Pourtant, on nous dit que la construction de la tour Eiffel n'a jamais vraiment abouti, non ?
The Eiffel Tower

The design of the Eiffel Tower was originated by Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, who had discussed ideas for a centrepiece for the 1889 Exposition Universelle. In May 1884 Koechlin, working at his home, made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "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". Initially Eiffel showed little enthusiasm, although he did sanction further study of the project, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre to add architectural embellishments. Sauvestre added the decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the first level and the cupola at the top. The enhanced idea gained Eiffel's support for the project, and he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier and Sauvestre had taken out. The design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884, and on 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils. After discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise

"not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude."

Little happened until the beginning of 1886, but with the re-election of Jules Grévy as president and his appointment of Edouard Lockroy as Minister for Trade decisions began to be made. A budget for the Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision, which was that only Eiffel's proposal met their requirements. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs. This was less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower.

The tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both from those who did not believe it feasible and from those who objected on artistic grounds. Just as work began at the Champ de Mars, the "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, the Minister of Works, and was published by Le Temps.

"To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years... we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal"

Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated: 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 limestone block, each with an inclined top to bear the supporting shoe for the ironwork. These shoes were anchored by bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long.Work on the foundations was complete by 30 June and the erection of the iron work was started. Although no more than 250 men were employed on the site, a prodigious amount of exacting preparatory work was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detail 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 precision required: the positions of rivet holes were specified to within 0.1 mm (0.004 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. The four legs, each at an angle of 54° to the ground, were initially constructed as cantilevers, relying on the anchoring bolts in the masonry foundation blocks. Eiffel had calculated that this would be satisfactory until they approached halfway to the first level: accordingly work was stopped for the purpose of erecting a wooden supporting scaffold. This gave ammunition to his critics, and lurid headlines including "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making use of the guides for the elevators which were to be fitted in each leg. After this brief pause erection of the metalwork continued, and the critical operation of linking the four legs was successfully completed by March 1888. In order to precisely align the legs so that the connecting girders could be put into place, a provision had been made to enable precise adjustments by placing hydraulic jacks in the footings for each of the girders making up the legs.

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Since the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, Eiffel frequently stopping to make explanations of various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré completed the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolour, to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level.
**La protestation des artistes**

La tour proposée avait été source de controverse, suscitant les critiques de ceux qui ne croyaient pas à sa faisabilité et de ceux qui s’y opposaient pour des raisons artistiques. Avant la construction de la Tour Eiffel, aucune structure n’avait jamais été construite à une hauteur de 300 m, ni même de 200 m, et beaucoup de gens pensaient que c’était impossible. Ces objections étaient l’expression d’un débat de longue date en France sur la relation entre l’architecture et l’ingénierie. Il s’est intensifié à mesure que les travaux commençaient au Champ de Mars : un « Comité des Trois Cent » (un membre pour chaque mètre de hauteur de la tour) a été formé, dirigé par le célèbre architecte Charles Garnier et comprenant certaines des figures les plus importantes des arts, telles que William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod et Jules Massenet. Une pétition intitulée « Artistes contre la Tour Eiffel » a été envoyée au ministre des Travaux Publics et commissaire de l’Exposition, Adolphe Alphand, et a été publiée par *Le Temps* le 14 février 1887 :

Nous, écrivains, peintres, sculpteurs, architectes et dévoués passionnés de la beauté jusqu’alors intacte de Paris, protestons de toutes nos forces, avec toute notre indignation au nom du goût français bafoué, contre l’érection… de cette tour Eiffel inutile et monstrueuse… Pour rendre nos arguments plus percutants, imaginez un instant une tour folle et ridicule dominant Paris comme une gigantesque cheminée d’usine, écrasant sous sa masse barbare Notre-Dame, la Tour Saint-Jacques, le Louvre, le Dôme des Invalides, l’Arc de Triomphe, tous nos monuments humiliés disparaîtront dans ce cauchemar. Et pendant vingt ans… nous verrons s’étendre comme une tache d’encre l’odieux ombrage de l’odieux pilier de tôles boulonnées.

