Innovation Under Pressure: The Elevators

Installing elevators in a structure that curved inward presented unprecedented challenges. No existing elevator could follow the tower's changing angles. Eiffel commissioned different systems from multiple companies, creating redundancy and spurring innovation.

The Roux, Combaluzier et Lepape elevators for the east and west pillars used a cable and pulley system with a stroke of 80 meters. The American Otis company, already famous for safety, provided elevators for the north and south pillars. For the journey from the second platform to the summit, Léon Edoux designed a hydraulic system with pistons extending 80 meters—then the longest in the world.

Each system required workers with specialized skills. The Otis team included several African American technicians who faced discrimination in hotels but were welcomed on the work site. James Washington, an elevator specialist from Chicago, later wrote: "In America, they cared what color you were. On the tower, they only cared if you knew your job. That iron didn't discriminate."