All language subtitles for Building the Eiffel Tower ¦ Full Documentary ¦ NOVA ¦ PBS

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The Eiffel Tower--
an engineering icon

that changed
the face of the modern world.

The Eiffel Tower is not only
an achievement of its time,

it's also a symbol
of our contemporary world.

Skyscrapers,

tall structures,
wouldn't be there today

if it wasn't
for the Eiffel Tower.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Nothing like it had ever been
built before--

a totally novel design,

an unprecedented height,

built in record time.

♪ ♪

What made it possible?

What were the secrets
of Eiffel and his engineers?

How did the properties
of a modern material

allow them to build
such a unique structure,

one that could rise so fast
and so high?

BERTRAND LEMOINE:
For Eiffel, the tower is really
the product

of 30 years of innovation
and experience.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Researchers are retracing
Eiffel's career

building metal structures
around the world

that pushed the limits
again and again.

This is the story

of a one-of-a-kind
engineering adventure.

"Building the Eiffel Tower,"

right now, on "NOVA."

♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
March 31, 1889.

An important day for engineer
Gustave Eiffel

and for France,

as he raises the French flag
1,024 feet above ground

at the top of the tower
that bears his name,

the tallest structure
in the world.

LEMOINE:
And you can imagine he was

probably full
of a sense of pride:

pride for himself,

pride for his team,
who had built this monument,

and pride for France,

because it was the highest
monument in the world

which had been erected
right in the heart of Paris.

NARRATOR:
Even today, the size and height
of the tower

is almost shocking
against the Parisian skyline.

So where did such a strange idea
come from in the first place?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Surprisingly,
the concept for the Eiffel Tower

did not come
from Gustave Eiffel himself.

♪ ♪

In 1884, just five years
before the tower's inauguration,

two of Eiffel's best engineers,

Émile Nouguier
and Maurice Koechlin,

have an idea.

What if they could
build a monument

for the coming World's Fair
in Paris?

The engineers draw
the first few sketches

of a unique metal pylon
that could rise above the city--

a tower made of iron
1,000 feet tall.

♪ ♪

At first,
their boss is unimpressed.

The tower they designed would be
inaccessible to visitors,

and he doesn't find it
attractive.

MICHEL CARMONA (translated):
Eiffel doesn't seem interested
in this idea

until the Paris municipality
and the French government,

represented by the minister
of commerce, Édouard Lockroy,

decide to launch
an unofficial appeal for ideas.

It's not a competition,
it's a request for projects.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
A few weeks later, in-house
architect Stephen Sauvestre

adds decorative arcs
to the original pylon sketch,

as well as platforms
for public use.

As the tower becomes
less of a passive landmark,

but a structure
people can actually use,

Eiffel gets excited
by the project.

♪ ♪

But many obstacles remain.

Even if their design is chosen,

they will need to raise
millions of francs

and figure out
how to actually assemble

such an enormous iron structure
of unprecedented height.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

1,000 feet tall.

Today, there are countless
structures

that rise higher.

In China, the famous
Shanghai Tower

is more than twice as tall,
at 2,073 feet.

And in Dubai,

the Burj Khalifa is almost three
times as tall,

at 2,717 feet.

But at the time,

a thousand-foot tower
made of iron

seemed like utter fantasy.

Eiffel's tower is expected to be
more than four times higher

than the towers of Notre-Dame,

more than double the height
of the Great Pyramid of Giza,

and almost twice as high
as the Washington Monument,

at the time the tallest
human-built structure

in the world, at 555 feet.

♪ ♪

Since the early 19th century,

several architects
had been attempting

to break height records--

whether in France, in England,

or in the United States.

These lofty plans expressed

the optimism and aspirations
of the century,

a time of
relentless industrialization.

But there was a reason why none
of them had ever been built.

LEMOINE:
Building high,

higher than
the pyramids of Egypt,

higher than the cathedrals
in Europe,

was really a goal
which could be only achieved

by using the modern technology

provided by the
Industrial Revolution.

