Elevator Systems of the Eiffel Tower, 1889

In 1889, the world's tallest structure rose above Paris, an iron lattice that many engineers deemed impossible. But the Eiffel Tower presented an even greater challenge than its construction: how do you move thousands of visitors per day up and down a leaning skeleton of iron? This book tells the story of that engineering problem and the radical solutions that solved it. Robert M. Vogel traces the evolution of powered passenger elevators from their crude Victorian origins through the innovative systems installed for the Paris Exposition. The focus lies with the Otis hydraulic system, designed to handle the tower's dramatic incline, and the Roux, Combaluzier, and Lepape system serving the lower levels. Vogel examines the fierce bidding wars, the hesitations about complexity and noise, and how these elevator systems made vertical transportation to monumental heights accessible to the public. For engineering enthusiasts and architectural historians, this is a granular record of how Victorian ingenuity conquered one of humanity's most audacious structures.