Section 09, Detail HSPAINUMD

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower stands in the heart of Paris, France. Built for a world’s fair, it was completed in 1889. At 1,063 feet high, it’s the tallest building in the city. For more than forty years, it was the tallest building in the world.

Every year, millions of visitors ride the elevator to the top and gaze upon the beautiful city of Paris.

The tower is made out of huge iron beams connected by metal fasteners called rivets. There are more than 2.5 million rivets holding the massive structure together.

---

• • •

One of the rivets isn’t a rivet at all, but a button. Look for it two feet up on a large support beam at the northeast corner of the first platform. It stands out from the other rivets because it is shiny silver and not painted brown.

Press it and you’ll hear a soft, low hum. After sixty seconds, a hatch will open, revealing a ladder stretching the length of the support beam.

Enter and descend. The pull of air will become stronger as you climb down. You may let go at any time. Before you hit the ground, you’ll be sucked into a pneumatic tube.