Biography of Gustave Eiffel

Gustave Eiffel

Biography

Gustave Eiffel is a French engineer and entrepreneur of the late nineteenth century, mainly known for the realization of the tower that bears his name in Paris. He made his career building iron works of art, an innovative material for the time that allowed the construction of structures that could not be made of stone ...

His youth and his formation (1832-1855)

Gustave Eiffel was born on December 15, 1832 in Dijon of François-Alexandre Eiffel and Catherine Mélanie Moneuse. He spent his early childhood with his maternal grandmother in the same city, where he will join the school. In 1850, when he graduated from the baccalaureate, he left Dijon to enter the College Ste Barbe for the preparation of the entrance examination at Polytechnique. But he failed and chose to enter the Ecole Centrale de Paris from which he graduated in 1855. His specialty was chemistry, but he turned professionally speaking to metallurgy, a field of activity that his mother knows and in which she has relationships.

Professional activities (1856-1887)

His career began when he was hired by Charles Nepveu, a steam engine and railway equipment builder. He will make his debut there but stayed there only one year since, from 1857 is taken the responsibility of the office of studies of Pauwels and Company. It is in this company that he will make his first works of art. Between 1858 and 1860 he worked on the Bordeaux bridge.

In 1866 he left the Pauwels and Company and set up consulting engineer on his own, then, the following year, created his own company with which he created a viaduct of the railway line between Commentry and Gannat . This viaduct occupied it until 1871. Until 1873 he worked for various viaduct sites in Spain, Romania, Portugal, Egypt, Latin America and on the viaduct of Thouars, on the Brive-Tulle line. In 1875 he designed the Budapest West Station and the following year the Maria Pia Bridge, which spans the Douro River in Portugal. He will then make some works for the World Fair of 1878, and the metal structures of Bon Marché, Crédit Lyonnais in Paris, Birrh cellars in Thuir, near Perpignan, etc.

In 1879 he worked on the construction of the Viana and Beira Alta bridges in Portugal and in 1880 on the Szeged Bridge in Hungary. From 1880 to 1884 he spent a lot of time on what is sometimes considered a masterpiece, the viaduct of Garabit. During this period he continued to work on other sites, delivering the bridge Cubzac (1882), the viaduct on the Tardes (1883), the dome of the great equatorial in the observatory of Nice. He diversifies a little by creating removable bridges that he sends to Indochina.

In 1885 he did an original job that changed his habits. It designs and builds the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty which is quite complex to do.

The works from 1887 to 1889 are mainly devoted to the construction of a 300m tower in the heart of Paris, for the World Fair of 1889. It is the famous "Eiffel Tower", but it is also the one of these latest achievements.

Scientific Studies (1887-1923)

The Gustave Eiffel wind tunnel

During the construction of the tower that will bear his name, Gustave Eiffel continues to run his business. Thus in 1887 he signed an important contract for the Panama Canal, but it is precisely this contract that will lose him. Involved in the scandal of Panama, he is sentenced before the Paris Court, well that this judgment is broken later. Gustave Eiffel then focuses on his tower and the benefits he can draw. He begins by exploiting, as expected, the tower over the twenty years during which he has the rights. In 1909 he set up an aerodynamic laboratory, which he used to experiment with a specially designed drop apparatus. He deduces physical properties on the shape of airplane wings. He will also install on the tower a meteorological laboratory. All these scientific experiments pushed him to build a wind tunnel (in 1912) that he installed rue Boileau, in Paris. Thanks to him aerodynamics has made great progress during this period.

Gustave Eiffel's interest in scientific experiments is inversely proportional to the amount of work done by his company, which eventually ceases all activity.

Privacy

His private life is marked by his marriage on July 8, 1860 with Marie Gaudelet. Gustave Eiffel had five children, three girls and two boys. The eldest, Claire, was born in 1863, three years after her marriage. His wife will unfortunately die in 1877, shortly before her own mother.

Gustave Eiffel died on December 27, 1923 at the age of 91.

Awards

Eiffel's long industrial career has earned him distinctions of various kinds. Thus, he was named:

President of the Society of Civil Engineers in 1880
President of the International Congress of Construction Processes at the Exhibition of 1889
President of the Friendly Association of Central School Alumni
Member of the Development Council of this School
Laureate of the Institute (Prix Montyon de Mécanique in 1889)
Laureate of the Encouragement Society (five-year Elphège Baude Award)

Abroad, the most renowned engineering companies have awarded him the title of honorary member. Citon the Institution of Mechnnical Engineers of London, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers of New York, the Royal Institute of Dutch Engineers in The Hague, the Imperial Society of Russian Polytechnic, the Association of Industrial Engineers of Barcelona and the Association of Engineers graduated from Ghent Special Schools.

At each of the 1878 and 1889 exhibitions, Gustave Eiffel won a Grand Prix, that is to say, the highest prize awarded. Finally, the list of awarded decorations shows that each of them corresponds to the execution of important works:

Knight of the Legion of Honor, at the opening of the Exhibition of 1878, and Officer in 1889, at the inauguration of the Tower
Officer of Public Instruction (Exhibition of 1889)
Knight of the Order of Franz Joseph (Pestj Station)
Austrian Iron Crown Knight (Szegedin Bridge)
Commander of the Order of Conception of Portugal (Douro Bridge)
Commander of Isabella the Catholic of Spain (Tagus Bridge)
Royal Commander of Cambodia (works in Cochin China)
Commander of the Annam Dragon (works in Cochin China)
Commander of the Crown of Italy (unbreakable bridges)
Commander of St. Anne of Russia (removable bridges)
Commander of the Savior of Greece (various works)
Commander of St. Sava of Serbia (various works)

Biography, by Georges Barral

Georges Barral is the author of the book "The scientific pantheon of the Eiffel Tower", a reference work on this monument which has the characteristic of giving the biograpies of scholars on the tower, hence the name of the book. But he also gives other biographies, those of the designers and main builders of this tower. Here is the complete text below. It is in a style a little old but gives much more information on Gustave Eiffel. Note that this text was written in 1891, only 12 years after the end of the construction of the tower. Eiffel was still active, so obviously, there is no end of his life.

Biography of Gustave Eiffel, by Georges Barral (1891)

The triumphant successor of this gigantic work, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, was born in Dijon, in the department of Côte-d'Or, on December 15, 1832. Here is a documentary copy of his birth certificate taken from the registers. of the civil status of the Burgundian city. It will be seen that the name of Eiffel was only a nickname until 1880, and that it was only that year that it became the legal name of the great engineer.

