Blueprints of the Eiffel Tower

The end of the XIXth century saw a considerable number of inventions that have revolutionized our lives, from the telephone to car racing and the vaccine against rabies. At the time, Jules Verne was writing his futuristic novels, France was building a colonial empire, trade was prosperous and the industrial revolution was in full swing. Things were moving, everything was changing. This period, sometimes called “the spring of technology”, was a time of creative effervescence, crowned by Gustave Eiffel’s “Grand Iron Lady”. The “A” over the Champ-de-Mars symbolized the beginning of a major movement that has continued to this very day. This is how the LATOUREIFFEL describes the times when the tower was designed and constrcted.

Now, the site, focused in all the issues (we mean ALL!!) related with the design, construction and current state of the tower, decided to share on-line some blueprints that are reproductions of Eiffel’s original designs included in his book “The 300 Meter Tower”, Lemercier publications, Paris 1900.

In the same document, we can read:

“From the time of his project proposal in 1886, Gustave Eiffel knew that the Tower’s service to science alone could protect it from its enemies and extend its life span. At the beginning it was meant to last 20 years and then be destroyed! Eiffel therefore spelled out the uses he had in mind: meteorological and astronomical observation, experimentation in physics, a strategic observation post, a communications base for signaling, a beacon for electric light and wind studies. He said: “It will be an observatory and a laboratory such as science has never had at its disposal. That’s why, from Day 1, all our scientists have encouraged me with such strong fellow feeling.”

More images and info, at LATOUREIFFEL site.