Contributions from
The Museum of History and Technology:
Paper 19
Elevator Systems
of the Eiffel Tower, 1889
Robert M. Vogel
| PREPARATORY WORK FOR THE TOWER | 4 | |
| THE TOWER’S STRUCTURAL RATIONALE | 5 | |
| ELEVATOR DEVELOPMENT BEFORE THE TOWER | 6 | |
| THE TOWER’S ELEVATORS | 20 | |
| EPILOGUE | 37 |
ELEVATOR SYSTEMS of the EIFFEL TOWER, 1889
By Robert M. Vogel
This article traces the evolution of the powered passenger elevatorfrom its initial development in the mid-19th century to theinstallation of the three separate elevator systems in the EiffelTower in 1889. The design of the Tower’s elevators involved problemsof capacity, length of rise, and safety far greater than anypreviously encountered in the field; and the equipment that resultedwas the first capable of meeting the conditions of verticaltransportation found in the just emerging skyscraper.
The Author: Robert M. Vogel is associate curator of mechanical andcivil engineering, United States National Museum, SmithsonianInstitution.
The 1,000-foot tower that formed the focal point and central feature ofthe Universal Exposition of 1889 at Paris has become one of the best knownof man’s works. It was among the most outstanding technologicalachievements of an age which was itself remarkable for such achievements.
Second to the interest shown in the tower’s structural aspects was theinterest in its mechanical organs. Of these, the most exceptional were thethree separate elevator systems by which the upper levels were madeaccessible to the Exposition visitors. The design of these systemsinvolved problems far greater than had been encountered in previouselevator work anywhere in the world. The basis of these difficulties wasthe amplification of the two conditions that were the normal determinantsin elevator design—passenger capacity and height of rise. In addition,there was the problem, totally new, of fitting elevator shafts to thecurvature of the Tower’s legs. The study of the various solutions to theseproblems presents a concise view of the capabilities of the elevator artjust prior to the beginning of the most recent phase of its development,marked by the entry of electricity into the field.
The great confidence of the Tower’s builder in his own engineering abilitycan be fully appreci