So the idea was in the air.

The idea was around.

But to have an idea
is a good thing,

but to achieve it
is even better.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
One of the first engineering
decisions in any building

is what materials to use.

Eiffel knows
that in order to go high,

the materials must be light.

Limestone,
used in many Parisian buildings,

is far too heavy
for such a tall structure.

The only viable option is iron.

But in what form?

At the time,
Eiffel had three choices.

The first: cast iron,

a material with relatively
good compressive strength,

meaning it resists heavy loads.

But because it contains
a lot of carbon,

it has poor tensile strength.

Used as a girder,

it is susceptible to bending
or cracking under tension.

♪ ♪

Steel, by contrast,
has less carbon,

giving it excellent
tensile strength

and compressive strength.

But it is costly and not yet
widely available in the 1880s.

Luckily, there's a third option,

referred to as wrought iron.

It is produced in a furnace

that almost completely
filters out carbon impurities.

♪ ♪

It isn't as strong as steel,

but it is a highly reliable
material,

also with high compressive
and tensile strength.

It is both tough and flexible,

and has the advantage
of being affordable

and readily available.

♪ ♪

For Eiffel and his engineers,
there is no hesitation:

wrought iron is the material
of choice.

Eiffel had good confidence
in this material.

When you build 300-meters-high
tower, the highest in the world,

well, you want to use

a material with which you have
a very strong habit of building,

which is reliable.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Eiffel's confidence comes
from his long experience

working with wrought iron,

including one of his most
successful projects,

the Garabit Viaduct.

This is where one of Eiffel's
biggest achievements

still stands today.

(train horn blows)

Perched 400 feet
above the Truyère River,

the viaduct was built in 1884,
at the exact time

when the project
for the Eiffel Tower

was first conceived.

At the time, taking on
a challenge of this magnitude

was unprecedented.

(Patricia Vergne Rochès
speaking French)

(translated):
You need to imagine
that when this place was built

at the end of the 19th century,
there was absolutely nothing.

The first step was to build
a small village

where the workers could be
housed

during the construction.

Construction lasted four years.

The first phase was devoted
to the masonry

and the second
to the metal structure.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The engineering problem was

how to build a bridge
almost 2,000 feet long

400 feet above the river.

LEMOINE:
To build this bridge,

Eiffel performs
an act of pure audacity.

(computer chirps)

He uses an innovative technique
known as cantilevering,

which requires building
the arch and the deck

from both sides
at the same time.

The central part
of the bridge is built

using the pylons
as support points.

Then cables hold
the two halves of the arch

until their junction
at the central part,

120 meters above the river.

This requires extreme precision

both in fabrication
and assembly of the elements.

Eiffel declared
that they achieved that

with mathematical precision.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The construction
of the Garabit Viaduct

required precise planning
and fabrication.

But most importantly,

its success was made possible
by wrought iron,

a material which allowed
construction of a light

yet very strong structure,
able to support heavy loads

while resisting strong winds.

This experience would prove
extremely valuable.

♪ ♪

With the material chosen,
the next question was,

how would such a structure
behave aerodynamically?

As a tapered, vertical structure
1,000 feet tall,

the design had to withstand
variable wind speeds

that would change at each level
along its height.

Those winds were not
well understood,

and when calculating
the tower's aerodynamics,

Eiffel and his engineers
only had theory to guide them.

♪ ♪

But this wind tunnel,
which Eiffel built in Paris

23 years after
the tower's completion,

today offers
a unique opportunity

to understand the wind forces

he and his engineers had tried
to calculate.

BENOÎT ROMAN (translated):
At the time of the Eiffel Tower
project,

the highest structure
was the Washington Monument,

which is half the size
of the Eiffel Tower

and built in masonry.

That construction
took several decades,

as the ground underneath
kept sinking.

Eiffel's idea was to use
a completely different material,

to switch to metals,

which solved the weight issue.