Gustave Eiffel a répondu à ces critiques en comparant sa tour aux pyramides égyptiennes : « Ma tour sera l’édifice le plus élevé jamais érigé par l’homme. Ne sera-t-elle pas également grandiose à sa manière ? Et pourquoi quelque chose d’admirable en Égypte deviendrait-il laid et ridicule à Paris ? » Ces critiques ont également été abordées par Édouard Lockroy dans une lettre de soutien adressée à Alphand, disant avec ironie : « À en juger par le ample tumulte des rythmes, la beauté des métaphores, l’élégance de son style délicat et précis, on peut dire que cette protestation est le fruit de la collaboration des plus célèbres écrivains et poètes de notre époque », et il a expliqué que la protestation était sans objet puisque le projet avait été décidé des mois auparavant, et que la construction de la tour était déjà en cours.

En effet, Garnier était membre de la Commission de la Tour qui avait examiné les différentes propositions, et n’avait soulevé aucune objection. Eiffel lui-même était tout aussi peu inquiet, expliquant à un journaliste qu’il était prématuré de juger l’effet de la tour uniquement sur la base des dessins, que le Champ de Mars était suffisamment éloigné des monuments mentionnés dans la protestation pour qu’il y ait peu de risque que la tour les submerge, et en exposant l’argument esthétique de la tour : « Les lois de la nature ne sont-elles pas toujours conformes aux lois secrètes de l’harmonie ? »

Certains des protestataires ont changé d’avis lorsque la tour a été construite ; d’autres sont restés sceptiques. On raconte que Guy de Maupassant déjeunait chaque jour au restaurant de la tour parce que c’était le seul endroit de Paris où l’on ne voyait pas la tour.

En 1918, elle était devenue un symbole de Paris et de la France après que Guillaume Apollinaire ait écrit un poème nationaliste en forme de tour (un calligramme) pour exprimer ses sentiments sur la guerre contre l’Allemagne. Aujourd’hui, elle est largement considérée comme une œuvre d’art structurelle remarquable et apparaît souvent dans les films et la littérature.
### Query ###
Pourtant, on nous dit que la construction de la tour Eiffel n'a jamais vraiment abouti, non ?

### Main Text ###
The Eiffel Tower

The design of the Eiffel Tower was originated by Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, who had discussed ideas for a centrepiece for the 1889 Exposition Universelle. In May 1884 Koechlin, working at his home, made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "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". Initially Eiffel showed little enthusiasm, although he did sanction further study of the project, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre to add architectural embellishments. Sauvestre added the decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the first level and the cupola at the top. The enhanced idea gained Eiffel's support for the project, and he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier and Sauvestre had taken out. The design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884, and on 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils. After discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise

"not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude."

Little happened until the beginning of 1886, but with the re-election of Jules Grévy as president and his appointment of Edouard Lockroy as Minister for Trade decisions began to be made. A budget for the Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision, which was that only Eiffel's proposal met their requirements. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs. This was less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower.

The tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both from those who did not believe it feasible and from those who objected on artistic grounds. Just as work began at the Champ de Mars, the "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, the Minister of Works, and was published by Le Temps.

"To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years... we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal"

Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated: 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 limestone block, each with an inclined top to bear the supporting shoe for the ironwork. These shoes were anchored by bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long.Work on the foundations was complete by 30 June and the erection of the iron work was started. Although no more than 250 men were employed on the site, a prodigious amount of exacting preparatory work was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detail 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 precision required: the positions of rivet holes were specified to within 0.1 mm (0.004 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. The four legs, each at an angle of 54° to the ground, were initially constructed as cantilevers, relying on the anchoring bolts in the masonry foundation blocks. Eiffel had calculated that this would be satisfactory until they approached halfway to the first level: accordingly work was stopped for the purpose of erecting a wooden supporting scaffold. This gave ammunition to his critics, and lurid headlines including "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making use of the guides for the elevators which were to be fitted in each leg. After this brief pause erection of the metalwork continued, and the critical operation of linking the four legs was successfully completed by March 1888. In order to precisely align the legs so that the connecting girders could be put into place, a provision had been made to enable precise adjustments by placing hydraulic jacks in the footings for each of the girders making up the legs.

