The Final Preparations

On January 28, 1887, construction officially began. Eiffel gathered his entire team—engineers, architects, foremen, and selected workers—for a ceremony at the Champ de Mars. His speech, preserved in company archives, reveals his vision:

"Gentlemen, we embark today on a project that many call impossible. They say iron cannot soar to such heights, that wind will topple our tower, that it will be an eyesore on Paris. They are wrong. We will build not just a tower, but a symbol of what human ingenuity can achieve when we work together, regardless of the flag we were born under or the language we first spoke. This tower will stand because each of you—from the chief engineer to the newest apprentice—will give it your best. Together, we will touch the sky."

As the first shovels broke ground, the assembled team represented a microcosm of the new industrial age: French and foreign, Christian and Jewish, established families and recent immigrants, all united in a common purpose. The tower that would rise from their collaboration would embody not just French achievement, but the international spirit of human ambition.

The team was ready. The plans were complete. The workshop hummed with activity. Now came the true test: could they actually build it?# Chapter 3: Construction: An Engineering Marvel

On the cold morning of January 28, 1887, the first workers arrived at the Champ de Mars to begin what many considered an impossible task: building an iron tower that would soar to 300 meters, higher than any structure humanity had ever attempted. Over the next 26 months, their story would become one of innovation, precision, courage, and remarkable safety in an era when construction deaths were grimly routine.