The year 1832, December 16, at one o'clock in the evening, in front of us Bernard-Charles Belot, deputy mayor of the city of Dijon (Côte-d'Or), by special delegation the functions of civil registrar.

Appeared: François-Alexandre Bonickhausen said Eiffel, thirty-seven years old, a merchant living in Dijon, a suburb of Ouche, on the canal harbor, who introduced us to a child we recognized to be of the male sex, born in his home on December 15 this month, hour of evening 8, of the marriage contracted in this city on November 23, 1824 between him, declaring, and Catherine Moneuse, his wife, aged thirty-three years; to which he has declared the names of Alexander Gustavus.

The said statement and presentation made in the presence of Benoît-Nicolas-Casimir-Alphonse Lefebvre, aged forty-eight, owner and major of the National Guard and Claude Bossu, aged sixty-five, retired battalion commander, knight of Saint-Louis, officer of the Legion of Honor and colonel of the National Guard, both domiciled in Dijon and signed with the father and us after reading the present birth certificate.

Signed: BELOT, LEFEBVRE, BOSSU, EIFFEL,

In the margin is the following statement:

By judgment of the court of first instance, Dijon dated December 15, 1880, it was ordered that Covenant opposite will be rectified in that the name of Eiffel will be substituted for that of Bonickhausen.

Dijon, august 20th, 1881. For the mayor, the deputy, Signed: LORY.

Mr. Bonickhausen said Eiffel (father) was born in Paris on January 29, 1795; he was the son of Alexandre-Marie Bonickhausen, known as Eiffel, and Marguerite-Josephine Lachapelle. He died in Dijon, on September 15, 1879.

Everyone knows that there are many names of Germanic origin here. It's not surprising. For a long time, Michelet has judiciously remarked, Germany and France have lived pell-mell on the Eastern frontier. In the valleys of the Meuse and the Moselle and in the forests of the Vosges, a vague and floating population was formed, living on the common countries, before deciding for a definitive nationality. From there this exchange of names. In Rhenish Prussia, not far from Aix-la-Chapelle, east of the Belgian frontier, there is a volcanic and mountainous plateau with an elevation of 500 meters. It's called Eifel. In geology, the Efelian adjective applies to an average division of the Devonian system of the Meuse and Rhine basins, containing powerful limestone massifs attributed to a coral origin. It has been so called because of its importance in the Rhine Eifel. Mr. Jules Gosselet, eminent geologist and corresponding member of the Institut de France, has published a remarkable memoir on this subject.

Former barbist, Mr. Eiffel presided in August 1886, the distribution of the awards of the College Sainte-Barbe, honor reserved for the most eminent students. On leaving this famous house of education, he was received at the Central School of Arts and Manufactures, which he left in 1855 to work at one of his uncles who owned a chemical factory. Let's add that it was at the Lycée de Dijon that he had attended primary school. But the chemistry was not the fact of Mr. Eiffel, who dreamed another job of his engineering degree. He entered the Western Railway Company, then, shortly after, he passed to the Company of Orleans, as chief of service and was charged to direct the execution of the great metal bridge of Bordeaux, His way was found. From the start, he showed a deep science combined with an exceptional look and coolness. The Bordelais, who followed with extreme interest the construction of their bridge, were not a little surprised to find that it was a young man of twenty-six, hardly twenty, who directed the work with rare ease even in an old practitioner. This first step accomplished, the personality of Mr. Eiffel only asserted itself.

In 1867, the World Exhibition offered him another opportunity to come to light. The commissioner general, the illustrious Hippolyte Le Play, commissioned him to verify experimentally the calculations according to which the arches of the machine gallery had been made, and he accomplishes this mission in the most remarkable way.

Mr. Eiffel summarized his work in a memory that became classic among engineers and builders, and he set the modal elasticity of parts composed at 16 x 10 °, a formula that was now adopted conventionally for all large metal constructions.

Sure of himself, full of confidence in his future, he founded, in 1868, Levallois-Perret, at the gates of Paris, in the rue Fouquet, to which the municipality gave the name of Eiffel, May 1, 1889, the factory out of which, by pieces, so many gigantic works. Thus, this plant took part in the construction of the metal piles of the Commentry and Gannat viaducts and that it was noted by the improvements made in this kind of work, realizing, step by step, the bold creations of the bridges and viaducts with long reach and vertiginous elevation, which can be seen at Garabit, in Cantal; at Cubzac, on the Sioule; on the Tardes; on the Douro, Porto (Portugal); in Szegedin (Hungary); in Tan-An, Cochin China, etc. It will be remembered that the 1878 World Fair presented an immense and very interesting facade with three domes. It was to Mr. Eiffel that this work was entrusted as well as that of the Pavilion of the city of Paris, which was then transported to the Champs-Elysées, behind the Palais de l'Industrie. The attention of the scientists was particularly drawn to M. Eiffel, concerning the cupola of the Equatorial of the Observatoire de Nice, due, as we know, to the liberality of M. Raphael Bischoffsheim. This cupola, which measures 22 meters in diameter, and weighs more than a hundred thousand kilograms, can be moved with extreme ease by the hand of a child. To achieve this wonderful result, Mr. Eiffel had the idea to install, at the base of the dome, an annular float dipping into a tank filled with an incongruent liquid (magnesium chloride solution), so that the aircraft still floating, moves with extraordinary ease. It is to Mr. Eiffel to whom we owe the substitution of the iron for the cast iron, in the establishment of the piers of bridge, and the introduction of the steel in the construction of the aprons, which makes them to the times lighter, stronger, more economical. The launching of straight-beam bridges, like that of arch bridges, owe him new developments and new systems. He adopted, for the launching of the long rigid aprons, the levers and seesaw chassis, of his invention, and the cantilever assembly that no one before him had been able to achieve.

Mr. Eiffel is the laureate of the five-year Elphège Baude Prize, awarded by the National Industry Incentive Corporation to the author of the most significant improvements to the materials and processes of civil engineering, public works and architecture. . He obtained a grand prize at the 1878 World Fair and honorary diplomas at the Antwerp and Amsterdam exhibitions in 1883 and 1885. He has been an officer of the Legion of Honor since 31 March 1889, a knight of the Austrian Iron Crown and of the Order of Francis, Commander of Isabella the Catholic (Spain), Cambodia and the Conception of Portugal. This last decoration was handed to him publicly by the King, the day of the inauguration of the viaduct of Porto.

