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| The Eiffel Tower |
Today, The Jones are visiting the Eiffel Tower. They are very interested in knowing some details about its construction and about the occupational hazards that were taken in the 19th century.
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Constructed from 1887–89 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
The tower is 324 metres tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930.
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| The Eiffel Tower & The Pyramids |
Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres. Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.
The design of the Eiffel Tower was the product of Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel, after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution.
Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853. In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, 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.
More information: History
Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, 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 of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments.
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| The Eiffel Tower during the years of construction |
Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg. The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine, were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m long and 6 m in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m thick. Each of these slabs supported a block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork.
Equipping the tower with adequate and safe passenger lifts was a major concern of the government commission overseeing the Exposition. Although some visitors could be expected to climb to the first level, or even the second, lifts clearly had to be the main means of ascent.
More information: Live Science
Constructing lifts to reach the first level was relatively straightforward: the legs were wide enough at the bottom and so nearly straight that they could contain a straight track, and a contract was given to the French company Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape for two lifts to be fitted in the east and west legs.
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| Wireless telegraph station in the Eiffel Tower, 1905 |
Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape used a pair of endless chains with rigid, articulated links to which the car was attached. Lead weights on some links of the upper or return sections of the chains counterbalanced most of the car's weight.
The car was pushed up from below, not pulled up from above: to prevent the chain buckling, it was enclosed in a conduit. At the bottom of the run, the chains passed around 3.9 m diameter sprockets. Smaller sprockets at the top guided the chains.
The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features.
More information: Paris Insiders Guide
Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon, the President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré, completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level.
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| American soldiers, 25 August 1944 |
Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. The tower was closed to the public during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired until 1946. In 1940, German soldiers had to climb the tower to hoist a swastika-centered Reichskriegsflagge, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order.
On 25 June, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris, the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum, who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on 13 June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans.
More information: This is Insider
Paris is the city of love and from these lines The Jones want to express their love and respect for every member of our family, especially when life is as hard as it turns difficult to continue. Memories are strong enough to help us to continue in this amazing and difficult road called life.
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| La Mer / Beyond the Sea |
La Mer is a song written by French composer, lyricist, singer and showman Charles Trenet. It was not until 1946 that Trenet recorded his own version.
Trenet said that he had written a first version of the song's lyrics as poem at the age of 16, many years before he came up with a tune for it. The tune came to him while traveling by train in 1943 between Montpellier and Perpignan as he was gazing out of the window at the Étang de Thau, a lagoon in the south of France. It was considered to be France's best selling song together with Édith Piaf's La Vie en rose.
Besides the original in French the song was also recorded in several other languages with the English version Beyond the Sea being particularly popular and becoming the signature song for the American singer Bobby Darin.
This song is a great metaphor where the sea represents life and the voyager must travel across it enjoying all the views and experiences.
Ces oiseaux blancs et ces maisons rouillées. La mer.
Les a bercés, le long des golfes clairs et d'une chanson d'amour. La mer.
A bercé mon cœur pour la vie.
Les a bercés, le long des golfes clairs et d'une chanson d'amour. La mer.
A bercé mon cœur pour la vie.
These white birds and these rusty houses. The sea.
Rocked them along the clear gulfs and a love song. The sea.
Rocked my heart for life.
Rocked them along the clear gulfs and a love song. The sea.
Rocked my heart for life.
Charles Trenet
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