Eiffel Tower Project

7/28/2019 Eiffel Tower Project

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CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING (BFC21002)

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Eiffel Tower(French: La Tour Eiffel) is an iron lattice towerlocated on

the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineerGustave Eiffel, whose company

designed and built the tower. The tower is erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889

World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon ofFrance and one of the most

recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-

visited paid monument in the world. The third level observatory's upper platform is at 279.11

m the highest accessible to public in the European Union and the highest in Europe as long as

the platform of the Ostankino Tower, at 360 m, remains closed as a result of the fire of

August 2000.

The tower stands 320 metres (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey

building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to

assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until

the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, because of the addition,

in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not

including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau

Viaduct.

ALEXANDRE GUSTAVE EIFFEL
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Key Figures

Annual Visitors : almost 7 million, 75% of whom are foreigners

Tall : 324 metres (with its antennas)

Weight : 7,300 tonnes of metallic framework, and a total weight of 10,100 tonnes

Number Of Metallic Parts : 18,000 metallic parts joined by 2,500,000 rivets

Height Of Each Floor :1st floor: 57m; 2nd floor: 115m; 3rd floor: 276m

Lighting : 336 projectors (sodium lamps)Sparkling Lights : 20,000 bulbs (5,000 on each side) glitter for 5 minutes every hour on thehour, from nightfall until 1a.m.

Number Of Antennas : 120 antennas

Number Of Steps On The East Staircase Until The Top : 1,665 steps

Number Of Lifts : From the ground floor up to the 2nd floor: 5 (1 on the eastern pillar, 1 onthe western pillar, 1 on the northern pillar, 1 private lift on the southern pillar leading to the

"Jules Verne" restaurant, and 1 goods lift on the southern pillar). From the 2nd floor up to thetop: 2 sets of 2 Duo-lifts.

Kilometers Travelled By The Lift : The combined distance travelled of the lift cabins is103,000 km a year (2.5 times the circumference of the Earth).

Surface To Be Painted :250,000 m2 of surface to be painted during each painting campaign,every 7 years. 60 tonnes of paint are needed


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1.1 HISTORY

1.1.1 ORIGIN

The design of the Eiffel Tower was originated by Maurice Koechlin and mile

Nouguier, two senior engineers who worked for the Compagnie des Establissments Eiffel

after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle,

aWorld's Fairwhich would celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. In May 1884

Koechlin, working at his home, he made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by

him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming

together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". Initially Eiffel

himself showed little enthusiasm, but he did sanction further study of the project, and the two

engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to

contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the

first level and other embellishments. This enhanced version gained Eiffel's support, and he

bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier and Sauvestre had

taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of

1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the

Socit des Inginieurs Civils: after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the

practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolize.

"Not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science

in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement

of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be

built as an expression of France's gratitude."

Little happened until the beginning of 1886, when Jules Grvy was re-elected as

President and douard Lockroy was appointed as Minister for Trade. A budget for the

Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the

open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively

made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for

a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission

was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision,

which was that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or insufficiently

worked out. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was finally

signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as
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the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the

construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs.

Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the

exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to

manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.

First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin

1.2 THE "ARTISTS PROTEST"

The projected tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both

from those who did not believe that it was feasible and also from those who objected on

artistic grounds. Their objections were an expression of a longstanding debate about

relationship between architecture and engineering. This came to a head as work began at theChamp de Mars: A "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the

tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including

some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe

Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to

Charles Alphand, the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, and was

published byLe Temps.
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"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto

untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name

of slighted French taste, against the erectionof this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower. To

bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris

like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulkNotre Dame, the Tour

Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our

humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years, we shall

see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet

metal".

Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian

Pyramids : "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be

grandiose in its way? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and

ridiculous in Paris ?"These criticisms were also masterfully dealt with by douard Lockroy

in a letter of support written to Alphand, ironically saying "Judging by the stately swell of the

rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can

tell that this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of

our time", and going on to point out that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been

decided upon months before and was already under construction. Indeed, Garnier had been amember of the Tower Commission that had assessed the various proposals, and had raised no

objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to

judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was

distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the

tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the Tower: "Do not the

laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?"

Some of the protestors were to change their minds when the tower was built: others

remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant

every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could

not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of

structural art.
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1.3 CONSTRUCTION

Work on the foundations started in January 1887. Those for the east and south legs

were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of theprincipal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the riverSeine were more

complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m

(49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft) to support the

concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block built of

limestone each with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe

was anchored into the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft)

long. The foundations were complete by 30 June and the erection of the ironwork began. Thevery visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting

preparatory work that was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and

3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed. The task of drawing the

components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of

precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 0.1 mm (0.04 in) and

angles worked out to one second of arc. The finished components, some already riveted

together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from the factory in the nearbyParisian suburb ofLevallois-Perret and were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by

rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not

fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all there were 18,038 pieces of puddle iron

using two and a half million rivets.

