applied to establishments of this nature in
the rest of the Exposition.
Mr. Eiffel will be responsible to the State or to the City for the third parties
which may be thus substituted. In any case the aforesaid substitutes will not
have any legal right or redress, for any cause whatever it may be, against the
State and the City, and the enjoyment and use of their concession will be
subordinated during the duration of the exploitation to Mr. Eiffel himself or to
the Society afterward provided. Mr. Eiffel will give these rightful claimants or
their substitutes full knowledge of the present agreements and take full
responsibility for the communication of said agreements.
Mr. Eiffel will, therefore, pay to the Administration of the Exposition, a sum
of 1,000 (one thousand) Francs for the right of establishing the beneficial rents
during the duration of the Exposition.
Article 8
In order to facilitate scientific or military purposes and use, Mr. Eiffel will
reserve on each floor a special room, which will remain free for the
disposition of persons designated by the Minister of the General Commission.
In addition, Mr. Eiffel will give to the disposition of the Minister of the
General Commission, for the same purpose, a number of free admissions,
which will not exceed 300 (three hundred) per month. These admissions will
be given the free right of passage in the elevators or the stairs.
Article 9
The Administration of the Exposition will dispose, for such rightful usage as it
wishes, all of the land surrounding the Tower which is not occupied by the
four base columns which support it. The Administration will, in all cases, hold
in reserve, all around these base column supports, the means of access
necessary for the public to arrive easily at the elevators, the stairs, and any
other parts of the Tower and for provisions of any and all nature, necessary for
the use of these, for entry.
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Article 10
During the whole duration of the Exposition, Mr. Eiffel will have free
admission to the Exposition for himself and for the personnel who are
involved in the maintenance and service of the Tower.
Article 11
After the Exposition and the replacement of the Park in the Champ de Mars,
the City will then become the owner and proprietor of the Tower, with all the
advantages and obligations relevant to this; but Mr. Eiffel in the completion of
the fee for the work, will retain the enjoyment until the expiration of twenty
years from the date of 1 January 1890, at which point this enjoyment and use
shall return to the City of Paris. After these twenty year, the return of the
Tower will be made in good condition of maintenance, and during that twenty
years’ time it will be required of Mr. Eiffel to make any special, required
repairs.
Article 12
During the whole of his period of exploitation, Mr. Eiffel will remain in all
regards concerning this exploitation responsible for the same conditions that
will apply during the Exposition, except that he will pay to the City of Paris a
consideration of 100 (one hundred) Francs per year beginning on 1 January
1890 for the land occupied by the Tower and that which is necessary for its
exploitation and also that which the City may substitute for the Minister of the
General Commission, for the enjoyment of floors especially fitted out for
scientific experiments.
It is intended that the City of Paris will always maintain in the Tower an
access in keeping with the needs of exploitation, notably access by elevator
car.
Article 13
In the case of war or the declaration of a state of siege, the State will have the
clear right to take the place, actively or passively, of Mr. Eiffel for the use of
the Tower. An appraisal will be made of the value of the installations, and
each side will have the right of comparison and of agreement with said value.
During the entire time Mr. Eiffel is thus deprived of the use of the Tower, the
State will be completely responsible.
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For compensation of this suspension of use, the term of the concession will be
extended one year for every period of three months or fraction of three months
during which the suspension occurs.
Article 14
Mr. Eiffel will, at every moment, have the legal right to form an Association
or Company either for the construction, or for the exploitation, of the Tower,
which Association or Company will cede back all or part of its rights and
obligations. The said substitution will be approved by the State or the City,
following the period of exploitation in which the Association will be
constituted.
Article 15
In the case where, after the advice of the Commission specially instituted by
decree of the Minister, on the date of 12 May 1886, Mr. Eiffel or his rightful
claimants, will not perform due diligence necessary to assure the completed
execution for the engagements of the date of the opening of the Exposition,
also in the case of Mr. Eiffel or his rightful claimants does not manifest the
wish to continue the work, or the wish can be implied as such by the cessation
of the work for a period of twenty days in which the work is stopped and
remains ineffective, the State has the right to cancel the present agreements
and to continue the execution of work as is here decreed:
First. In the case of cancellation, the State may leave the work in the
situation in which they found it; in this case, Mr. Eiffel will be owed, from
the original allocation of 1,500,000 Francs, a sum proportionate to the
completed work.
The State can also demolish the construction completed to date. In this
case, the net proceeds of the resale of the materials (after the deduction of
the cost of demolition and the return of the place to its former state) will
revert to Mr. Eiffel or his rightful claimants, for all that exceeds the
portion of the sum of 1,500,000 Francs already given to Mr. Eiffel or to
his rightful claimants.
Second. In the case where the State opts to continue the work, they will
carry out the administration, by the means which the State might judge
necessary, at the expense of Mr. Eiffel, whose help and surveillance that
may be necessary obtained by entrepreneurs chosen by the State, the
ensuing Contract resulting will be in effect for the rest of the disposition.
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Article 16
As a guaranty for the engagement undertaken by him, Mr. Eiffel will deposit,
according to a deadline that will be fixed by the Ministry, as a bond of surety,
the sum of 100,000 (one hundred thousand) Francs in legal deposits, for
yearly income to the State registered or mixed, or rent to the State and value to
the Treasury, to the bearer, conforming to Articles 5 and following of the
decree of 18 November 1882.
This sum will be returned to Mr. Eiffel after the completion of the
achievement and the definite acceptance of the Tower, except for 10,000 (ten
thousand) Francs which will be retained until the expiration of the present
agreement.
Article 17
The parties will remain compliant to the clauses and conditions general and
relative to the enterprises of the Exposition, decreed by the Minister of the
General Commission on 5 August 1886, in all those aforesaid clauses which
are not contrary to the present agreement.
In all times, as concerns Article 17 relative to the safety of workers who may
be sick or wounded, it is intended that a reserve of one percent will be
apportioned from the allocation of 1,500,000 francs granted by the state.
It is further intended that the relief allowed by the Administration of the
Exposition, by virtue of the dispositions here recalled, will be the
responsibility of Mr. Eiffel for accidents of every nature which shall exceed
the reserve of 15,000 (fifteen thousand) Francs.
Article 18
The present agreement will only be legal when accompanied by a prescribed
registration fee of three (3) Francs.
The present agreements are done in triplicate originals in Paris, the 8 of
January, 1887.
Seen and approved: Seen and approved:
Signed: E. LOCKROY Signed: G. EIFFEL
Seen and approved:
Signed: POUBELLE