

Fans and foes engaged in passionate arguments. His efforts to turn their dream into reality met with considerable-now legendary-resistance from public officials, but eventually Eiffel’s hard labor paid off and the tower was built.ĭuring construction the Iron Lady provoked strong emotions. This agreement also gave the two engineers 1 percent of any subsequent profits.Īs compensation, Gustave Eiffel poured his heart and soul into the project. In December 1884, in exchange for taking over the costs of construction, the two engineers signed a document that gave Eiffel legal rights and authorship of the project. They presented their project to Gustave Eiffel, who decided to join the project, and in the end asked the two inventors to give him the rights to the creation. They sketched out dozens of designs, did research, and hooked up with an architect who drew up their plans on a large scale. With the approach of the 1889 Universal Exposition, Koechlin, aided by his collegue Nouguier, started to play with the idea of a metal tower along the lines of an obelisk. Under the direction of the sculptor Bartholdi, it created the armature for the Statue of Liberty, which France gave to the United States in 1885 and has lit up the world ever since. In the 1880s, the Eiffel Company was known worldwide for its expertise in metal structures.
