Comparison of Tower of Pisa and Eiffel Tower - Coursework Example

Tower of Pisa & Eiffel Tower This paper aims to provide a comparison of Tower of Pisa and Eiffel Tower. The research on these tower and building can provide a better understanding about the material, innovation, steps, and expense that was used to construct this tower and building. Furthermore, in this research the purpose for the construction of towers will be discussed. Moreover, the problems that were being faced during the construction of these towers will also be described in this research paper. This research paper can prove to be a wholesome address to the construction of both the towers. Tower of Pisa & Eiffel Tower Introduction The history tells that there have been many different and unique buildings were made by the engineers of that time. They used stones to build towers and buildings. Some of those buildings and towers were made up with the use of ancient stones, and the way engineers used those stones to construct buildings was in a very technical manner. These buildings and towers are now called ancient stone tower buildings. Engineer utilized special stones for the construction of those towers and buildings. Due to which these buildings and towers are still found in the same condition with little bit maintenance and renovations. It proves that the tower and buildings were unique in its self, due to the solid infrastructure, different and unique designs. Similarly, in the modern era the engineers are now technologically equipped more than the ancient time engineers. Due to this reason, the modern engineers are now using steel as well to build and construct buildings and towers to add a new and unique element into it. The famous modern steel towers and buildings are being constructed by the engineers with a deep focus on the material utilization in an effective manner and an innovative way. There are few most-famous towers and buildings in the world in which some are from ancient stone tower building, and some are modern steel tower building. The best examples for these are tower of Pisa from ancient stone tower building and the Eiffel tower from modern steel tower building. The research on these tower and building can provide a better understanding about the material, innovation, steps, and expense that was used to construct this tower and building. Furthermore, in this research the purpose for the construction of towers will be discussed. Moreover, the problems that were being faced during the construction of these towers will also be described in this research paper. The Tower of Pisa Purpose The ancient stone tower “The Tower of Pisa” is also known as “the leaning tower of Pisa." It is the one of the world’s most-beautiful buildings. It is the bell tower of the cathedral of Pisa that is a city in Italy. The construction of the Pisa tower began the early August of 1173. At this time in history of Italy, it was the first idea to build the tallest tower in Italy. The first original architect was Bonanno Pisano; he designed the tower to be a bell tower for a cathedral. The construction of the tower was to surpass all other buildings in Italy; furthermore, at that time it was to mark the wealth as well as prosperity of the Republic of Pisa. Therefore, the height of the tower is noted as 56 meters that are around 180 feet. The tower has around 295 steps (Sohn & Hansen, 2011). Material Used When the construction begins, the engineers decided and were expecting to complete it within the 50 years but it took a long time to be constructed more than 150 years to be built into full shape. They decided that what steps should be taken to construct the tower in a different way but it was done in stages. The engineers decided to use a different kind of material in order to make it unique. The material that was used to build the tower of Pisa was limestone and lime mortar for more support and to enhance the beauty of the tower the exterior of the tower was covered with marble. The reason to use limestone is that it is flexible enough to stand the pressure that is placed on it. In addition, it can also be said that due to the limestone the tower has not cracked and broken. It was the most-innovative idea in itself to construct the tallest tower with the use of different stones and rocks. The whole building is made up of white marble (Lakes, 2009). Construction Steps The construction period was extended for many years, and the remaining construction was resumed after 100 years, when the war ended in Italy, and then the remaining work was done in three different stages. In the first phase of construction, ground floor was completed and then the construction progressed to the second floor. However, the tower started to sink due to the laid on unstable soil. The clay beneath the structure was a non-uniform consolidation of clay. It is a research that the engineers must understand the response of soil before constructing any building that the soil will be able to stand the load applied by structures of the building (Spellman & Bieber, 2012).However, at that time this point was missed out due to which the tower started to bend after the completion of the first phase. The soil problem came in front when the second floor was in construction, because of the gap in construction the soil under the base and one-half of the circumferences began to sink; due to which the tower started to tilt. The first two floors were built normally, but the third and the fifth-floor construction was out of line with other floors and it was closer to vertical. It leans around 14 feet from vertical, and it is said that the leaning of the building continued further south every year through the centuries. However, the other last phase was all about finishing the remaining floors and installing the bells for each floor (Zaruba, 2012). Problems The architects devised a plan to compensate the tilt, and