But then they faced
a new problem: wind.

NARRATOR:
Here, physicist Benoît Roman
compares the effects

of wind on two models:

a straight tower on one side

and the Eiffel Tower
on the other.

ROMAN (translated):
So here we have a wind speed
of ten miles per hour.

We see very clearly
that the straight tower

is bending much more
than the Eiffel Tower,

which shows its higher rigidity

and wind resistance,

even though
they're the same height

and have the same quantity
of materials.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
So, why does the Eiffel Tower
resist wind

so much more effectively?

Iron is a flexible material,

so the great height
of the structure

makes it vulnerable
to large wind forces.

But with this unusual shape,

the force of the wind
and of the tower's own weight

naturally directs
the resulting force downward,

following the curves
of the tower.

(translated):
This is the best shape
imaginable for wind resistance.

It has the elegance
of a mathematical solution.

It's truly optimal.

NARRATOR:
And history has proven
that this entirely novel design

was the right one
to stand the test of time.

(thunder crashing)

During the great storm of 1999,

a record-breaking wind speed
of 134 miles per hour

was recorded at the top,

and the tower stood strong.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Eiffel has just received
good news.

After months of negotiations,

his iron tower has won
the official competition

for the World's Fair
gateway monument

and construction has finally

been given the go-ahead.

The site will be on the bank

of the Seine River,

where it will be allowed

to stand for 20 years.

LEMOINE:
So the World's Fair had a very

important signification
in the time, politically,

of course,
to show one country's strengths,

but also to show

what the industry could deliver,

and how everyday life could be
changed by these new products.

NARRATOR:
For Eiffel's company,

it's the beginning
of a race against time,

a race that will test
all the talent and skill

of the country's best
engineers...

...to produce sketches for each
of the tower's 18,038 pieces...

...and a plan to assemble
more than 8,000 tons of iron,

through summer and winter,
rain and snow.

♪ ♪

After months of preparation,

the tower's construction
can finally begin.

But being so close to the river

means the soil is soaked
with water.

How to build the foundation
for the world's tallest building

on such potentially
unstable terrain?

Once again,

Eiffel looks to his own
experience for the solution.

♪ ♪

This bridge was inaugurated
in 1860.

It's the first major
iron structure

Gustave Eiffel worked on
as a construction manager.

The idea was
to build a railway bridge

across the wide and turbulent
Garonne River.

MYRIAM LARNAUDIE-EIFFEL
(translated):
For the young Gustave Eiffel,

this bridge is
the chance of a lifetime.

He knows he's competing
with another engineer,

who's building
a similar bridge in Strasbourg,

and he really needs to do
better,

faster, and cheaper.

So he decides
to standardize his parts.

The construction
gets more efficient,

less costly,
and he ends up winning the race,

building
a decidedly modern bridge.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The biggest obstacle
was building the piers,

or support structures,
anchored in the river.

The question was:

how do you build a foundation
80 feet underwater?

(computer chirps)

LEMOINE:
Eiffel implements
a new technique

discovered through his first
employer, Charles Nepveu.

It involves large cast-iron
tubes, 3.6 meters in diameter.

The lower part rests
on the bottom level

and the upper part
is above the water level.

It is divided
into three chambers.

The lower chamber is
pressurized,

constantly fed
by compressed air,

and it allows workers
to work on a dry bed.

The middle section
is a decompression sas,

and the upper section
is open-air

to allow evacuation
of the rubble.

This innovative technique,

which ensured fast completion
of the foundations,

is a key factor
in the construction

of the Eiffel Tower.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In the middle
of the Paris winter,

the work begins.

Soon, around 500 workers
gather to dig the foundation

of the tower's north and west
pillars,

the nearest to the Seine.

Piece by piece,
just like in Bordeaux,

large watertight metal boxes
are assembled

which will form the pressurized
chambers, or caissons,

to allow construction
of the foundation

to be protected from flooding.