The public will never know enough about science in a bridge or viaduct, and it is useful to let them know the admirable organization of these vast workshops where the great people conceive and prepare themselves. works. We will read with as much interest as fruit the following description of a visit to the establishments of Mr. Eiffel by our colleague of the Petit Journal, Mr. Henry, on November 30, 1890:

A deserted street in Levallois-Perret, a wolf's cold and a gentleman, his nose sunk in the collar of his coat, looking for the number of a house. The decor is not cheerful; it has for canvas the bottom of the fortifications and vast empty and desolate spaces. It is a landscape of the suburbs of Paris, these landscapes where it seems that the cold is more intense, the wind more sour. Brrr! just to contemplate them one feels an irresistible urge to sneeze. Behind the endless walls that line the street and serve as enclosure for large sheds, we feel however that life has not abandoned this lunar site. A pipe, which dominates the hangars, spits at regular intervals into the gray atmosphere powerful jets of steam; dull blows, succeeding each other like the ticking of a clock, indicate that immense labor is being accomplished behind these walls, which are so little recreational. The gentleman is still looking for his number and we hear him whisper: "Come on, this is Rue Fouquet, there must be a No. 42." Indeed, the number appears at last above a door on which one reads: Etablissements Eiffel. It's there.

In order not to continue this novel-feuilleton any longer, I will tell you right away that the mysterious character who was thus looking for the other morning, by a cold of several degrees, the n ° 42 of the street Fouquet, it is was me simply, signatory of this article, which is nothing romantic. What attracted me to those places as far removed from Tortoni's steps as Siberia might have been, was not the desire to look for a scene conducive to the development of a novel; no, I was attracted solely by the desire to visit the factory from which have been released, piece by piece, so many great works, starting with the Eiffel Tower and the viaduct of Garabit, which seem, for this purpose of century, the last word of engineering science. It seemed to me interesting to see the surprises that could still be reserved to us Mr. Eiffel who, playing himself so to speak, put into action the legend of the Tower of Babel, less the confusion of languages. One can not spend one's life building towers three hundred meters high. What work are now being done on these factories, whose reputation is now universal! That was the interesting question to which I had come to get an answer. This answer, in the absence of Mr. Eiffel, the managing director of the Company, Mr. Gobert, and the chief engineer, M. Nouguier, consented to give it to me by making me visit, with the kindest eagerness , and their offices and workshops.

Offices and workshops occupy at Levallois-Perret a site of more than twenty thousand meters. This is where all the iron works go, which are shipped all over the world. The nomenclature is long orders in progress and I see the parts passing under the machine tools that pierce, plan, beat the iron, cut it with as much ease and clarity as you cut a piece of butter at the table. First of all, there is a 200-meter bridge with a central span of 100 meters: it is the Conflans-Andrésy viaduct on the new Argentan line at Mantes. This bridge will cost a million. Here are the locks of Port-Villez, in the department of Seine-et-Oise: an order of 3 million made by the State. Here are the caissons for the foundations of the canal bridge of Briare, on the Loire, which represent 1 500 000 francs approximately. This work is very curious. It is a question of passing the canal over the river as one makes cross a stream of water to a train of railway. It is therefore a suspended channel. Here are the pieces of four beautiful viaducts for the Compagnie du Sud de France. Later, I attend the assembly of a bridge commissioned by the Company of the East for the passage of the street of Cross of the Evangile, in Paris.

These large pieces of iron lying on the ground are reserved for the pier of Trompeloup Pauillac, jetty for the Transatlantic Company and which will cost nearly 2 million. These other pieces are for the bridge of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, Marseille. Another considerable work in progress is destined for Portugal. It is a 850 meter long Tagus Bridge with compressed air foundations and one of the largest viaducts in Europe. Three big bridges, also for Portugal, represent with the bridge of the Tagus an order of approximately 3 million.

Alongside these major projects, the Eiffel establishments are constantly working for military engineering abroad, to which they provide military bridges, and for the big companies in France, to which they have just delivered three large bridges which serve to the restoration of lanes when they are washed away by flood, flood or any other cause. This is the common task, which also includes the manufacture of portable bridges widely used in Cochin China, Tonkin, Manila. Nothing ingenious like these bridges invented by Mr. Eiffel. We will have an idea of the advantages of the system when I say that in a few hours we can connect, by a solid iron passage, the two banks of a river. In the past, the same job took months.

Do you want to have a communication on a river? you just have to write to the Etablissements Eiffel: Send 10 meters or 20 meters of bridge and you receive what you need. No need for assemblers, special workers; you put your bridge yourself, with the help of the locals, and in two or three hours your communication is established. Only when the stream is more than twenty-one meters wide is a pile needed; in this case, it is seen in the bed of the river and everything is said. It's wonderful simplicity and cheap.

We can see from all the above how the engineers and workers of Mr. Eiffel are using their time right now. Who can do the least? All these small and large works are executed using the processes that were used for the construction of the Eiffel Tower, that is to say that all the parts leave the factory of Levallois-Perret all prepared, numbered, adapting exactly to each other, like the pieces of a clock. Arrived on the spot, even at the end of the world, the editors of Mr. Eiffel have only to indulge in a kind of game of patience, bringing the various parts together following the numbers, bolting, rivant, without ever having to encounter a bolt hole that does not combine with that of another room. Thanks to these processes, which are very simple when we explain them in a few words, very complicated, on the contrary, and demanding a great practical habit, a long preparatory work when it comes to applying them, the metal work the more colossal can be compared to a coat whose parts are cut in advance and that it is only necessary to gather and sew. It is this precision, this simplicity of execution that is the triumph of the engineers and workers of the Eiffel establishments. The tower of the Champ de Mars was thus prepared, piece by piece, in the workshops of Levallois-Perret. We understand how the Parisians saw her rise so quickly, so regularly, without a moment's pause, without hesitation.

Today, the Eiffel workshops are busy more than ever. The gigantic claim that the tower of the Champ de Mars has made to them all around the world has attracted a large number of orders and the work is assured for next year. We also know that some of the most important projects are under consideration, namely metal construction and public works projects, some of which are on the right track, such as, for example, the Métropolitain de Paris, which the Company is pursuing. Concession. These projects augur well for the future of the Society. The thing may not be without interest for a part of the public, the one who has been interested in this prosperous business, which is expected to be so fruitful in results.

