4^ 



Figure 2. — Gustave EiflFel (1832-1923). (From 

 Gustave Eiffel, La Tour de Trois Cents Metres, 

 Paris, 1900, frontispiece.) 



There was, it is true, soine inspiration to be found 

 in the paper projects of several earlier designers — 

 themselves inspired by that compulsion which through- 

 out history seems to have driven men to attempt the 

 erection of magnificently high structures. 



One such inspiration was a proposal made in 1832 

 by the celebrated but eccentric Welsh engineer 

 Richard Trevithick to erect a 1,000-foot, conical, 

 cast-iron tower (fig. 3) to celebrate the passing of the 

 Reform Bill. Of particular interest in light cf the 

 present discussion was Trevithick's plan to raise 

 visitors to the summit on a piston, driven upward 

 within the structure's hollow central tube by com- 

 pressed air. It probably is fortunate for Trevithick's 

 reputation that his plan died shortly after this and the 

 project was forgotten. 



One project of genuine promise was a tower 

 proposed by the eminent American engineering firm 

 of Clarke, Reeves & Company to be erected at the 

 Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. At 

 the time, this firm was perhaps the leading designer 

 and erector of iron structures in the United States, 

 having executed such works as the Girard Avenue 

 Bridge over the Schuylkill at Fairmount Park, and 

 most of New York's early elevated railway system. 

 The company's proposal (fig. 4) for a 1,000-foot shaft 

 of wrought-iron columns braced by a continuous web 

 of diagonals was based upon sound theoretical knowl- 

 edge and practical experience. Nevertheless, the 

 natural hesitation that the fair's sponsors apparently 

 felt in the face of so heroic a scheme could not be 

 overcome, and this project also remained a vision. 



Preparatory Work for the Tower 



In the year 1885, the Eiff'el firm, which also had an 

 extensive background of experience in structural 

 engineering, undertook a series of investigations of 

 tall metallic piers based upon its recent experiences 

 with several lofty railway viaducts and bridges. The 

 most spectacular of these was the famous Garabit 

 Viaduct (1880-1884), which carries a railroad some 

 400 feet above the valley of the Truyere in southern 

 France. While the 200-foot height of the viaduct's 

 two greatest piers was not startling even at that 

 period, the studies proved that piers of far greater 

 height were entirely feasible in iron construction. 

 This led to the design of a 395-foot pier, which, 

 although never incorporated into a bridge, may be 

 said to have been the direct basis for the Eiffel Tower. 



Preliminary studies for a 300-meter tower were 

 made with the 1889 fair immediately in mind. With 

 an assurance born of positive knowledge, Eiffel in 

 June of 1886 approached the Exposition commissioners 

 with the project. There can be no doubt that only 

 the singular respect with which Eiffel was regarded 

 not only by his profession but by the entire nation 

 motivated the Commission to approve a plan which, 

 in the hands of a figure of less stature, would have been 

 considered grossly impractical. 



Between this time and commencement of the Tower's 

 construction at the end of January 1887, there arose 

 one of the most persistently annoying of the numerous 

 difficulties, both structural and social, which con- 

 fronted Eiffel as the project advanced. In the wake 

 of the initial enthusiasm — on the part of the fair's 

 Commission inspired by the desire to create a monu- 

 ment to French technological achievement, and on the 



BULLETIN 228: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