At first the legs were constructed as cantileversbut about halfway to the first level

construction was paused in order to construct a substantial timberscaffold. This caused a

renewal of the concerns about the structural soundness of the project, and sensationalheadlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined

in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was

installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making

use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in each leg. The critical stage of joining

the four legs at the first level was complete by March 1888. Although the metalwork had

been prepared with the utmost precision, provision had been made to carry out small

adjustments in order to precisely align the legs: hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the

base of each leg, each capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and in addition the legs had
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been intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported

by sandboxes on the scaffold.

No more than three hundred workers were employed on site, and because Eiffel took

safety precautions, including the use of movable staging, guard-rails and screens, only oneman died during construction.

The construction of the Eiffel Tower foundation

Eiffel Tower Under Construction Between 1887 And 1889
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1.4 INAUGURATION AND THE 1889 EXPOSITION

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and on the 31st

Eiffel celebrated this by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by

representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Since the lifts were not yet in operation,

the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, Eiffel frequently stopping to make

explanations of various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a

few, including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from

Le FigaroandLe Monde Illustrcompleted the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolore,

to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level. There was still work to

be done, particularly on the lifts and the fitting out of the facilities for visitors, and the tower

was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the Exposition on 6 May,

and even then the lifts had not been completed.

The tower was an immediate success with the public, and lengthy queues formed to

make the ascent. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second and 5 for the top,

with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been nearly

two million visitors.

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years; it was to be dismantled in

1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it

down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily

demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to

remain after the expiry of the permit. In the opening weeks of the First World War, powerful

radio transmitters were fitted to the tower in order to jam German communications. This

seriously hindered their advance on Paris, and contributed to the Allied victory at the First

Battle of the Marne.
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1.5 DESIGN OF THE TOWER

1.5.1 MATERIAL

The Eiffel Tower From Below

The puddle iron structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes, while the entire

structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000 tonnes. As a

demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of the metal structure were

melted down it would fill the 125-metre-square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in),

assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Depending on the ambient

temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in)

because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.
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1.5.2 WIND CONSIDERATIONS

At the time the tower was built many people were shocked by its daring shape. Eiffel

was criticised for the design and accused of trying to create something artistic, or inartisticaccording to the viewer, without regard to engineering. Eiffel and his engineers, however, as

experienced bridge builders, understood the importance of wind forces and knew that if they

were going to build the tallest structure in the world they had to be certain it would withstand

the wind. In an interview reported in the newspaperLe Temps, Eiffel said:

Now to what phenomenon did I give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was

wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges,

which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be [] will give a great impression of

strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as

a whole.

Researchers have found that Eiffel used empirical and graphical methods accounting

for the effects of wind rather than a specific mathematical formula. Careful examination of

the tower shows a basically exponential shape; actually two different exponentials, the lower

section overdesigned to ensure resistance to wind forces. Several mathematical explanationshave been proposed over the years for the success of the design; the most recent is described

as a nonlinear integral equation based on counterbalancing the wind pressure on any point on

the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point. As a

demonstration of the tower's effectiveness in wind resistance, it sways only 67 cm (23 in)

in the wind.3

1.5.3 ACCOMMODATION

When built, the first level contained two restaurants: an "Anglo-American Bar", and a

250 seat theatre. A 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) promenade ran around the outside.

On the second level, the French newspaperLe Figaro had an office and a printing

press, where a special souvenir edition,Le Figaro de la Tour, was produced. There was also a

ptisserie.
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On the third level were laboratories for various experiments and a small apartment reserved

forGustave Eiffel to entertain guests. This is now open to the public, complete with period

decorations and lifelike models of Gustave and some guests.

1.5.4 ENGRAVED NAMES

Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower seventy-two names of French scientists,

engineers and other notable people. This engraving was painted over at the beginning of the

twentieth century but restored in 19861987 by the Socit Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour

Eiffel, a company contracted to operate business related to the Tower.

1.5.5 MAINTENANCE

Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 to 60 tonnes of paint every seven

years to protect it from rust. The height of the Eiffel Tower varies by 15 cm due to

temperature.

1.5.6 AESTHETIC CONSIDERATIONS

In order to enhance the impression of height, three separate colours of paint are used

on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. On occasion the

colour of the paint is changed; the tower is currently painted a shade of bronze. On the first

floor there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of

painting.