It is known that, after the success of the exhibition, Mr. Eiffel, understanding what development would take his establishments, formed a society, and to obtain more powerful means of action, and to make to participate those who would trust him to the benefits he was called upon to collect. Compagnie des Etablissements Eiffel was incorporated on March 25, 1890 for fifty years, with the assistance of Societe Generale, Crédit Industriel and the International Bank of Paris, with a capital of 6 million francs, represented by 12,000 shares of 500 francs on which 350 francs were paid.

This company, which kept Mr. Eiflel at his head, as its president, became the owner of all the im-furniture, workshops, equipment, patents, agencies of the former Eiffel House. It is therefore called to benefit from the enormous reputation that is attached to the name of its president, and having to operate a beautifully equipped industry, operating for many years, she has no school to do and sees open in front of she has a clear road. This explains the early acceptance of the Company's shares, which are currently trading at around 560 francs and are very likely to be used after the results of the first financial years to benefit from a substantial increase in value. Indeed, we have seen the importance of orders in progress, that is to say profits prepared; the capital to be remunerated on the other hand is minimal, since the business was constituted without any increase. This paid-up capital is only 4,200,000 francs. He is thus assured of a remuneration which can not be that important from the beginning and which could become considerable in the continuation. The case is therefore very interesting to watch closely for capitalists who understand that in our time, where the annuity only yields 3%, it is essential to ask the industry an increase in income.

It should be added that the Eiflel establishments are called upon to play a leading role in the case of a European conflagration. They are excellent at building metal bridges of 45 meters span for normal-gauge railways, which are intended to quickly replace war-torn tracks, and also in peacetime following the removal of a bridge by flash floods or any other disaster.

It is truly amazing to see how easy and how easy it is to maneuver these bridges. Some men do it effortlessly, and since there is no need for prior learning, engineers can quickly build a bridge of this nature. The assembly is carried out entirely without the assistance of any mechanical agent, in less than 50 hours. As for the complete language, it does not even require 10 hours. As a result, to restore a passage 45 meters opening, without intermediate supports, it takes 60 hours of work. All steel a similar bridge weighs about 86,000 kilograms. It can withstand a load of 225,000 kilograms with an almost insignificant spire. The system of these economic portable bridges is, moreover, applied for a long time by its inventor, Mr. Eiffel, both in France and abroad. In Cochin-China and Tonkin in particular, there are a considerable number. The editing is of elementary simplicity.

These extraordinary companies require men of energy, knowledge and long patience.

Mr. G. Eiffel is gifted with an obstinate will, with iron tenacity, with a great deal of kindness, gentleness, timidity even in relations, and exquisite modesty. His name is now spread all over the world. In the most isolated villages, we found the views of the Eiffel Tower placed next to the images of Napoleon and Gambetta.

Mr. Gastave Eiffel has always surrounded himself with a staff of painstaking and daring engineers, thanks to the influence of his natural gifts and his primary education. It is indeed at the Collège de Sainte-Barbe that his scientific spirit has opened. He has followed the courses in physics, chemistry and mathematics of Barral, who has been the teacher of a large number of men who hold today the first rank in the army, navy, industry, education, sciences. He learned early to guess skills and discover the merits. When one is destined to become the head of a powerful house, it is an inestimable gift. He met in his son-in-law, M. Adolphe Salles, and in MM. Gobert, Nouguier, Koechlin, Sauvestre, Companion, precious executors of his thoughts in the field of theory and practice.

In this wonderful technical campaign of the 300-meter Tower, so skillfully driven, without a failure, without the smallest disappointment, as Napoleon in his military battles found generals at the height of his thoughts, Mr. Gustave Eiffel had the gift of knowing how to surround himself with engineers and specialists worthy of his talents and his ideas. It is therefore useful to know the life of its main collaborators. They have been struggling, they must be in the spotlight.

Eiffel's constructions

Here is a list of the buildings of Gustave Eiffel, as an entrepreneur. The list is not exhaustive, but it has come well. She is composed mainly railway or road bridges, but there are also some factories and hangars, railway stations or various buildings. This list is classified by chronological order.

Click on the titles for a description and sometimes a photo of the works of art that Gustave Eiffel did in the year indicated.

1858

Bridge at Bordeaux

Pont de Bordeaux, known as "St Jean Footbridge"

The St Jean bridge is one of Bordeaux crossing the Garonne. It is 500m long, it is a railway bridge. This work of art was not designed by Eiffel but he has to ensure the construction. This was his first major job, he was only 26 years old and was a great leader of men. It has erased a lot of technical difficulties, making it harder for future projects. This bridge still exists today.

1860

Bridge at Bayonne

The so-called "Bayonne bridge" is the first work of art designed by Eiffel between 1860 and 1861. It is located in the Pyrénées-Atlantique, France, and it is a railway bridge of the line Bordeaux-Bayonne.

Bridge at Capdenac

Bridges Capdenac and Floirac

These bridges are in the Gers, France. These are railway bridges of the Brive-Rodez line. Currently supported by cylindrical stacks made of concrete, the original deck has a rectangular section. It consists of 4 beams parges maintained with many crossed secondary beams.

1866

Theatre Les Folies

The theatre Les Folies in the Paradis Latin, at Paris.

Toulouse Station Hall

Toulouse Station Hall

It is the great station of Toulouse, in Haute-Garonne, but in its initial version, in 1854. A few years later the company of the railways of Orléans commanded Gustave Eiffel a glass roof to ensure the protection of the travelers , which will be done. The station was largely modified between 1903 and 1905 by the Compagnie du Midi.

Agen Station Hall

This is Agen station in the Lot-et-Garonne.

1867

Galleries of Fine Arts and Archeology of the Exhibition of 1867, Paris, France

Eglise Notre-Dame des Champs, Paris, France

Synagogue of the rue des Tournelles

Synagogue of the rue des Tournelles

This synagogue is a construction of Gustave Eiffel, the building is metallic, as it used to do in the late nineteenth century. It's a pretty big building.

Bridges of the Orsay line in Limours, Essonne, France

Bridges of the Poitiers line in Limoges, France, Cie d'Orléans

Viaduct of Rouzat

Viaduct of Rouzat and Neuvial across the Sioule, Allier, France, Cie d'Orléans

The Rouzat Viaduct is a large railway bridge with large metal batteries. He emjambe the Sioule.