♪ ♪

Then the project encounters
a serious problem.

FLORENCE ALLORENT (translated):
When the pressurized air
chambers come into use,

workers develop
an unknown illness.

They report tingling sensations,
bleeding,

difficulty breathing,

and partial paralysis.

No one understands the cause
of this ailment,

nor the importance
of making decompression stops

when coming back to the surface.

NARRATOR:
Today, the illness
is known as the bends,

or caisson disease.

Inside the caisson,
much like underwater divers,

workers breathe air
at a high pressure.

But if they return
to the surface too quickly,

and the pressure drops rapidly
as a result,

nitrogen bubbles can form
in their blood,

causing decompression sickness.

Nobody understands
what is happening.

Even the government is concerned
about the potential danger.

(translated):
In April 1887,

the minister of commerce
and industry decides

to go down himself
into the foundations,

and he comes back up alive.

LEMOINE:
It was a demonstration
that the caisson

was not so harmful,

and it was not a problem
which could delay

the construction of the tower.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Despite the discomfort,

work resumes until the piers
are in place.

Soon, solid masonry rises
from the foundations

to support the metal structures
at the bottom of the tower.

Now they can begin
the ironwork.

One by one,

the fabricators melt, cut, trim,
and drill the future tower's

18,038 pieces
to exact specifications.

For the assembly method to work,

millimeter precision
is absolutely crucial

from start to finish.

LEMOINE:
The Eiffel Tower
is kind of complex.

But when you look at it closely,
it's only made

with sections in the shape
of T, L, U.

So you can see
that the very simple parts

used in the Eiffel Tower,
combined

in the complex structure,

can achieve the highest monument
in the world.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Horse-drawn carts deliver
the prefabricated components

to the construction site
on the Champ de Mars.

Six months after the start
of construction,

four 54-degree inclined pillars,

each composed
of four large assembled tubes,

called trusses,
rise from the ground.

So far, all the pieces
fit together as designed.

But how do the engineers ensure
that nothing moves out of place?

Once more, Eiffel calls
on lessons learned

building
another famous structure.

♪ ♪

In these Parisian workshops,

France built another monument
which remains just as iconic:

the Statue of Liberty.

And under its skin
lies one of the secrets

to the Eiffel Tower's
structural strength.

♪ ♪

In 1870, renowned French
sculptor Auguste Bartholdi

imagines a 300-foot-high statue
in the form of a woman,

celebrating the signing

of the U.S. Declaration
of Independence.

DARCY GRIMALDO GRIGSBY:
Certainly, monumentality
has a long history

prior to the 19th century.

But the notion
of creating the colossal

is so profoundly
a modern ambition.

And Bartholdi began his thoughts
about the Statue of Liberty

in Egypt-- he was making
terra-cotta little models.

But when it's about realizing,

he has to turn sculpture
into a modern phenomenon.

Um, the reason
it can be that gigantic

is that it's hollow.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Tall and in the shape
of a person,

yet hollow.

How does this structure
hold together?

It's 6:00 a.m. in New York City.

Before thousands of visitors
arrive,

ranger Matt Housch leads the way
on an exclusive tour

into the heart of the statue.

The similarities with
the Eiffel Tower

are easy to spot.

♪ ♪

HOUSCH:
What's most impressive
about the interior

of the Statue of Liberty is how
all of this iron and steel

works together to hold her over
300 feet above New York Harbor.

Over 100 years of wind and rain,

and she still stands because
of this interior structure.

NARRATOR:
After the teams riveted together

the internal structure's
iron beams,

they next installed
a secondary structure,

made out of hundreds
of iron bars.

On top of these bars,
they attached the copper skin,

piece by piece.

And the secret to these layers
holding together

is in one simple but incredibly
effective solution: rivets.

The inside
of the Statue of Liberty

can be a disorienting place.

But what you are seeing
are hundreds of copper plates.

