Eiffel Tower The tower is tall, about the same height as an 81- building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by . Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing
Gustave Eiffel including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from "Le Figaro" and "Le Monde Illustré" completed the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolour, to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level. By June construction had reached the second level platform, and on Bastille Day this was used for a fireworks display, and Eiffel held a celebratory banquet for the press on the first level platform. In 1887, Eiffel became involved with the French effort to construct a canal across the Panama Isthmus. The French Panama Canal Company, headed by Ferdinand de