Factory of Versailles and Poissy, Yvelines, France

Factory of Boulogne, Hauts de Seine, France

Bridge of Buttes-Chaumont

Bridgeof the park of Buttes-Chaumont, Paris, France

This bridge is located at the Park Buttes-Chaumont, Paris. It is a perfectly flat gangway consisting of long beams interconnected by U-shaped beams held together by other X-beams. There are security cables nowadays. It is a rather busy footbridge.

Brouillage Overhead Crane, La Rochelle, Charente Maritime, France

1868

Church Saint-Joseph, Paris, France

1869

Plant of Ternes and Courcelles, Paris, France

Bridge of Montpellier to Paulhan, Hérault, France

Bridge of Mézy, Yvelines, France

Bridge on the line from Cahors to Vibos, Lot, France

Fermettes des barrages de la Seine et de l'Yonne, France

Footbridge of La Ferté Milon

Footbridge of La Ferté Milon, Aisne, France

This bridge is at the level of a small tower in La Ferte, it passes over the river Ourcq. This river has been channeled. La Ferté-Milon is a town in the Aisne, near Villers-Côteret. This bridge is quite simple, it has a single deck supported by metal beams arc-shaped. It is equipped with two light railings.

Dam bridges of the Seine and Yonne, France

Footbridge on the Doloir, France

Escurolles Bridge, Allier, France

1870

Bridges of Latour sur Orb line at Milhau, Aveyron, France, Cie du Midi

Bridges of the line from Brive to Tulle, Corrèze, France, Cie du Midi

Phares, France

Boardroom of the boarding school of the Brothers of Passy, Paris, France (demolished in 1908)

Dieppe swing bridge

Dieppe swing bridge, Seine Maritime, France

The Dieppe swing bridge is a magnificent, large-scale engineering structure with a particularly successful technical design. It is a flat apron and high railings that can rotate 90 ° to let the boats on the canal. Subject to harsh climatic conditions it is regularly maintained.

1872

Viaduct of Thouars

Viaduct of Thouars, Deux-Sèvres, France

The Thouars Viaduct is one of the structures of the Vendée railway line in France. Thouars is located in Deux-Sèvres. This bridge was built between 1871 and 1873, relatively early in the career of Gustave Eiffel, it crosses the Thouet. It consists of a rectangular metal deck supported by three cast iron piles resting on masonry foundations.

This work of art has been modified several times, the first since 1887 with the construction of a second apron, lower than the first, which has been added to the piles. This was necessary following the construction of the railway line Chartres-Bordeaux, granted to the railways of the State. In 1913 a disaster occurred on November 23 on the bridge of Montreuil-Bellay collapsed when passing a freight train. Following this event, the viaduct of Thouars was strengthened by piles in 1914 and 1915, sealed in reinforced concrete and dressed with dressed stone, and then the deck itself. The set allowed the passage of heavier train. During the Second World War the Germans blew up a battery and apron, but by the spring of 1946 the viaduct was repaired. In modern times the old cast iron piles have been replaced by concrete piles.

Bridges of the Jassy Line in Ungheni, Romania

Môle d'Arica, Chili

Arica is a city in northern Chile, bordering the Pacific. Today, it has 200,000 inhabitants. At the end of the nineteenth century it was booming, its geographical location made it a node of maritime trade. The city then had the necessary equipment and asked the contractor Eiffel to build two important buildings in the city: The customs and the pier, which is a dam protecting the port. They are always visible on the spot.

Customs Arica

Customs Arica, in Chilia

1873

Bridge of Ornans, Doubs, France

Bridge of Champagne at Thémery, Marne, France

Bridge of Villandraut, Gironde, France

Bridge on the line Orléans to Gien, Loiret, France

Plant of la Paz, Bolivia and of Tacna, Peru

Salamleck Footbridge, Guiseh, Egypt

Bridge on the Moselle, France

Bridge ofLa Paz, Bolivia

1874

Bridge of la Oraya, Brazil

Bridge on the Bressuire at Tours, Deux-Sèvres, France

PBridge of Magdalena, Colombia

Bridge of Louviers

Bridge of Louviers, Eure, France

The Pont de Louviers is a very pretty, rather simple work of art, it is a single-arched road bridge whose apron is slightly curved for the flow of rain. Its arch is broad, regular, and formed of several parallel beams. The gap between the arch and the deck is filled in metal circles, which is original in the work of Eiffel.

Bridge of Amboise, Indre et Loire, France

Bridge of Chinon on the Vienne, of Tours on the Cher, of Azay le Rideau on Indre, France

Farmhouses of the Moskva dam, Russia

Port lights, France

1875

Bridge Jura Bernois, Swizerland

Bridge of Tombo de Viso, Portugal

Bridge on the line Chinon to Joué, Indre et Loire, France

Bridge on the line Poitiers to Saumur, Maine et Loire, France

Bridge on the line Epinay to Luzarches, Val d'Oise, France

Bridge of Clichy, Hauts de Seine, France

Bridge ofClichy, Hauts de Seine, France

The Clichy Bridge is a construction of 1875, relatively early in the career of Eiffel. It is a single arch bridge with simple decorations.

Casino of Sables d'Olonne

Casino of Sables d'Olonne, Vendée, France

The casino des Sables d'Olonne is a construction of 1875. Made largely of metal, it was entrusted to the Eiffel workshops. This is the only casino example he has done. The style is that of the nineteenth century. This casino was rebuilt later.

Pavililons of lamp and tanks, Cie de l'Est, France

Windmill of Larrieu, France

Lighthouse of Dagenort

West Railway Station, Budapest

West Railway Station, Budapest, Hongrie

Gustave Eiffel also had contracts in Eastern Europe. In Budapest he obtained the construction of the West Station, which is in Pest. Remember that Budapest is a city that comes from the rapprochement of the cities of Buda and Pest. This huge hall is all metal, it is a large frame supported by the walls of adjacent buildings. On the front we see the decor of the time, which have been renovated since. Now that it is closed by large glass panels this station seems airy, this impression being enhanced by the trees that are on the sidewalk just ahead.