The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grillwork arches, added in

Stephen Sauvestre's sketches, which served to reassure visitors that the structure was safe,

and to frame views of other nearby architecture.

One of the great Hollywood movie clichs is that the view from a Parisian window

always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most

buildings in Paris to 7 storeys, only a very few of the taller buildings have a clear view of the

tower.
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2.1 NEW TECHNOLOGY

2.1.1 VARIABLE MATERIALS

An expert on the characteristics of various metals by this point in his career, Eiffel

had decided that wrought iron was the only available material that would provide the

necessary combination of strength, flexibility, durability and affordability to make his

design a reality.

Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content in contrast to steel, and

has fibrous inclusions, known as slag. This is what gives it a "grain" resembling wood,which is visible when it is etched or bent to the point of failure. Wrought iron is tough,

malleable, ductile and easily welded

The Eiffel tower is constructed from puddle iron, a form of wrought iron. This

resulted in puddle iron, which contained less slag, sulfur and had a very low carbon

content. The iron was kept separate from the fire in a reverberatory furnace to prevent

harmful sulphur and phosphorus from entering the finished iron. Puddle iron, although

also variable in its properties, was generally more consistent than the earlier irons, and the

method lent itself to the production of far greater quantities

2.1.2 INSTALLING RIVERSIDE FOUNDATIONS

The construction process was infused with Eiffel's exceptional innovation from thevery beginning. To install the riverside foundations, Eiffel used injected compressed air

and watertight, metal caissons, which are generally used in underwater construction. The

workers could climb down into a caisson, which was like an underground room, and work

below the level of the Seine, using pickaxes to break up the soil that the caisson itself had

loosened. As they removed the soil, the 34-ton caissons would sink deeper and break up

more soil and rocks for the workers to remove.
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Once the digging was complete, the workmen poured 20 feet of quick-drying cement

into each hole to provide a base for the foundation piers. The cement was topped with

massive blocks of limestone, which were then capped by two layers of cut stone from theChteau Landon quarry.

Examples of Construction Process Riverside Foundations.

Metal caissons


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3.1 PROBLEMS HAPPEN IN CONSTRUCTION

1. The difficulty lies in the departure point of collection in the bass the truss frame. So,as a solution to the problem they had to put in an oblique angle so that they will meet

in the first floor of a horizontal beam. To achieve this, engineers use hydraulic jacks

to move each "leg" and erected scaffolding system origin.

2. Problem also happen when lack of technology make it difficult to carry a materialfrom one level to another level. Eiffel had to adjust his building method once again.

He has to use a steam powered winch. This machine would lift up materials place in

it by hooks and ropes from the ground to the first level.

Picture of Steam Powered Machine

3. Among the barriers faced by Eiffel is, at first, the lack of funds. French government atthe time was only provides very limited funding for the construction of the tower

while the cost is high. Eiffel himself had to use his money and find funds in other

ways.

4. There was also the question of how to bring people up to the top of the Eiffel tower inan efficient (meaning without using the stairs). Design a bend foot tower has raised a

challenge to the builders lift at the time. No one dares to make recommendations and

take the tender to build the tower elevators. During the announcement of the

construction tender made lifts (lifts from the bottom to the first platform), is a

company that has responded. Otis Elevator Company, of America.


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4.1 CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, Eiffel tower is the tallest tower in the world in 1889. Although in the

beginning of the tower construction had to face many problem and criticism such as peopleand community of France engineers arguing about the function of this tower, however,

Gustave Eiffel believe that in the future Eiffel tower will be an icon to the world and a

popular attraction for visitors in Paris. This tower has an elements of art and a symbol of

science and technology. For example, experiment about physics and meteorology can be done

at here. Furthermore, Eiffel are bravely to take a risk when he decide to built this tower by

using steel. The applied of steel in high tower building are not guaranteed about their stiffness

because it will accommodate a lots of load and pressure. On this time, Gustave Eiffel wasfamous because have created its own formula about the strength, durability and factors

affecting of iron and steel. By using the formula and calculating of maths, he began the of

work construction, despite he faces many criticisms from the public and media. At last, the

construction of Eiffel Tower are succeed and be an icon to the Paris, France.


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5.0 REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower http://paris-eiffel-tower-news.com/eiffel-tower-stories/eiffel-tower-construction.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Towerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Towerhttp://paris-eiffel-tower-news.com/eiffel-tower-stories/eiffel-tower-construction.htmhttp://paris-eiffel-tower-news.com/eiffel-tower-stories/eiffel-tower-construction.htmhttp://paris-eiffel-tower-news.com/eiffel-tower-stories/eiffel-tower-construction.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower

Documents

Eiffel Tower Project