See the work of Gustave Eiffel, who died 100 years ago – 02/03/2023 – Tourism

The impact of railroad development in Europe and the world in the 19th century can be compared to that of the invention of the internet in the 20th century. Just as the web spawned and prospered the computer giants, the expansion of railroads promoted bridges, actively participating in the Industrial Revolution.

During the entire half of the 19th century, hundreds of “infrastructure works of art”, bridges and viaducts, were built in various countries with great creativity and sometimes mobilizing considerable financial investments.

In this context, the young Gustave Eiffel (1832 -1923), recently graduated from the prestigious Central School of Engineering in Paris, progressively gained space in the world market. Thanks to his talent for using iron in his projects and his vocation for business, he gained fame and prestige, which remain alive today.

Bertrand Lemoine, engineer, architect and historian, is one of the experts on the life and work of Gustave Eiffel. He is a scientific adviser to the Association of Gustave Eiffel’s Heirs and author of a biography on the builder, published in 1984. In an interview with RFI, on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, Lemoine pointed out that the French engineer created his company at the age of 32 and he also stood out as an excellent businessman.

“He mastered the subtleties of metal construction, which was emerging at the time, but he was also capable of running a company, choosing collaborators, associating with good partners, and finding adequate political support”, says the biographer.

technical feats

The technical and architectural feats he idealized were built in the four corners of the world. Monuments with the Eiffel brand dominate the landscape of several European cities, but also in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

His most numerous constructions date from the 1870s, such as the D. Maria Pia bridges in Porto, in Portugal; from Garabit, in west-central France; from Ungheni, between Moldavia and Romania; and from Trang Tien, Vietnam. The railway station in Budapest, in Hungary, the Cathedral of Arica, in Chile, or the revolutionary Observatory in Nice, in the south of France, were built in the same decade.

One of Eiffel’s geniuses, and the key to his success, was creating prefabricated designs, made in his factory in Levallois-Perret, on the outskirts of Paris, and easy to export. “The metallic element kits were transported by train or boat, and then assembled on site”, explains Lemoine.

Few people know that the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty, in iron, was designed by him, in 1881, as well as the lock system of the Panama Canal, between 1887 and 1889. The same year dates the inauguration of his most famous monument , the 300-meter tower that bears his name, erected in Paris for the Universal Exposition that commemorated the centenary of the French Revolution.

“The Eiffel Tower was really the highlight of his career as a builder. It allowed him to enter the pantheon of great men and engineers and to have a name that is now almost universally known”, believes Bertrand Lemoine.

Throughout the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the Eiffel Tower gained several replicas around the world, such as in Santos Dumont, in Brazil, or in Tianducheng, in China.

Panama Canal bankruptcy scandal

The famous French engineer was also involved in one of the biggest scandals of the 19th century, the bankruptcy of the Panama Canal. He was indicted for the case, but before the Justice cleared him in 1893, the scandal led to the end of the company and the Eiffel brand.

Morally shaken, the builder devoted the last years of his life to science. Despite his advanced age, the engineer was still fascinated by scientific innovations.

The general public is unaware of the fact, but to save the Eiffel Tower from destruction, he transformed the top floor of the monument into a laboratory that contributed to technological advances in the sectors of wireless telegraphy, radio broadcasting, meteorology, aerology and aeronautics.

Interest in nascent aviation started early and brought Eiffel closer to the Brazilian Santos Dumont, who made the first approved flight in history in Paris.

The Association of the Heirs of Gustave Eiffel organizes various events throughout 2023 to mark his centenary of death The main one will be an exhibition on the legacy of the “iron magician”, sponsored by Unesco. The show will open in Paris, in May, and will then be shown in several countries.