So that's the dark metal
that you see

all along the interior here--
that's her skin.

And those copper plates were all
riveted together with thousands

of little copper rivets,

but the copper skin
has to be held up,

so we can see there's thousands
of steel bars

connect the copper plates
to the secondary iron bars,

and all of those iron bars
connect back here

to this iron pylon.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Building high, building light,

and building strong:

mastering the art of riveting
for the Statue of Liberty

would prove crucial
for years to come.

♪ ♪

Today, rivets are not common.

High-strength bolts
are more often used

to attach
large steel components.

But in Gonesse, north of Paris,

a few highly skilled workers
still practice

the efficient assembly technique
of riveting.

(speaking French):

Okay.

NARRATOR:
In this workshop,

Eiffel-style beams
are sometimes produced

to restore old structures.

♪ ♪

These rivets are pins,

but unlike bolts,
they don't have threads or nuts.

Instead they are heated,
softened,

and custom-fit into place.

(tool whirring)

The first step is
for a worker

to heat the rivet
in a small furnace

and then place it
in the assembly hole.

A worker holds
the rivet's head in place,

while another uses a hammer

to crush the emerging end.

As it cools, the rivet retracts

between the two pieces of steel.

♪ ♪

The technique might
look straightforward,

but during the construction
of the tower,

teams of four riveters
worked up to 12 hours per day

in highly dangerous conditions.

On average, workers installed
fewer than 1,700 rivets each day

out of a total
of two-and-a-half million.

It was really a long,
a bit tedious process,

but very strong,
which could last, of course,

for a long time.

And if the tower
is still there today,

it's also because

its way of assembling its parts
was very efficient.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Hundreds of workers
are now giving their all

to meet the deadline.

And the construction progress
is impressive,

with the metallic structure

rising fast to
the incessant beat of hammers.

(hammers clanging)

As the tower grows,

lifting thousands
of tons of iron

to greater and greater heights

becomes increasingly difficult.

But Eiffel has
an innovative solution:

placing mobile
steam-powered cranes

attached to each
of the tower's legs.

(computer chirps)

LEMOINE:
These 15-ton cranes,

installed on sloping
and then vertical rails

that will later be
reused by the elevators,

drive the progress
of the building site.

Eiffel's cranes are steerable,

have a range up to 12 meters

and a lifting capacity
of three tons.

They will contribute
to the success

of this colossal project.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The legs of the tower are now

rising above
the Parisian skyline.

So far, no major disasters.

None of the workers have died,

the foundations are not sinking,

and the structure stands strong.

♪ ♪

But it's still early days.

The real test will come
during the next stage:

joining the legs
and constructing

the tower's
second-level platform,

to support the huge tower
that will rise above.

♪ ♪

Turning hand-drawn designs
into forged pieces

and then finally
bringing them together

to connect perfectly.

It's a pivotal moment
for the engineers.

♪ ♪

But how to ensure
the tower and the platform

will remain level and true?

Once again, Eiffel and his team
prove extremely inventive.

(computer chirps)

Eiffel designed two devices:

sandboxes, an ancient technique
used by the Egyptians,

and hydraulic jacks,

to help level out
the position of the piles.

To push them up slightly

just to adjust
the final position

and the junction
of the four pillars.

In addition,

sandboxes were placed
at the top of the scaffolding,

between the box girders,
and to adjust them,

just simply drill a hole
and let the sand flow out.

By combining sandboxes
and hydraulic jacks,

the exact position
of the holes

drilled in the horizontal
girders and in the box girders

to adjust precisely
the first platform.

And this was really
the crucial event

of the construction
of the tower.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Finally, the main platform's
last rivet is set.

♪ ♪

After years of work,
months of uncertainty,

the construction's most
delicate step is now complete.

The tower finally stands
on its own,

aligned to support
what will now rise above it.

♪ ♪

The most difficult phase
has been completed,

but there is still
just over a year left

to build about 700 feet.

