Everything about Gustave Eiffel totally explained
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (
December 15,
1832 –
December 27,
1923; in French, in English usually ) was a
French structural engineer and architect and a specialist of metallic structures. He is famous for designing the
Eiffel Tower, built
1887-
1889 for the 1889
Universal Exposition in
Paris,
France, the
Basilica Minore de San Sebastian, the only all-steel
basilica in Asia, and the
armature for the
Statue of Liberty,
New York Harbor,
U.S..
Early life
Eiffel was born in
Dijon,
Côte-d'Or,
France. The name
Eiffel was adopted by a
German ancestor in the early
18th century from his birthplace in the German
Eifel region (in
Marmagen), as the French couldn't pronounce his actual surname,
Bönickhausen. During his youth, the two strongest influences on Eiffel were both successful chemists, his uncles Jean-Baptiste Mollerat and Michel Perret. Both men spent a lot of time with young Eiffel, filling his head with everything from chemistry and mining to religion and philosophy. At school, Eiffel was extremely smart, but not very studious. While attending high school at Lycée Royal, Eiffel was bored and felt that the classes were a waste of time. It wasn't until his last two years at school that Eiffel found his niche; not in engineering, but in history and literature. Eiffel's study habits improved and he graduated with a degree in both science and humanities. Eiffel went on to attend college at Sainte Barbe College in Paris, in order to prepare for the difficult entrance exams into The
École Polytechnique. The École Polytechnique was, and still is, the most prestigious engineering institution in France. Ultimately, Eiffel was denied admission to The École Polytechnique, but instead attended the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris. École Centrale was a liberal private school that's now known as one of the top engineering schools in Europe. His mother's coal business provided ample income for the family and provided the funds for Gustave to receive education at the
École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in
Paris, where he studied chemistry (the equivalent to a Master of Science). Eiffel graduated from École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in 1855, the same year that Paris hosted the first World's Fair, with a master's degree in chemistry. After graduation, Eiffel's uncle offered him a job at his vinegar works in Dijon, France. However, a family dispute removed that opportunity, and Eiffel soon accepted entry-level employment with a company that designed railway bridges.
Charles Neveu provided Eiffel with his first job as one of many project managers for a railway bridge located in France. During the construction process, fellow engineers on the project were steadily quitting, and Eiffel eventually took charge of the entire project. Neveu saw the work that Eiffel performed on the site, and continued to place Eiffel in other jobs that involved project management of railway bridges and structures. During these projects, Eiffel got to know other engineers of the time, and he'd be remembered for his work and allowed to work on other projects. Without the influence of Neveu and his unwavering support, Eiffel might not have been as successful as he'd later become.
Career
Eiffel et Cie., Eiffel's consulting and construction firm, with the support of Belgian engineer
Téophile Seyrig, participated in an international bid to design and build a 160-m long railway bridge over the
Douro river, between
Oporto and
Vila Nova de Gaia,
Portugal. His proposal was the winner because it was a beautiful,
transparent, structure, it was the least expensive, and it incorporated the use of the
method of forces, a then novel technique in structure design developed by
Maxwell in 1864. The
Ponte Maria Pia is a double-hinged arch that supports a single-line railway plate through pillars that reinforce the whole of the bridge. The construction proceeded rapidly and the bridge was built in less than two years (
5 January 1876 to
4 November,
1877). It was inaugurated by King D.
Luís and Queen D.
Maria Pia, after whom it was named. The bridge was in use until 1991 (114 years), when it was superseded by the S. John Bridge, designed by engineer
Edgar Cardoso. Eiffel built a number of cast iron railway bridges in the Massif Central, such as the viaducts at Rouzat and Bouble. They are still in use by local trains and were built in the late 1860s.
Gustave Eiffel also designed
La Ruche in Paris. This, like the Eiffel Tower, became a city landmark. It is a three-story circular structure that looks like a large beehive and was created as a temporary structure for use as a wine rotunda at the Great Exposition of 1900. He also constructed the
Garabit viaduct, a
railway bridge near
Ruynes en Margeride in the
Cantal département. In the Americas, Eiffel designed the
central railway station in Santiago de Chile (1897) and the lighthouse located on
Mona Island,
Puerto Rico. The lighthouse was built around 1900 by the
United States which acquired the island after the end of the
Spanish-American War. It was decommissioned in
1976.
In 1887, Eiffel became involved with the French effort to construct a
Panama Canal. The French Panama Canal Company, led by
Ferdinand de Lesseps, had been attempting to build a sea-level canal, but finally came to the realisation that this was impractical. An elevated, lock-based canal was chosen as the new design, and Eiffel was enlisted to design and build the locks. However, the whole canal project suffered from serious mismanagement, and finally collapsed with enormous losses. Eiffel's reputation suffered a severe setback when he was implicated in the financial scandals surrounding de Lesseps and the entrepreneurs backing the project. Eiffel himself had no connection with the finances, and his guilty judgment was later reversed. However, his work was never realised, as the later American effort to build a canal used new lock designs (see
History of the Panama Canal).
After retirement he researched and developed new ideas through practical use of the
Eiffel Tower. The tower enabled him to make advancements in aerodynamics, meteorology, and radio-broadcasting. He built a wind tunnel at the base of the tower for his aerodynamic research, had meteorological equipment placed in various locations on the tower, and suggested to the military to have radio equipment installed on the top of the tower. Within the following years the tower would continue to serve as a permanent radio tower and eventually used for television broadcasting.
Eiffel died on
December 27,
1923 in his mansion on
Rue Rabelais in Paris. He was interred in the
Cimetière de Levallois-Perret.
