The Eiffel Tower (French:
La Tour Eiffel) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the
River Seine in Paris, France. It is one of the most recognized monuments
in the world. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, it is
the most visited monument in the world; 6,428,441 people visited the tower
in 2005 and more than 200 million since its construction. Including the
24 m (78.7 ft) antenna, the structure is 324 m (1,063 ft) high (since 2000),
which is equivalent to about 81 levels in a conventional building. In 1902,
it was struck by lightning, which meant that 100 metres of the top had
to be reconstructed and the lights illuminating the tower had to be replaced,
as they were damaged by the high energy of the lightning.
At the time of its construction
in 1887, the tower replaced the Washington Monument as the world's tallest
structure, a title it retained until 1930, when New York City's Chrysler
Building (319 m/1,046.58 ft tall) was completed. The tower is now the fifth-tallest
structure in France. The Eiffel Tower is the tallest structure in Paris.
The structure of the Eiffel
Tower weighs 7,300 tons. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top
of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18cm, due to thermal
expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. The tower also sways
6-7cm in the wind. |
|