they tried to apply many engineering solutions to maintain the tower’s center of gravity. Therefore, there were many attempts made to suppress the tilt of the tower. The restoration work started with different techniques from which few of them were failed to give any positive result. The stabilization work was continued, and many engineers from different centuries tried hard to maintain the tilt. The major restoration and stabilization work was done between the 1990 and 2000 (Feilden, 2003). High-level technologies were being used such as hi-tech laser technology, chisels and syringes were used to clean the structure of the tower. Furthermore, the stabilization part finished in 2008. The engineers removed around more than 70 metric tons from underneath the taller part of the tower. It is said that, it is now straighter, and lean is reduced from 5.5 degrees to 3.98 degrees. The overall estimated cost that was use for this work was around 25milion Dollars (Kelly, 2000). After that, the engineers have confirmed that the stabilization has stopped it from moving, and the tower stopped sinking anymore. Moreover, it will be stable for coming next 200 years, which is the great achievement for the engineers (Feilden, 2003). The Eiffel Tower Today, the most popular Eiffel tower, which is consider as an architectural wonder and the most center of attraction point in Paris. It attracts more visitors than any other paid tourist attraction in the whole world. It was made by the engineer Gustave Eiffel; his company designed it and built a tower. Purpose It can be said that the Eiffel tower was built for multiple reasons. The main purpose for its construction and design was for the world Exhibition that is also known as the famous Paris Exposition of 1889. It was a suggestion by government that, there should be some special monument to improve the quality of Paris and France. Furthermore, the new and beautiful buildings would be a way to commutate the anniversary and celebration for 100 years. The French revolution was an important event in the history of French for which many of the French officials wanted to make it different and memorable anniversary for 100 years celebration (Greene, 2004). In that case, the idea and design by Gustave Eiffel were unique. Design and structure idea served as an exemplary building proposal for the Paris exposition. Therefore, the proposal was accepted and in 1887, the construction for the tower was started. Material Used For the construction it was decided that which material should be used to build a tower as it was clear from the design by the engineer that the tower will be made up of iron, thus, the puddle iron that is wrought iron was used for it. Initially, the metal structure was used in the base of the tower with some non-metal components. The non-metal components involved huge amount of paint on iron to save the iron. The reason is that, the puddle iron is the most-durable material that can last forever as long as the proper maintenance with paint is being done. For that, the bottom of the tower painted with the darkest shade and on the top of the tower the lightest shade was used (Denny, 2010). It is also said that, for the foundation of tower non-metal items need to be used, and that was concrete. The slabs made up of concrete were covered by limestone to support the ironwork (Culshaw, 2009). Construction Steps The construction process started during 1887, and it was completed in 1889. The first level was ended in 1888; it was based on completion of foundation and base of the tower. In which, the most-difficult phase of construction was completed, and that was the construction of the four legs of the tower with scaffolding. At the first the legs were constructed as cantilevers. The overall width of the tower was estimated, and it was 410 feet that is 125 meters. A structure made up of wrought iron ribs were held together by rivets. The iron crossed bars was very tricky, but it appeared to be most-beautiful look to it (Kelly, 2000). In the second level, all stories of the tower need to be built. For that, in the first story platform that height 190 feet and 58 meters and the sides 232 feet and 71 meters long. It was also completed in 1888. The second story platform was about 379 feet, and 116 meters high from the bottom and the sides were 134 feet that are 41 meters long. The third level was the longest in the structure of the tower. In the end, the overall tower height was 1063 feet that are 324 meters tall. The construction involved more than 300 on-site employees. In the construction of the Eiffel Tower, a total of 7,300 metric tons of iron with 18,000 parts, and 2,500,000 rivets were used to build a tower. The construction work completed in 1889 just before the exhibition. It took 2years, 2months, and 5days as a total time to construct the Eiffel tower. Its total weight is 10,100 tons, and it is extremely light because it is built on exact scale model of the tower (Kelly, 2000). The elevators are being placed in the project to travel on a curve on angle of 60 degrees. The tower gets a new layer of paint on every seven years. The total paint used for it is around 12000 gallons that are equal to 60 tons. The good thing is that it is designed to sway the wind up to 5 inches in heavy wind. As it is a common fact that the iron expand in heat, therefore, during sun exposure it lean away from the sun up to 7 inches (Spellman & Bieber, 2012). During the construction, the Eiffel tower surpassed as the monument with the title of the tallest man-made structure in the whole world. It was the world’s tallest structure for 40 years. It was estimated that the total expense for its construction was around 800,000 gold francs in France to build. However, the tourist and visitors have helped to cover the cost. Now, it is a source to provide good revenue for Paris (Denny, 2010). Problems When the construction was started, it