Impact
The
Industrial Revolution played an important role in Gustave Eiffel's life. People were traveling across the world, new technologies and materials became available, and countries were industrializing. Much of Eiffel's work was affected by one or more of these conditions brought by the Industrial Revolution.
The condition that had the most impact on Eiffel's work was transportation. People around the world were demanding safe passages across rivers and were in need of bridges. Building these bridges is how Eiffel gained a reputation as an engineer, which allowed him to pursue larger and more difficult projects later in life. The bridges that he designed were constructed all over the world. The bridges allowed for easier and faster travel and trade in the geographical area in which they were constructed. Many of Eiffel's bridges didn't require skilled workers for assembly, which made his bridges a great economical choice.
The Eiffel Tower had a huge impact on France. The tower was the focal point of the
Exposition Universelle (1889) and drew millions of people to Paris. Nearly two million people visited the Eiffel Tower in 1889 alone. The tower quickly became a tourist attraction and brought large amounts of money into France's economy. After originally being thought of as an eyesore (it was actually designed to be torn down easily after the end of the Exposition), the tower quickly became a national symbol of France and brought a sense of pride to the people who live there.
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States. Eiffel's design for the interior structural elements of the statue allowed for the statue to become a reality. The statue showed the friendship and respect that was shared between France and the United States. The Statue of Liberty quickly became a national symbol of freedom in the United States and gave citizens a sense of pride. The statue became a great tourist attraction and brought many people to New York, boosting the economy. Several Americans living in France were pleased by the gift to their country and in turn, built a ¼ scale bronze model which stands approximately 2km north of the Eiffel Tower.
With all the opportunities the Industrial Revolution brought with it, it also had many challenges. Just as Eiffel had the opportunity to work on more projects in different locations, so did other engineers. Competition for projects was extremely high and the reputation of the engineer played a major role for obtaining projects. Yet another challenge during Eiffel's career was the introduction of new construction materials. Since the new materials hadn't been proven in projects, engineers took a risk in using them. Many of the bridges Eiffel had built were made from steel which Eiffel had helped pioneer. With the thriving Industrial world of the time. Some of his advancements included: designing a system of hydraulic presses which allowed workers to set bridge foundations deep under water, creating sturdy yet lightweight "web-like" trusses and arches to withstand high winds, using wrought iron for bridge construction because its flexibility could withstand high winds, curving the edges of piers to create more stable bases, and the development of "launching" which is a way to more easily move pieces of structures into place. Eiffel's ingenuity and brilliance allowed him to design and build some of the world's most famous structures.
Buildings and structures
Bridges
Maria Pia Bridge (Porto Viaduct)
Garabit Viaduct
Souleuvre Viaduct
Long Bien bridge, Hanoi, Vietnam
Birsbrücke, Münchenstein, Switzerland which collapsed on the 14th of June in 1891 killing over 70 people.
Garonne River Bridge near Bordeaux was Eiffel's first project at age 25.
The Eiffel Bridge in Viana do Castelo's Marina was a Gustav Eiffel's project from 1878.
The Railway Bridge over the Coura river in Caminha, Portugal.
Truong Tien Bridge is reflected in the Huong River, Hue, Viet Nam.
Other works
Combier Distillery, Samaur, France
Viaduct over the Sioule river (1867)
Viaduct at Neuvial (1867)
Notre Dame des Champs, Paris (1868)
Swing bridge at Dieppe (1870)
Gasworks of La Paz, Bolivia
La Paz Train Station, La Paz, Bolivia (now Bus Station of La Paz)
Church at Tacna, Peru (1875)
Church in Arica, Chile
Ruhnu Lighthouse at Ruhnu island, Estonia (1877)
Hotel Traian, at Iaşi, Romania (1884)
Bolivar Bridge, at Arequipa, Peru
Fenix Theatre, at Arequipa, Peru
San Camilo Market, at Arequipa, Peru
Church at Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur
Konak Pier, at İzmir, Turkey (1890)
Estación Central (main train station), Santiago, Chile (1897)
Bridge over the Tisza near Szeged, Hungary
Farol de São Thomé in Campos, Brazil
The framework of the Western Train station in Budapest, Hungary
Great bridge over the Begej in Zrenjanin, Serbia, built in 1904, disassembled and replaced by concrete bridge in 1969
Mona Island Lighthouse at Mona Island, Puerto Rico
Plaza del Mercado (local produce market) at Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Bridge in Trujillo Alto (still there but not used anymore]], Puerto Rico
Puente Quezon (Quezon Bridge) over Pasig River, Manila, Philippines
Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique, Railway Station in Maputo, Mozambique
House of Steel in Maputo, Mozambique
Ajfel Bridge On Skenderija Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dome (Salon Royale) of Hotel Negresco, Nice, France
Pabellon de la Rosa Piriapolis, Uruguay
Not Proved
Malleco Viaduct, Chile (1890)
Santa Justa Lift (Carmo Lift), in Lisbon, Portugal (1901)
(Bridge over the Cuyuni River, southern Venezuela)
Unrealized projects
Trinity Bridge, Saint Petersburg—Eiffel entered a project into the contest, but his project wasn't realized.
Trivia
Gustave's great-great-grandson, Savin Yeatman-Eiffel founded the independent animation company Sav! The World Productions, which has recently finished producing, writing, and directing its first TV production, Ōban Star-Racers. Further, in commemoration, his company's logo features the Eiffel Tower standing atop a globe.
The song "Alec Eiffel" by alternative rock band the Pixies is a tribute to Gustave Eiffel.Further Information
Get more info on 'Gustave Eiffel'.
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