GUSTAVE EIFFEL

(15TH Dec 1832 - 27th Dec 1923)

 QUICK FACTS

• Alexandre Gustave Eiffel fondly called ‘the magician of iron’ was a French master
engineer and architect. A graduate from ‘École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures’
in Paris, he joined a company that specialised in construction of railway bridges. It
took him a couple of years to master the job and soon he was directing bridge
construction and later went on to form his own company ‘Eiffel & Cie’. He was
associated in constructing several bridges including the famous Garabit Viaduct for
the railway network of France. At that time it was considered the highest bridge in
the world. His expertise was not limited to France only. He made a mark of his
excellence in other countries including the United States, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay,
Peru, Mexico and Chile among others. He was involved in the construction and
designs of many buildings and structures including ‘Cathedral of San Pedro de
Tacna’, Peru, the ‘Grand Hotel Traian’ in Iaşi, Romania, Konak Pier in İzmir, Turkey
and ‘Catedral de Santa María’ in Chiclayo, Peru. One of his noted works was
designing of metallic structure of the ‘Statue of Liberty’ in the United States that
fell on him after the sudden death of its original engineer. The most renowned
work that brought him international fame and cemented his name in history was
the ‘Eiffel Tower’ of Paris. Post retirement from engineering he devoted the rest of
his life in meteorology and aerodynamics.
 CAREER

• After completing his graduation he did an unpaid job for a few months to assist his brother-in-law in a foundry. He
got his first paid job as the secretary of Charles Nepveu, a railway engineer.
• When the company of Nepveu became bankrupt, he arranged for a bridge design work for Eiffel that was to be
constructed for the ‘Saint Germaine’ railway. ‘Compagnie Belge de Matériels de Chemin de Fer’, the company that
took over a few businesses of Nepveu made him managing director of its two factories and eventually Eiffel
headed the research department.
• In 1857, Nepveu got a contract for construction of a railway bridge over the river Garonne, Bordeaux, and Eiffel
was given the job of assembling the metalwork. Later from March 1860 Eiffel managed the whole project
following Nepveu’s resignation. Eiffel was made the chief engineer of ‘Compagnie Belge de Matériels de Chemin
de Fer’ and was further promoted. As the business of the company declined, he resigned in 1865.
• He started working independently as a consulting engineer and got involved in construction of the railway station
at Toulouse and at Agen. In 1866, he got a contract of supervising construction of locomotives for the government
of Egypt and in that pursuit he visited Egypt.
• His reputation as an architect and civil engineer got him more projects and he established his own workshop in
1866 and undertook projects in different countries. One such project was all-metal construction of the church of
San Marcos in Arica, Chile. Various parts of the project were manufactured in France and shipped to the site to be
assembled there. His technical innovations were path breaking (specially prefabrication of cantilever
constructions).
• On October 6, 1868, he along with Théophile Seyrig formed the company ‘Eiffel et Cie’ and received several
important projects.
• The Exposition Universelle in 1878 cemented his position as a leading engineer of his time. Many of the buildings
of the exhibition were constructed by him.
 CAREER

• Advancing in his career in 1886, he designed a dome for the ‘Nice Observatory’, an astronomical
observatory in Nice, France. The dome which was noted for its movable feature was the largest of
its kind in the world at that time.
• His most noted masterpiece that bears his name and went on to become one of his prominent
works is the ‘Eiffel Tower’. Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin first made a design of the tower
that would become the centrepiece of the 1889 Exposition Universelle. The work of the tower
began in 1887 which included 2,500,000 rivets and 12,000 other components, all designed in such a
way that when assembled would handle wind pressure. Economically feasible, the structure if
melted would occupy only about two and a half inches of its base.
• He took two years to construct the Eiffel Tower, whose height is 984 feet. It is not only a prominent
tourist attraction in France but is also considered a work of art today by the Parisans and critics.
• He earned a contract in 1887 for building locks for the Panama Canal. His reputation was hurt after
he was charged of misappropriation of funds along with Ferdinand De Lesseps, the head of the
‘French Panama Canal Company’ and Lesseps’s son following liquidation of the company. On
February 9, 1893 he was found guilty and sentenced for two years in prison along with a fine of
20,000 francs. A further appeal at the ‘Cour de Cassation’ however acquitted him of all charges and
obligations.
• The construction of the Eiffel tower infused in him the interest for aerodynamics. He built an
aerodynamic laboratory in 1905 at the base of the tower and in 1909 constructed his first ever wind
tunnel there. Post retirement from engineering he devoted the rest of his life studying meteorology
and aerodynamics. In 1912, he moved his set up from the tower to a new location at Auteuil and
established a larger research laboratory there. One of his noted books on aerodynamics among the
many he wrote is ‘Resistance of the Air and Aviation’.
 FAMOUS WORKS

• Avre Footbridge.
• Buu Dien - Compagnie des établissements Eiffel.
• Casa de Fierro - Compagnie des établissements Eiffel.
• Eiffel Tower - Compagnie des établissements Eiffel.
• Garabit Viaduct - Compagnie des établissements Eiffel.
• Statue of Liberty inner support structure - Compagnie des
établissements Eiffel
 AVRE FOOTBRIDGE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG4WefEp1KE

Casa de Fierro, Iquitos, Peru,
La Casa de Fierro ,located in Peru, in front
of the major square between Próspero and
Putumayo streets, is a large iron residence
built during the rubber boom at the end of
the nineteenth century. First, the house had
been previously bought by the Bolivian
explorer and entrepreneur Antonio Vaca
Diez.
Commemorative plaque mounted on the
exterior wall
La Casa de Fierro is one of the finest as well
as best-preserved samples of civil
architecture in Peru. The walls, ceiling, and
balcony are plastered in rectangular sheets
of iron. It is said to be the first
prefabricated house in the Americas.
Although popularly said to have been
designed by the French architect Gustave
Eiffel, there is no evidence that this is true;
the building does not reflect his
architectural style.[2] The unsubstantiated
claims say it was built in the Belgian
workshops of Les Forges D´Aiseau.
• Rubber baron Anselmo del
Aguila bought it at
the International Exposition
of Paris in 1889. Once
dismantled, it was brought
in pieces to Iquitos (the
metal sheets were carried
by hundreds of men through
the jungle), and assembled
there in 1890.
• Since 1985, it is being
administered by the Club
Social de Iquitos; which has
contributed in its
restoration. Its second floor
now has a restaurant.
 GARABIT VIADUCT

The Garabit Viaduct (Viaduc de Garabit in French) is a railway arch bridge spanning
the River Truyère near Ruynes-en-Margeride (Fr), Cantal, France, in the
mountainous Massif Central region. The bridge was constructed between 1882 and
1884 by Gustave Eiffel, with structural engineering by Maurice Koechlin, and was
opened in 1885. It is 565 m (1,854 ft) in length and has a principal arch of 165 m
(541 ft) span.
EIFFEL TOWER
 AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

• Though he designed and constructed a number of great structures in his illustrious

career, his most famous and iconic structure is the world-famous Eiffel Tower.

• In 1913, the ‘Smithsonian Institution’ honoured him with the ‘Samuel P. Langley
Medal for Aerodromics’ award.