The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France - Look-Out Towers on Waymarking.com

Metro : RER C Pont d'Alma or Champs de Mars Tour Eiffel.

The tower stands 300 m (1000 ft) high, which is about 75 stories. Including the 20.75 m (70 ft) antenna, the structure is 320.75 m (1070 ft) high which is about 81 stories. At the time of its construction in 1889, the tower replaced the Washington Monument as the tallest structure in the world, a title it retained until 1930, when New York City's Chrysler Building (319 m/1063.33 ft tall) was completed (although the tower was still taller if the respective spires of the two structures were excluded). The tower is the second-highest structure in France, after the 350 m Allouis longwave transmitter, built in 1939. The Eiffel tower is the highest structure in Paris. The second-highest structure in Paris is the Tour Montparnasse (Montparnasse Tower), at 210 m.

The metal structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes, and the total weight is 10,100 tonnes. The number of steps to the summit has varied over the history of the tower, through various renovations: at the time of construction in 1889, there were 1710 steps to the summit platform at 300.65 m; after renovation in the early 1980s, there were 1920 steps; and today there are 1665 steps (although it is not possible for the public to reach the summit via the stairs—elevators are required beyond the second platform).

Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50/60 tonnes of three graded tones of paint every seven years to protect it from rust. On occasion, the colour of the paint is changed — the tower is currently painted a shade of brownish-gray. However, few people realize that the tower is actually painted three different colours in order to make it look the same colour. The colours change from dark to light from top to bottom, but it looks the same because of the background (the sky being light and the ground being dark).

The structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. The tower was inaugurated on 31 March 1889, and opened on 6 May. Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of puddled iron (a very pure form of structural iron), using three and a half million rivets, in a structural design by Maurice Koechlin. The risk of accident was great, for unlike modern skyscrapers the tower is an open frame without any intermediate floors except the two platforms. Yet because Eiffel took good care of his workers with movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died, during the installation of Otis Elevator's lifts.

The tower was met with resistance from the public when it was built, with many calling it an eyesore (Novelist Guy de Maupassant ate at a restaurant at the tower regularly, because it was the one place in Paris he was sure he wouldn't see it). Today, it is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.

Originally, Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years (when ownership of it would revert to the City of Paris, who had originally planned to tear it down; part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily torn down), more than recouping his expenses, but as it later proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit. The military used it to dispatch Parisian taxis to the front line of the Marne, and it therefore became a victory statue of that battle.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the tower has been used for radio transmission. Until the 1950s, an occasionally modified set of antenna wires ran from the summit to anchors on the Avenue de Suffren and Champ de Mars. They were connected to long-wave transmitters in small bunkers; in 1909, a permanent underground radio center was built near the south pillar and still exists today. Since 1957, the tower has been used for transmission of FM radio and television.

The tower has two restaurants: Altitude 95, on the first floor (95 m above sea level); and the Jules Verne, an expensive gastronomical restaurant on the second floor, with a private elevator. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide.

Height of Look-Out Tower in feet: 1,000.00 Difficulty: Opening times and fees: The Eiffel Tower is open every day all year long, - from 9:30am to 11:00pm, January 1 to June 15 and September 3 to December 31, 2006 - from 9:00am to midnight, June 16 to September 2, 2006 Elevator Full rate Reduced rate (Adults/Children +12) (Children 3-11 ) 1st floor 4,20 € 2,30 € 2nd floor 7,70 € 4,20 € Top 11,00 € 6,00 € Stairs + 25 years old - 25 years old 1st & 2nd floors 3,80 € 3,00 € Parking Area: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
Please log only if you have been up there and you must include a photo of the scenic view from the top.

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