As winter wears on,
Eiffel hits a rough patch.

His construction has
been hindered by the weather

and tarnished by
considerable backlash.

♪ ♪

LEMOINE:
You have a very strong criticism

by eminent artists of the time,

writers like Maupassant,
architects like Charles Garnier,

the architect of
the new opera in Paris.

Intimately,

I'm sure it,
it was a bit, uh, uh,

shock, or maybe a harm for him,

not to be felt understood

as really doing something
exceptional for its time.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Eiffel is determined to turn
public opinion around.

His business may be engineering,

but he also understands the
importance of public relations.

♪ ♪

A few months later,
Eiffel has an unusual idea:

organize a special banquet
at the tower's second level.

He's hoping everyone
will finally understand

that this project isn't
just an engineering challenge,

it's a unique and timeless
work of art.

(metal tapping glass)

Right in the middle
of the construction site,

tables have been set to welcome
a select crew of journalists.

(guests applauding)

And it works.

According to
"The New York Herald,"

the guests are dazzled.

♪ ♪

It appears that
the road to success is clear.

At least for now.

Step by step,
the construction continues.

Following the second floor,

the tower's third floor
comes together,

377 feet above the ground.

These X-shaped structures
may appear decorative,

but they serve
an important function.

Why include this feature?

The answer comes down
to the fundamentals

of structural engineering.

When held by a single diagonal,

a structure is vulnerable

to the horizontal force
of the wind,

depending
on where it comes from.

But with two diagonals,

the structure resists horizontal
force more effectively.

As one cross-brace
is pushed or pulled,

the other resists in
the opposite direction,

maintaining
the structure's stability.

LEMOINE:
In all Eiffel structures,

you can find
these cross-shape sections

to brace the elements,
vertical and horizontal.

Very typical
of Eiffel construction,

but also of the iron
construction of its time.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
This principle was long used
in wood construction,

but Eiffel was the first one
who used it extensively

in metal construction.

It became a key to his method,

whether in the tower,
in the Garabit Viaduct,

or the Statue of Liberty.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Since the start
of the construction,

Eiffel knows that time pressure
is high.

So he takes pains
to treat the workers well.

ALLORENT (translated):
Carpenters were the best paid,
earning 80 cents an hour.

Fitters and riveters, 70 cents
an hour.

And laborers, known as
the mousses,

60 cents an hour.

They were paid almost
twice as much as workers

on other Parisian
construction sites at the time.

NARRATOR:
But as the structure
narrows towards the top,

the workers go on strike,

and Eiffel's busy building site
grinds to a halt.

ALLORENT (translated):
They work at ever greater
heights.

In response to their complaints
about this danger,

Eiffel replies that there's
no more danger at 1,000 feet

than at 100 feet.

So he tells his workers
to get back to work,

warning them that if they
don't punch in the next morning,

they'll be fired.

NARRATOR:
When only 27 workers show up
the following morning,

Eiffel quickly does the math.

♪ ♪

If the strike continues,
even just for a few days,

the tower might not be completed
on time for the World's Fair.

♪ ♪

LEMOINE:
If the tower would be, uh,

completed after
the opening of the exhibition,

it would be
a major failure for him,

for himself,
but also for France.

(speaking French)

(translated):
Eiffel gives in.

He offers the workers

a gradual increase
of five cents a month

until December.

And for those
who climb the highest,

he adds a 100-franc bonus
upon completion of the work,

plus warm clothes
to face the winter.

NARRATOR:
By the time construction
begins again,

the deadline for completion
looms.

♪ ♪

Following the end of the strike,
which lasted a week,

the tower reaches 557 feet,

becoming the tallest structure
on Earth.

From now on,
progress will be faster.

The structure
is thinner at the top

and requires fewer parts
to assemble.

The tower now grows by
more than three feet each day.

By March 15, 1889,

the fourth upper level
is almost complete.

But there is still
much left to do.

