The Eiffel Tower

This monument, erected for the 1889 Universal Exhibition, was the great attraction of the exhibition and became the most visited monument in France. It was designed with the help of two of his main collaborators, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier. The Tower was financed by Gustave Eiffel himself to the tune of 80% with the help of a 20% subsidy in return for an operating concession granted by the City of Paris. It was practically paid off in the first year thanks to the 2 million visitors it received.

Construction took 26 months. The 18,000 parts, marked out to a tenth of a millimetre, arrived already prepared from the Levallois factory by trolley and were assembled on site hoisted by self-propelled cranes onto the rails of the future lifts. The daily work was carried out on site by a team of about 250 workers.