Construction of the foundations of the Eiffel…
January 1887 CE
Construction of the foundations of the Eiffel Tower starts in Paris on January 28, 1887.
The design of the tower had been originated by Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, who had discussed ideas for a centerpiece for the 1889 Exposition Universelle.
In May 1884, Koechlin, working at his home, had made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". (Harvie, David I. (2006). Eiffel, the Genius who Reinvented Himself. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton)
Gustave Eiffel had shown little enthusiasm initially, although he did sanction further study of the project, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre to add architectural embellishments.
Sauvestre had added the decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the first level and the cupola at the top.
The enhanced idea had gained Eiffel's support for the project, and he had bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier and Sauvestre had taken out.
The design had been exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884, and on March 30, 1885, Eiffel had read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingiénieurs Civils.
Little had happened until the beginning of 1886, but with the reelection of Jules Grévy as President and his appointment of Edouard Lockroy as Minister for Trade, decisions began to be made.
A budget for the Exposition had been passed and on 1 May, Lockroy had announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a three hundred meter- (nine hundred and eighty foot-) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars.
On May 12, a commission had been set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on June 12 it had presented its decision, which was that only Eiffel's proposal met their requirements.
After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract is signed on January 8, 1887 by Eiffel, acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and grants him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs.
This is less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs.
Eiffel is to receive all income from the commercial exploitation during the exhibition and for the following twenty years.
Eiffel will later establish a separate company to manage the tower.