Chinon Station, Indre et Loire, France

Garage for twenty locomotives, Tours, Indre et Loire, France

Church of San Marcos, Arica, Chili

Church of Tacna, Peru

Church of Manille, Philippines

1876

Bridge on the line to Gérone, Spain

Bridge on the Douro, Portugal

Bridge Maria Pia on the Douro, Portugal

The Maria Pia bridge is near Porto, Portugal. It is in the city of Vila Nova de Gaia and passes over the Douro, the local river. It is a bridge built in 1876, early enough in the career of Eiffel. This bridge is unique arch, it is very high. His apron is flat and has some metal stacks. The whole is very airy, it seems very fragile all that, but yet it is standing for a long time.

Plant La Vilette, Paris, France

Plant of Yvry, Val de Marne, France

Môle of Chala, Pérou

Bridge of Castelo

Bridge of Castelo, Portugal

It is in Portugal that there is this very large road bridge, in the city of Castelo where it allows the passage over the Lima river. Its length is exactly 562.44m, more than half a kilometer. This bridge was the subject of work in 2006 to enlarge its deck and renovate the batteries.

School Monge (High school Carnot), Paris, France

1877

Bridges of Cavado, Ancora, Caminho, Vianna, Villa Mea and Neiva, Minho Railways, Portugal

Bridge over the Taméga and Palla viaduct, Douro railways, Portugal

Bridge of Muga, Spain

Bridge of Clain, Vienna, France

Castle Arches, Epinal, Vosges, France

Grand Vestibule and Domes of the 1878 Exposition, Paris, France

Gateway to Port Said, Egypt

1878

Ponts d'Empalot, Valentine and Sarrieu, Haute Garonne, France, Cie du Midi

Bridges of the Caceres Line, Spain

Teticala and Cuente Bridges, Mexico

Bridge at Bergerac, Dordogne, France

Bridge at Niherne

Bridge at Niherne, Indre, France

The Niherne Bridge is a modest-sized railway structure located in the department of Indre. It has a solid deck and a metal frame above that limits the size of the trains that can pass over and transforms this bridge into a kind of cage. This bridge passes the Indre.

Bridge Buzançais, Indre, France

Lampoon Pavilions and Reservoirs for the Eastern Company, France

Shoop Vaucher et Cie, Mulhouse, Haut Rhin, France

Barn for steam pump, gare du Nord, Paris, France

Lighthouse of Saint Nicolas, Manille, Philippine

Plant of Clichy, Hauts de Seine, France

Bridge Péault on the Lay, Vendée, France

Footbridge on the Guell in Girona, Spain

Barn of Port Bou, Spain

1879

Bridge on the line at Ploesti at Prédéal, Romania

Bridge at Moutiers on the Lay, Vienne, France

Expansion of the Bon Marché in Paris, France

Annex of the Louvre Department Stores, Paris, France

Savonnières bridge on the Cher, Indre et Loire, France

Oued Djemma Bridge, Algeria

Bridge of Saint Laurent sur Sèvre, Vendée, France

Campina Bridge, Romania

1880

Bridges of Vaizeas, Trezai, Côa, Deo, Beira Baixa, Frezse, Noemi, Meligroso, Criz, Cazillas, Perala, Tietar, Gouveïa, Celerico and Breda, line Beira-Alta, Portugal

Bridge on the Tagus, Caceres line, Spain

Tamujoso Bridges, Grande, Haza Valley, Guadancil, Caceres Line, Spain

Bridges of Cazillas, Perala, Ollas, Spain

Bridges of Binh-Dien, Tan-An and Ben-Luc, Vietnam

Cazères bridge on the Adour, Landes, France

Sidi Moussa Bridge, Algeria

Cubzac Bridge on the Dordogne, Dordogne, France

1881

Bridge on the Tardes

Viaduct of Evaux, on the Tardes, Creuse, France, line Montluçon-Eygurande, Cie du Midi

It is a railway art work of the line Paris-Ussel, it crosses the narrow and deep valley of the Tardes. When this line was considered, in 1880, the Orleans Railway Company chose Gustave Eiffel, who presented a project consisting of a straight deck of 250.50m in multiple trellis, without vertical frame, with three integral spans, two of which banks of 72.975 m and a central 104.55 m, all for a weight of 1200 tons. The construction was done by the technique of launching, that is to say that the deck was launched over the valley in one piece.

Bridge at Normanville, Calvados, France

Statue of Liberty

Structure of the Statue of Liberty, New York, USA

It is an element not necessarily known, but the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty, in New York, was designed by the Eiffel workshops in Paris. The artist who made this statue, Auguste Bartholdi, was in the same industrial environment as Eiffel, so naturally they were brought to work together.

The Statue of Liberty has a very specific frame, with interlocking beams arranged in a box, and its arm is a kind of outgrowth of the whole. For the anecdote, the engineer and the artist had forgotten to communicate together during a slight modification of the statue, the distance of 60 cm from the arm raised to the outside, the artist judging too close to the head. The result ? The internal structure remained in arch for 100 years, until the day when the Americans have renovated it from top to bottom!

Office of Crédit Lyonnais, Paris, France

Station of Saint Sébastien and Santander, Spain

Bridge of Szegedin, Hungary

1882

Messageries Bridge, Viet Nam

Messageries Bridge, Viet Nam

The Messageries Maritimes Bridge was in Saigon. It was a single arch bridge crossing a fairly wide river resting on masonry piles. The braces between the apron and the arch are not very dense.

Ong Nui Bridges, Rach Lang, Dong Nhyen, Vietnam

Bergerac bridge over the Dordogne, France, (turned into a road bridge)

Viaduct of Garabit

Viaduct of Gabarit, Cantal, France, Compagnie du Midi

Very nice viaduct of Gustave Eiffel, Garabit is a splendor of the department of Cantal. It looks like the Portuguese bridge on the Douro.

Six bridges in the line of Asturias, Galicia and Leon, including the Cobas Bridge, Spain

Mobile Dome of the Observatoire de Paris, France

Capuchin Market, Bordeaux, France

Hall of Villaverde workshops, Spain

1883

Bridge of Charenton

Bridge of Charenton, Val de Marne, France, Cie PLM

The bridge Charenton is a construction of Gustave Eiffel made in 1883. Charenton is a city in the Paris region on the edge of Paris. The bridge of Charenton crosses the Seine. It is a work of metal art of course, with three arches resting on masonry piles. It is a railway bridge.