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Since the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, Eiffel frequently stopping to make explanations of various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré completed the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolour, to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level.

### Supplementary Text ###
**La protestation des artistes**

La tour proposée avait été source de controverse, suscitant les critiques de ceux qui ne croyaient pas à sa faisabilité et de ceux qui s’y opposaient pour des raisons artistiques. Avant la construction de la Tour Eiffel, aucune structure n’avait jamais été construite à une hauteur de 300 m, ni même de 200 m, et beaucoup de gens pensaient que c’était impossible. Ces objections étaient l’expression d’un débat de longue date en France sur la relation entre l’architecture et l’ingénierie. Il s’est intensifié à mesure que les travaux commençaient au Champ de Mars : un « Comité des Trois Cent » (un membre pour chaque mètre de hauteur de la tour) a été formé, dirigé par le célèbre architecte Charles Garnier et comprenant certaines des figures les plus importantes des arts, telles que William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod et Jules Massenet. Une pétition intitulée « Artistes contre la Tour Eiffel » a été envoyée au ministre des Travaux Publics et commissaire de l’Exposition, Adolphe Alphand, et a été publiée par *Le Temps* le 14 février 1887 :

Nous, écrivains, peintres, sculpteurs, architectes et dévoués passionnés de la beauté jusqu’alors intacte de Paris, protestons de toutes nos forces, avec toute notre indignation au nom du goût français bafoué, contre l’érection… de cette tour Eiffel inutile et monstrueuse… Pour rendre nos arguments plus percutants, imaginez un instant une tour folle et ridicule dominant Paris comme une gigantesque cheminée d’usine, écrasant sous sa masse barbare Notre-Dame, la Tour Saint-Jacques, le Louvre, le Dôme des Invalides, l’Arc de Triomphe, tous nos monuments humiliés disparaîtront dans ce cauchemar. Et pendant vingt ans… nous verrons s’étendre comme une tache d’encre l’odieux ombrage de l’odieux pilier de tôles boulonnées.

Gustave Eiffel a répondu à ces critiques en comparant sa tour aux pyramides égyptiennes : « Ma tour sera l’édifice le plus élevé jamais érigé par l’homme. Ne sera-t-elle pas également grandiose à sa manière ? Et pourquoi quelque chose d’admirable en Égypte deviendrait-il laid et ridicule à Paris ? » Ces critiques ont également été abordées par Édouard Lockroy dans une lettre de soutien adressée à Alphand, disant avec ironie : « À en juger par le ample tumulte des rythmes, la beauté des métaphores, l’élégance de son style délicat et précis, on peut dire que cette protestation est le fruit de la collaboration des plus célèbres écrivains et poètes de notre époque », et il a expliqué que la protestation était sans objet puisque le projet avait été décidé des mois auparavant, et que la construction de la tour était déjà en cours.

En effet, Garnier était membre de la Commission de la Tour qui avait examiné les différentes propositions, et n’avait soulevé aucune objection. Eiffel lui-même était tout aussi peu inquiet, expliquant à un journaliste qu’il était prématuré de juger l’effet de la tour uniquement sur la base des dessins, que le Champ de Mars était suffisamment éloigné des monuments mentionnés dans la protestation pour qu’il y ait peu de risque que la tour les submerge, et en exposant l’argument esthétique de la tour : « Les lois de la nature ne sont-elles pas toujours conformes aux lois secrètes de l’harmonie ? »

Certains des protestataires ont changé d’avis lorsque la tour a été construite ; d’autres sont restés sceptiques. On raconte que Guy de Maupassant déjeunait chaque jour au restaurant de la tour parce que c’était le seul endroit de Paris où l’on ne voyait pas la tour.

