Auguste Bartholdi, in need of an engineer…

Auguste Bartholdi, in need of an engineer to help him to realize his Statue of Liberty, had contacted Gustave Eiffel in 1881.

Some work had already been carried out by Eugène Viollet-Le-Duc, but he had died in 1879.

Eiffel has been selected because of his experience with wind stresses.

Eiffel has devised a structure consisting of a four legged pylon to support the copper sheeting which makes up the body of the statue.

The entire statue is erected at the Eiffel works in Paris before being dismantled and shipped to the United States.