Portable bridges, Senegal

Plant at Rennes, Île et Vilaine, France

Bridge of Sainte Claire, Oléron, Charente Maritime, France

1884

Bridge of Cholon, Vietnam

Two bridges over the Coimbra Canal, Portugal

Portable bridges, Italy, Russia

Bridge at Michelotti, Turin, Italy

Three bridges in Alcantara, Caceres line, Spain

Bridges of Chateauroux, Indre, France

Bridge on the RN 121 at Chaude Saignes, Cantal, France

Dam on the Seine at Port Mort, Eure, France

Museum Galliéra, Paris, France

Biscuit Factory of Saint-Germain Island, Hauts de Seine, France

Workshops of the Steelworks of Pagny sur Meuse, Meuse, France

1885

Fifteen bridges of the line from Lisbon to Cintra, including those of Torres, Veotras, Ramal, Morianna, Portugal

Portable bridges, Morbihan, France. Questembert line in Ploermel, Cie d'Orléans

Bridge over the Serre at La Fère, Aisne, France

Dome of the Observatoire de Nice

Dome of the Observatoire de Nice

The dome of the Observatoire de Nice is a true masterpiece of metallic architecture. It is relatively complex, although regular. It consists of a half-sphere of about 20m diagonal. The structure is made of small curved beams joined by concentric hoops. The main difficulty was to make the rectangular opening in nesting panels that are stacked with each other.

Port-Villez Locks, Yvelines, France

Plant at Vannes, Morbihan, France

Railway stations from Lisbon line to Sintra, Portugal

Morannes Bridge on the Sarthe, Maine et Loire, France

1886

Bridge at Montélimar

Bridge at Montélimar, Drôme, France

The bridge of Montélimar makes it possible to cross the Roubion, a local river. This bridge is not especially big, it consists of an apron and rounded railings.

Bridge on Seguin river, Algeria

Bridge Saint Pierre, Île de la Martinique, France

Viaduct of Collonge on the Saône

Viaduct of Collonge on the Saône

The viaduct of Collonge is in Côte-d'Or. It is a railway bridge supported on masonry piles.

Bridges of the Cie de l'Ouest, section of Evreux, Eure, France

Constantine Market, Algeria

Market of Long Chau, Vietnam

Street stores of Lorraine and Alsace, Paris, France

1887

Thirty-seven Fréjus line bridges at Saint Raphaël, Var, France

Market of Coalanh, Vietnam

Filter wells, Vietnam

Eiffel tower

Eiffel tower, Paris, France

The Eiffel Tower is the masterpiece of Gustave Eiffel, it was the structure of its highest era in the world. This website is dedicated to him, it is useless to spend more time here.

Panama Canal Locks, Panama

Bridges of Lang Son and Binh Tay, Vietnam

Bridges of Lang Son and Binh Tay, Vietnam

It is in Vietnam that these two bridges are located. That of Lang-Son, or Lagson, passes over the Song-Ki-Kong River. This bridge is quite simple, it has a flat apron.

Footbridge of Castelsarrasin

Footbridge of Castelsarrasin, Tarn et Garonne, France

This bridge is very similar to the bridges that Eiffel built at that time. It is quite simple.

Four bridges. Panama

Footbridge on the Bonnard Canal, Cholon, and Logonn, Vietnam

1888

Bridge of Carregado, Portugal

Bridge of Carregado, Portugal

Carregado is a city in Portugal, terminus of a railway line that was made in the nineteenth century from Poco de Bispo. This line required the installation of several structures, including this one, built by Eiffel.

Markets of Omon and Trahuse, Vietnam

Halls of the Saigon River Couriers

Halls of the Saigon River Couriers

This hall is one of those made in the French colonies of the nineteenth century. Located in Saigon on the banks of the river it consisted of several metal buildings.

Bridge of Monistrol, Allier

Bridge of Monistrol, Allier

This bridge is at Monistrol d'Allier, Haute-Loire. It is still in operation nowadays, and has not changed much since its construction.

Aqueduct bridge of Milagro, Spain

Briare Canal Bridge

Briare Canal Bridge

The Briare canal bridge is located in the Loiret. It is a very long work of art allowing the passage of a channel over the local river.

What Duo Footbridge, Vietnam

1889

Lift-bridge at Tan-An and Mytho, Vietnam

Venda Moras Bridge, Portugal

Larrey Lift Bridge, Dijon, Côte d'Or, France

Bridges of the Nindas Novas line in Santarem, Portugal

Tanan and Tan Qui Dong Markets, Vietnam

Warehouses of Dunkirk, North, France

Workshop of Santa Polonia Station, Lisbon, Portugal

Removals of locomotives from Villa Nova de Gaia, Portugal

Viaduct of Conflans-Sainte Honorine, Yvelines, France

Viaduct of Conflans-Sainte Honorine, Yvelines, France (rebuilt in 1945)

This viaduct is in the Paris region, in Conflans-Sainte Honorine. Dating from 1889, the year of the construction of the Eiffel Tower, it was completely redone in 1945, at the end of the war. Nowadays it is still a railway metal bridge.

Almonda, Alviella, Asseca, Bleone, Ribeira, Modego, Cucuminho, Bleone bridges, Lisbone-Badaroz line, Portugal

1890

Pauillac wharf, Gironde, France

Meteorological Laboratory, Sèvres, Hauts de Seine, France

Footbridge of Our Lady of the Guard, Marseille, Bouche du Rhône, France

Bridge Ayala

Bridge Ayala on the Passig, Manille, Philippines

The Ayala Bridge is located in Manila, Philippines. It is of great length, its broad apron is supported by piles of masonry, each pile was connected to the next by two arches made of spacers mixed. It crosses the Rio Passig between Convalecencia Island and Concepción District, also serving San Miguel District. Ten years after its construction, it was already in very bad condition and had to undergo a major refurbishment. In 1889 access to San Miquel was blocked, and the next year was access to Conception.

Bridge Santa Cruz

Bridge Santa Cruz, Laguna, Philippines

This bridge is in the Philippines, in the French colonies at the time of its construction. It is a single-deck railway bridge resting on 4 piles including two stops.

1891

Aqueduct of Saint Cloud

Saint Cloud Aqueduct, on the St Cloud Canal, in the Paris region

The aqueduct of St Cloud is the first that allows you to cross the canal as soon as you have left Paris, it is south-west of the Bois de Boulogne, at the junction of the waterfront and the waterfront. boulevard Anatole France. It is nicknamed the bridge of the Avre, it was built by Gustave Eiffel in 1891.