Painting the tower,

setting up the lighthouse
and the lighting system,

and, last but not least,

installing
the elevator trolleys.

From the start, the city's
specifications were clear.

If the tower was
to be 1,000 feet high,

it should be accessible
to the public.

And that meant elevators.

But how to power them,

especially in such a tall
and unusually shaped structure?

♪ ♪

In this space,
located right below

one of the tower's pillars,

Eiffel built
a one-of-a-kind elevator

based on the same technology
he used to level the tower:

hydraulic pressure.

(translated):
In 1889, water pressure

was already used
to move the elevators.

NARRATOR:
Behind this complex set of tubes

is a somewhat simple idea.

Water is pressured from a first
cylinder into a second one.

This generates a big push
at the other end,

where the pressure is released.

This move is translated
into a series of pulleys

that stretch cables
to allow the elevator

to move up and down.

♪ ♪

ROSEC (translated):
From 1900 to 1986,
there was a person

underneath the elevators
in the pilot's cabin,

and this person
had a big steering wheel.

When the pilot was steering
the elevator,

the passengers depended on
the smoothness of his movements.

If he opened up the throttle
quickly,

the elevator would shoot up.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But Eiffel's promise
was to take visitors

to the tower's very top.

(camera whirring)

For that purpose, he built
another set of elevators

between
the third and fourth floors.

♪ ♪

(computer chirps)

LEMOINE:
An ingenious system

of two cabins
connected by a cable

ensure the transport to the top,

thanks to an 80-meters-course
hydraulic piston.

When the piston pushes
at the lower cabin,

up to 80 meters,

the upper cabin
goes down 80 meters.

At halfway,

visitors pass
from one cabin to another

on a platform which offers
an impressive view over Paris.

And then the other cabin
continue its ascent.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Today, the tower's elevators
remain a testament

to Eiffel's bold sense
of innovation.

But they weren't ready for
the opening of the World's Fair,

so the first visitors

would have to climb to the top
on foot.

(wind howling)

Just over a month before
the World's Fair inauguration,

the tower's construction
is finally complete.

And it has officially become

the tallest building
in the world.

♪ ♪

For Eiffel and his team,

this success is the result of
more than five years of work.

♪ ♪

But the monument would
be more than just impressive.

It would be striking--
even colorful.

♪ ♪

Since its construction,

the Eiffel Tower has
received 19 layers of paint

to protect it from corrosion,

an average of
once every seven years.

♪ ♪

Today's Eiffel Tower
has a different color

than it did on opening day.

To better understand the history
of the tower's coloration,

heritage restorers
Claire Dandrel and Annick Texier

are examining the layers
of pigment that cover the iron.

DANDREL (translated):
Here's my incision,

which should be pretty good.

Now I'll sand it.

On this beveled cut
I just made,

I place my device,

which is very small
and very precious.

It's a digital field
microscope

connected to my computer,

and Annick checks the image
from the microscope.

Looks good.

(translated):
Yeah, you're pretty much

in the middle there.

You just have to focus.

NARRATOR:
These photos will be used

to document the history
of the tower's painting.

(translated):
We see all the
stratigraphic layers,

meaning all the colored layers
on the metal--

the metal of the tower.

Here we see
black with metal chips.

On this metal,
we can see a bright red layer.

This is Eiffel's first
preparation layer.

(translated):
When it was constructed.

(translated):
At that time, red was
the protection layer.

It was applied in the workshop

as the metal parts
were manufactured,

and added as the tower
was being assembled.

NARRATOR:
The conclusions are surprising.

From one painting campaign
to the next,

the tower's colors have changed
several times:

from red at the time
of the World's Fair

to much darker today.

But now the tower
is being repainted again,

in keeping
with its color of 1907,

when its long-term survival
was settled.

♪ ♪

Covering every inch
of the structure,

a team of acrobatic painters

follow the same methods
as their predecessors,

using tools such as the guipon,

an angled brush similar to those
used by the Eiffel workers.

