An engineer by training, Gustave Eiffel designed some of the finest and most recognized structures in the world today. Specializing in metal structural work, Eiffel’s accomplishments range from the Nice observatory to the Statue of Liberty. His brilliant career was marred only by the fraudulent charges brought on during the construction of the Panama Canal. Gustave Eiffel was born in Dijon, France in 1832. He graduated from the Escole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in 1885, the same year that Paris hosted the first World’s Fair. He spent several years in the southwest of France, where he supervised work on the great railway bridge in Bordeaux. In 1864 he set up his own business, specializing in metal structural work. Eiffel built hundreds of metal structures around the world. Bridges, and in particular railway bridges, were his favorite fields of work. He also won renown for his industrial installations. His career was marked by a large number of fine buildings. Two of the most outstanding are the twin edifices of the Porto Viaduct, and the Garabit Viaduct in the Cantal region of France. Equally outstanding are certain other structures in which the pure inventiveness of Eiffel’s company was allowed free rein. Some examples are the “portable” bridges that were sold around the world, and the ingenious structure of the Statue of Liberty. The best example is the Eiffel Tower itself, which he built for the 1889 World’s Fair. In 1887 Gustave Eiffel agreed to build the locks of the Panama Canal, an immense undertaking poorly managed by Ferdinand De Lesseps. It was the biggest contract in his entire career, and also the one with the greatest risk. Given the risk he faced, he was granted major financial advantages and solid guarantees. Despite the care that Eiffel took in the project, the liquidation of the canal construction company, Compagnie du Canal, on February 4, 1889, led to his...
