Izzy, Nick, Tom and Gus (1)

According to Wikipedia and the London Evening Standard (so it MUST be right) it is illegal in the EU to take photographs of any historic building which has been deemed copyright by its owners. The construction pictured above is too old to be copyrighted, but the authorities have claimed such protection for any pictures of this chunk of iron when illuminated.

In abject terror (ot possibly not very ject terror) fbb is rushing to get the biog finished before Officer Crabtree (‘Good Moaning”) …

… arrives to cart fbb off to the Bastille.

There is no evidence of mass arrests at the Olympics Opening Ceremony, indeed, no evidence of any prosecutions under yet another piece of EU hyper-daftness.

But there is no doubt that the tower is an absolutely iconic representation of Paris, France. It features in many a poster in 2024 …

… as it did 100 years previously.

And it was all down to a Mounsieur Bonikhausen.

His full name might help you remember! He was Alexandre Gustave Bonikhausen dit Eiffel. The “dit” (French for “said”) was a legal nicety allowing a person to register two surnames, both of which were legally recognised. He could call himself by either name.

We call him “eye-full” but in French his name is pronounced “F L“) and he did not design the tower that bears his name. His design was for a simple vertical pylon and it was one of his oppos that came up with the triangular design. Gus hated it!

Later he changed his mind and entered his colleague’s plans in a competition to design and build the focal point for the 1889 Paris “Worlds Fair”.

It won the competition.  Indeed it was the only entry! That’s because the Paris official who set up the competition included specifications which he had obtained from Gus’s design! Unjust, yes. But French, absolutely!

The plan was to take it apart after the Exposition but, apparently, no one could find the right sized spanner. At one point it was sold to America for re-assembly in New Yoick – but the sale was banned by La Gouverement Francaise.

So it is still there!

For the first nine days of the Exposition it did not open to the public because the lifts were not working! 

Encore Vive La France. 

Bur when it did open it was an astronomically gargantuan huge success and made oodles of francs for M Eiffel.

Construction started from the bottom (there’s  a surprise) with four massive foundation blocks.

There was no actual fabrication on site. M. Eiffel created a massive Meccano set at his factory and the bits were simply riveted together on the Champ de Mars.

The critical phase of the build came when the first “etage” was to be added.

The floor was supported on scaffolding until the bolts (rivets) were secured and, unlike some of fbb’s Meccano models, the parts fitted perfectly first go – such was the skill of the draftsmen and designers back at the premises of Eiffel et Cie.

The original Otis lifts were hydraulic, pushed up on a piston from below and not dangled on ropes.

Panic not, dear readers ; the above is a “cut away” drawing. There were walls and windows on both sides of the real thing!

Not often mentioned is that Gus had the names of 72 French scientists added to the structure …

… as a recognition that it was not just he who was good at his job. No doubt he felt he had gone one better than the 72.

But he did include an apartment just for himself on the very top gallery.

Very cosy!

This bit of another of Eiffel’s tower structures is, however, a pylon!

But it is what the pylon supported that is as recognisable as the Paris tower. It supported a statue by this man …

… Frederic Auguste Batholdi. His statue was called “Liberty Enlightens The World” and it was big. Parts of the finished article were exhibited in France and America before it was assembled on Bedloes Island just off Manhatten Island.

Then the jigsaw pieces were each attached to a sub-frame which in turn was attached a bigger frame attached to the pylon.

The result is very familiar! Yet it is Gus’s Meccano that holds it up. The whole caboodle was creates in France and shipped to America as a kit.

Access is available within the stone plinth by stairs or lift.

Then it is a spiral staircase all the way up to the crown viewing area; (actually two intertwined spirals, one for up and the other down).

There is a very small lift but only for staff and emergencies.

The crown is the main viewing area.

In the early days it was possible to climb a very steep ladder ..

… to a small viewing gallery outside the torch but such an excitement is deemed unsafe in today’s litigious environment.

Readers may, by now, be crying foul! Where, pray, is the experience of Public Transport in this blog?

Well, there are several sets of lifts!

But what is not generally well known is that Mr Gus Eiffel had a hand in many transport projects, joining Izzy Brunel, Nick Tesla and Tom Telford on the chart of the worlds greatest engineering “hits”.

How’s this for a bus station?

It is one that Gus built! (CORRECTION : caused to be built.)

More tomorrow.

The railway station below is NOT one that Gus built, but, after nearly a century (well, it seems like it) the much improved Ryde Esplanade station is complete – well, nearly.

To the right of the grand entrance (there is anther non grand entrance from the site of the old bus statin) is the former grot shop awaiting a new tenant. Then, to the left of the Propylaeum (see below), is the new caff – also awaiting a tenant.

It is good to see that these two important facilities will be up and running by the quiet winter season! This is due to skilled planning by all parties concerned.