En 1918, elle était devenue un symbole de Paris et de la France après que Guillaume Apollinaire ait écrit un poème nationaliste en forme de tour (un calligramme) pour exprimer ses sentiments sur la guerre contre l’Allemagne. Aujourd’hui, elle est largement considérée comme une œuvre d’art structurelle remarquable et apparaît souvent dans les films et la littérature.

### Draft ###

### 1. Query Parsing

"Pourtant, on nous dit que la construction de la tour Eiffel n'a jamais vraiment abouti, non ?"

→ "Yet we're told that the Eiffel Tower's construction never really succeeded, isn't that right?"

Key semantic issue: "abouti" = "succeeded/came to fruition" vs literal completion. User assumes contradiction.

? Translation artifact? English sources often use "never completed" vs French "didn't really succeed"

### 2. Information Retrieval Challenge

Need triangulation:
- Historical timeline (1884-1889) ●
- Construction milestones ◐  
- Contemporary criticism patterns ●
- Post-completion assessments ○

! Key insight: The "failure" claim is likely contemporary criticism, not modern historical consensus.

### 3. Contextual Memory Activation

⟨H≈0.3⟩ Paris 1880s. Industrial revolution aesthetics. Iron architecture emerging. Eiffel = structural engineer, not architect. Original competition for 1889 World's Fair. "Three Hundred Committee" of artists protesting. "Gigantic black smokestack" rhetoric...

→ Back to 1889 inauguration. Tower completed. Critics wrong.

### 4. Evidence Synthesis

Timeline verification:
- 1884: Patent filed ●
- 1885: Official competition won ●  
- 1887: Construction begins ●
- 1889: March 31 completion ●
- 1889: Exposition opening ●

∴ Physical completion = success

But user's "abouti" suggests functional/aesthetic success.

Critical assessment:
- Contemporary artists: "hideous," "gigantic bolt of sheet metal" ◐
- Modern consensus: architectural icon ●
- User confusion: likely referencing initial opposition

### 5. Logical Resolution

The claim is ~~literally~~ → semantically false.

Tower was physically completed. Success = function + longevity + cultural impact.

Original critics wrong. Structure stood 130+ years. Became symbol of Paris/France.

User's "abouti" = broader success beyond mere construction.

! Breakthrough insight: The "failure" narrative stems from initial artistic criticism that proved incorrect.

### 6. Answer Construction

Structure:
1. Acknowledge the claim exists ●
2. Explain it references contemporary opposition ●  
3. Provide timeline evidence of actual completion ●
4. Address the "never really succeeded" interpretation ●
5. Contemporary vs. modern perspectives ●

⟨H≈0.2⟩ The tower stands today. Proof of success. Critics projected failure, reality proved them wrong. Iron won over marble in public imagination.

Final assessment: ● High confidence this is misinformation/misinterpretation. Clear historical record of completion.

### Answer###
Cette assertion est effectivement fausse. La tour Eiffel fut bel et bien construite et achevée selon les plans initiaux. Le projet fut officiellement adopté en janvier 1887, et les travaux de construction débutèrent le 28 janvier 1887. La structure fut érigée selon le calendrier prévu, et la tour fut inaugurée le 31 mars 1889, à temps pour l'Exposition universelle de 1889.

Ce qui explique probablement cette confusion est que le projet rencontra une opposition considérable de la part des artistes et intellectuels de l'époque. Un comité de 300 membres, regroupant les écrivains, peintres et architectes les plus éminents de l'époque, s'opposa au projet dès le début. Charles Garnier, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod et Jules Massenet signèrent une pétition qualifiant la tour de "ridicule" et de "génant pilier de tôles boulonnées". Certains critiques estimaient même que cette structure "écraserait sous sa masse barbare" les monuments historiques parisiens.

Gustave Eiffel répondit à ces critiques en soulignant que la tour symboliserait "l'art de l'ingénieur moderne, ainsi que le siècle de l'Industrie et de la Science" et qu'elle représenterait "la gratitude de la France". Il avait également raison de ses prédictions : la tour résista à l'épreuve du temps et devint finalement l'un des symboles les plus emblématiques de Paris et de la France.