Is anyone know why the Eiffel Tower is to be slightly taller during the summer?
Eiffel Tower, French Tour Eiffel, Parisian landmark that is also a technological masterpiece in building-construction history. When the French government was organizing the International Exposition of 1889 to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, a competition was held for designs for a suitable monument.
More than 100 proposals submitted by the greatest international architects, the French government chose the one from Gustave Eiffel, the French engineer best known for his construction of metal bridges and for contributing to the design of the Statue of Liberty.
His proposal won for its originality and for its technical aspects. 18,038 iron parts and 2.5 million rivets were needed for its assembly.
Beyond the controversy, the work involved, and the complexity of the structure, the story of the Eiffel Tower is steeped in legends and curiosities.
Chief among these is the variability of its height.
The tower itself is 300 metres (984 feet) high. It rests on a base that is 5 metres (17 feet) high, and a television antenna atop the tower gives it a total elevation of 324 metres (1,063 feet).
Due to the thermal expansion of the metal that occurs during the summer time, the Tower grows an average of 15 centimetres (six inches) during the hottest months. The greatest growth on record occurred in 1976, when this heat-induced expansion added another 18 centimetres (seven inches) to the tower’s 324 metre height.
Another curious element regarding this beautiful monument is its repainting, a process that takes place, on average, every seven years. The tower has changed colors numerous times, moving from Venetian red, to ochre yellow, to chestnut brown, and finally to its current bronze, chosen as recently as 1968.