♪ ♪

It took 66 tons of paint

to complete the tower's
19th paint job.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
It is a day of celebration
for Parisians,

and for thousands of tourists

who join them
from across the globe.

After a two-year-long race
against the clock,

the long-awaited
World's Fair of 1889

is officially open.

♪ ♪

At this climactic moment,

Gustave Eiffel is
surrounded by his engineers,

now close friends,

Émile Nouguier
and Maurice Koechlin.

♪ ♪

Although the tower
will only go by Eiffel's name,

it is the team's accomplishment
and masterpiece.

The product of years
of collaboration

with a common goal,
to push boundaries

and explore uncharted territory.

♪ ♪

LEMOINE:
Eiffel is proud for himself,

but he's also proud
for his team.

Not only him,
but his own company

can be really proud
of this success.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
As the World's Fair gateway,

the Eiffel Tower
is a huge success.

From the tower's heights,

visitors from all over the world
discover Paris

from a completely new
vantage point.

On the evening of May 6, 1889,

as a grand celebration unfolds,

Eiffel is riding high.

♪ ♪

But the tower's story
is far from over.

♪ ♪

Eiffel is worried
about the monument's future.

He knows it has
only about a decade left

before its lease expires.

After that,
the tower's fate is uncertain.

♪ ♪

LEMOINE:
If the tower had to be destroyed

after the 20 years' concession
which he had,

he would have
been like an orphan,

losing his major structure,

losing the structure
which made him famous.

And probably it was for him
inacceptable.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In 1898,

Eiffel is eager to find
a scientific justification

to keep the tower alive.

(telegraph beeping)

Soon, he invites two engineers

to carry out wireless radio
transmission experiments

from the top of the tower.

The experiment proves
that the height of the tower

can extend transmission range.

But that confirmation alone
is not enough to save the tower.

As wireless telegraphy
is rapidly developing,

Eiffel realizes
the tower could be

an invaluable tool
for communication.

And in 1904,

the monument is equipped with
a cutting-edge antenna,

allowing the French army
a reliable radio link

with its defense posts
248 miles away.

(telegraph beeping)

The tower proves
its strategic importance.

And in 1909,

Eiffel finally receives
the news he was hoping for:

the tower's lease is renewed.

It will not be destroyed.

LEMOINE:
Then he could be relieved

when the concession he had

was extended to 70 years.

And for him,

it's really something
to be proud of,

to be sure
that the tower will remain.

It was, in the beginning
of the 20th century,

one of his main objectives.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
An emblem of the 19th century
and the Industrial Revolution,

the Eiffel Tower ushered in
the age of skyscrapers,

like the Chrysler Building,
completed in 1930,

and the Empire State Building,
completed in 1931.

LEMOINE:
The Eiffel Tower is not only

an achievement of its time,

it's also a symbol of
our contemporary world.

Skyscrapers,

tall structures,
wouldn't be there today

if it wasn't
for the Eiffel Tower.

NARRATOR:
Standing through
the roaring '20s,

where it introduced radio

to Parisians
for the very first time...

(man speaking French on radio)

(crowd cheering)

Enduring two world wars,

where it was used as
a one-of-a-kind antenna...

(cheering)

NARRATOR:
Bringing major contributions
to science and technology...

The tower steadily
claimed its place

as a timeless icon and a
crucial part of French identity.

♪ ♪

Today, the Eiffel Tower
continues reinventing itself.

In 2000,
20,000 strobing lights

were placed directly
on the tower's structure.

♪ ♪

And 22 years later,

a team of specialists
installed a new antenna

to set up Paris's
new digital radio network.

Although it
is very representative

of the 19th century,
the Eiffel Tower

still stands today
as a source of inspiration

for engineers, architects,
builders in the world.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
A universal icon
of Paris and France,

the Eiffel Tower
continues to stand

the test of time,

inspiring those who see her
to dream bigger and bigger.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