Eiffel Tower Trivia Quiz Questions and Answers

Trivia quiz questions about the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower Trivia Quiz Questions and Answers

What is the Eiffel Tower?
A: The Eiffel Tower is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France.

It is named after whom?
A: The engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.

Constructed from 1887–1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its what?
A: Design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited what?
A: Paid monument in the world.

How many people ascended it in 2015?
A: 6.91 million.

How tall is it?
A: The tower is 324 meters (1,063 ft) tall.

It is about the same height as a what?
A: An 81-story building.

Its base is square with what measurements?
A: 125 meters (410 ft) on each side.

During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the what?
A: World.

The tower has three levels for whom?
A: Visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels.

The top level's upper platform is how far above ground?
A: 276 m (906 ft).

Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to which levels?
A: The first and second levels.

The climb from ground level to the first level is how many steps?
A: Over 300.

The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to whom?
A: Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel.

It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable center piece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate what?
A: The centennial of the French Revolution.

Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from where?
A: The Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853.

In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as what?
A: 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.

Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve what?
A: Further study.

The two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to do what?
A: Contribute to the design.

What did Sauvestre add?
A: Decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments.

The new version gained whose support?
A: Eiffel's.

He bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited where?
A: At the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name.

On 30 March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to whom?
A: The Société des Ingénieurs Civils.

Little progress was made until 1886, when whom was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade?
A: Jules Grévy.

On 12 May, a commission was set up to examine what?
A: Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details.

After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on what date?
A: 8 January 1887.

This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the what?
A: The representative of his company.

The contract granted him 1.5 million francs toward what?
A: The construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs.

Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for how long after that?
A: For the next 20 years.

He later established a separate company to do what?
A: Manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.

The proposed tower had been a subject of controversy, drawing criticism from those who did not believe it was what?
A: Feasible and those who objected on artistic grounds.

These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about what?
A: The relationship between architecture and engineering.

It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each meter of the tower's height) was formed, led by whom?
A: The prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the arts.

A petition called what, was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Charles Alphand?
A: Artists against the Eiffel Tower.

Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was what?
A: The one place in Paris where the tower was not visible.

By 1918, it had become a symbol of what?
A: Paris and of France after Guillaume Apollinaire wrote a nationalist poem in the shape of the tower to express his feelings about the war against Germany.

Today, it is widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art, and is often featured where?
A: In films and literature.

When did the work on the foundations start?
A: On 28 January 1887.

Foundations for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on what?
A: Four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg.

Why were the west and north legs more complicated?
A: They were closer to the river Seine so each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft) to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick.

Each of these slabs supported a block of what?
A: Limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork.

Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by what?
A: A pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long.

The foundations were completed on what date?
A: 30 June.

How many drawings did the drawing office produced?
A: 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed.

The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of what?
A: The degree of precision required.

The position of rivet holes was specified to within 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) and angles worked out to what?
A: One second of arc.

The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from where?
A: A factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed.

No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was what?
A: It was sent back to the factory for alteration.

In all, how many pieces were joined together?
A: 18,038.

How many rivets were used?
A: 2.5 million.

When was the critical stage of joining the legs at the first level completed?
A: By the end of March 1888.

Construction involved 300 on-site employees, and how many died?
A: Only one person died, due to Eiffel's safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens.

Equipping the tower with adequate and safe passenger lifts was a major concern of whose?
A: The government commission overseeing the Exposition.

The 10-ton cars each held how many passengers?
A: 65.

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by doing what?
A: Leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower.

Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took how long?
A: Over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features.

At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a what?
A: A 25-gun salute fired at the first level.