Bridges in Guinea and Mayotte

Simala Bridge, Cebu, Philippines

Danon Arm Bridge, Reunion Island

Bridge over the Ouenghi, New Caledonia

Saint Pierre Bridge, Martinique

Bridges over Wadi Missa and Ighzer Sfaïa, Algeria

Rach Gia and Long Xuyen Bridges, Vietnam

Bridges on the Jaffa-Jerusalem line, Israel

Bridges of Var and Vésubie, Saint André line in Nice. Alpes Maritimes, France

Font Lauguières viaduct, Grasse line at Mande, Alpes Maritimes, France

1892

Three viaducts on the Mezzana-Corte line, including the viaduct of Vecchio, Corsica, Fance

One Hundred Eight Deck Decks for Lan-Ho Line in Kien Chan, China

Shops and docks of the port of Beirut, Lebanon

Dessaux Vinegar, Orléans, Loiret

The casa de fierro, in Iquitos (Peru)

Social Club of Iquitos, Peru

It is a half-iron house built in 1892. At that time Gustave Eiffel had designed houses to mount, all metal. They were planned for the settlements, architecturally speaking, they had large balconies and large openings. It is a certain Julio H. Toots, rubber operator in Iquitos, who bought it after his Parisian visit to the World Fair of 1889. Having discovered these houses proposed by Eiffel, he bought one that he made forward to his home. But once mounted, he had to split it in two because it was too big. He sold half of them to the south, but the transport difficulties being too great it was installed on the Malecón of Iquitos. Uninhabited, it quickly deteriorated, was bought by a trader and eventually fell into ruin. The metal will be sold to the scrap metal kilo.

The second part remained in Iquitos. She is mounted on the weapon square (her current location) and will change owners several times. Nowadays it is occupied on the first floor by a couple of restaurateur, but the building belongs to the Social Club of Iquitos, an association aware of the local heritage and who maintains it. Nowadays this building is known as "Casa de Fierro", the "Iron House".

Aïn Smara and Mencha Bridges, Algeria

Lai-Chouei-Hsien Bridge, China

Bridge of the Porte de France in Grenoble

Bridge of the Porte de France in Grenoble

The bridge of the Porte de France is in Grenoble, it is a metallic deck bridge with wide apron. It includes several arches resting on masonry piles on the Isère. It is a very decorated bridge.

Four bridges of the Cholon-Vaïco No. 3 Road, Vietnam

Rach-Cat Bridge, Viet Nam

Two bridges on the Rach Cat and Rach Can Tram, Vietnam

These two bridges are similar, it is a flat deck railway bridge serving as a road bridge on occasion. Like many railway bridges, they are equipped with stacked piles of interlocking joists. These bridges are degrading quickly.

1893

Tanauan and Calamba Bridges, Batangas, Philippines

San Miguel and Mayuno Bridge, Belacau, Philippines

Saint Cyr and Gautreau Bridge on the Claim, Vienne, France

Saint Aviol bridge on the Charente, Vienne, France

Footbridge Bry-sur-Marne

Footbridge Bry-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, France

Bry footbridge is a pedestrian bridge located in the city of Bry-sur-Marne, in the Val of the same name (Val-de-Marne). It is a structure entirely made of metal. The apron is arched, slightly higher in the center than on the banks, while the lower part is in the form of a regular bow. The central arch is higher than the others, passage of boats oblige. The upper and lower arches are joined by interlocking beams. Currently it is still running and regularly maintained.

Railway bridge in Paris, France

Railway bridge crossing rue Michel Bizot, Paris, France

It was in the middle of Paris that this bridge was located, rue Michel Bizot. It is a street east of Paris on which passes a railway line. This is a fairly small footbridge resting on masonry piles. The railings are metal too, rather thick.

Bridges on the Rach Cat, Rach Tra and Rach Dong Trong, Vietnam

Bridge over the Vesle, in Chassemy

Railway bridge on the Vesle, Aisne, France, Soissons-Reims line

Built in 1893, the bridge over the Vesle, in the Aisne, is a railway bridge of the Soissons-Reims line. It is essentially a masonry bridge with parts of the deck made of metal. This bridge was destroyed by the Genie on September 2, 1914 to try to limit the advance of the Germans on the French territory.

Viaduct of Saint Pierre de Vauvray on the Seine, Seine Maritime, France

Chanteraine Street Bridge, Epinal, Vosges, France

Shutdown at the Villette train station, Paris, France

Bridges on the line Saint Pierre-Les Andelys, Eure, France

Taillée viaduct, Chateaubriand line in Saint Nazaire, Loire Atlantique, France

1894

Lock gates at Creil, Pontoise, Adam Island (Oise diversion channel), France

Moussarah Bridge, Palestine

Nag Abu Hamadi Bridge on the Nile, Egypt

1895

Pont sur le Rio Janipan, Iloito, Philippines

Puteaux Bridge, Hauts de Seine, France

Removable Bridges for Engineering, Argentina

Two bridges Ryazan-Uralsk line, a bridge in the Caucasus, Russia

Bridges of the Glos Montfort line at Pont Audemer, Eure, France

Lou-Kou-Tio Bridge, Petchili, China

Bezons Bridge on the Seine, Val d'Oise, France

Bridges for the Cie of the economic railways of Charente, Charente, France

Binh Dien Bridge, Vietnam

Mahinady Bridge on the Bafing, Sudan

Workshops of the Industrial Company of Electric Motors in Le Havre, Seine Maritime, France

1896

Bridges on Saint John and the Bras de la Plaine, Reunion

Church of Santa Rosalia, Mexico

Charner jetty and Messageries, Saigon, Vietnam

1897

Sudan Bridge

Bridge over the Khur Canal, Iraq

Bridge over the Thanh Da Canal, Vietnam

1898

Metal floors of the Invalides station, Paris, France

Courcelles-Champ de Mars line bridges, Passy bridge, Paris, France

1899

Wharf of Tamatave, Madagascar

1901

Meteorological Laboratory, Beaulieu, Alpes Maritimes, France

1902

Meteorological Laboratory, Vacquey, Salleboeuf, Gironde, France

Bridge of Long-Bien

Bridge Long Bien, VietNam

The Long Bien bridge is located in Vietnam and was built in the late nineteenth century by the company Daydé Pillé on the plans and calculations of Gustave Eiffel. In the colonial era it was called "Pont Paul Doumer". Its construction lasted 4 years, from 1898 to 1902. It was the fourth longest bridge in the Far East, with a length of 1682 m.