became famous from the start. From that point, the projected tower had been the subject of controversy, and it was criticized by many artists and engineers. Some of the engineers criticized that it is a waste of money and time it will not last for much time because it is going to be made up of iron, and it will be not long lasting due to the sun exposure. Some of the artists also protested that this design worth nothing special to be praised. Whereas, some people were against to it because it is not a proper structure it is a common tower. Few claimed that there is nothing unique, and it will provide nothing to Paris. Thus, Gatave Eiffel himself answered to this protest and claims. He compared his work with Pyramids that if it could be a symbol of attraction then why not this man-made tower can be a symbol of attraction for Paris. However, once it was developed the tower was widely considered to be a striking piece and an amazing structure of structural art (Greene, 2004). The other problem came when the clay of the earth where tower had to be built, could not withstand the pressure of 4- or 5 Kg per square centimeter. Furthermore, the workers discovered that the feet of the tower northern and eastern had to be driven into the river Seine. To overcome this problem Eiffel, who was experienced enough in his profession used metal caissons and the hardest stone to make the bedrock under the river Seine (Feilden, 2003). Comparison If both towers are compared, the similarities can be found only at some points but mostly differences can be noticed easily. It is clear from the above-mentioned details about the towers that the names of these towers are based on the name of its architects. One tower such as the tower of Pisa is totally made up of ancient stones, whereas, the other tower the Eiffel tower is totally made up of iron. Both structures are very different in it. These are the best examples for engineers work and art of the architects. Furthermore, the table below is more helpful to identify the elements and difference between the tower in terms of material, construction steps, structure, and time taken to build it. TOWER OF PISA EIFFEL TOWER MATERIAL Limestone, concrete at the base and Marble on the entire tower. Limestone at the base and Puddle iron on the entire tower with paint. CONSTRUCTION STEPS Three passes: 1. Construction of base with limestone and concrete. 2. After 100 years, the second and third floor construction. 3. The top of the building completed. Three levels: 1. Construction of base with limestone and iron. 2. The second step of construction with rivets and iron bar rods. 3. The third level construction was the longest because it was to build the top of the tower. STRUCTURE Building structure for bell tower with 8 floors Iron structure for world’s tallest tower. TIME TAKEN More than 150 years to built 2 years, 2months and 5 days to built EXPENSE 25 million dollars 800,000 gold francs Table 1: Comparison between Tower of Pisa and Eiffel Tower It is clear from the above table that there are many differences from the material to the construction and it time period for construction. Both are the famous towers in the world many visitors visit these towers around millions of visitors go to visit the towers. Both are the center of attraction for tourist and give fame to its country. Conclusion It can be analyzed from the research that both towers the Eiffel tower and the tower of Pisa was extremely famous towers in the world. The world is full of unique items, but these towers are the best and unique in it. These towers have unique structures and interesting history. The construction period of each tower had a different kind of problems and issues that were faced by the engineers of that time but in the end they created unique item for their country to provide fame to their countries. Though ancient stone tower building faced different kind of issues in which the building tilt towards one side due to the soil of that place and a long construction period. Once it was completed the engineers with various techniques tried to remove its tilt. Then, to some extent they got succeed. Now, it is very less tilt to one side, and the visitors are allowed to go to the top of the building. It is known as the ancient tower because the material that has been used and the time when it was constructed are now known as ancient time. Whereas, the Eiffel tower is counted in modern steel tower building though it is made up of iron only but it is included in the list of modern items of the world. The most-unique point in this tower was its height and its structure that is made up with iron only. The over-use of iron gives the Eiffel Tower its renowned beauty. In addition, elevators and restaurant on the tower makes it more interesting for the general public, and it is all because of its design by the architect. The structure is strong enough and beautiful. To today’s standards the Eiffel tower looks over-engineered, and the crossed bars of iron present the uniqueness of this tower. Many people travel to Italy and Paris just to see these towers because these are the center of attraction for tourists. It gives good profits to the government of each country with the increased sale of tickets the profit goes high. Therefore, governments take care for its maintenance and renovation with the help of hundreds of employees for each tower. Thus, after this research it can be said that these towers are a perfect example for engineers to get the inspiration from the method to material usage and techniques that are being used to build these towers.   List of References Culshaw, M. G. (2009). Engineering Geology for Tomorrows Cities. London: Geological Society of London. Denny, M. (2010). Super structures : the science of bridges, buildings, dams, and other feats of engineering. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. Feilden, B. M. (2003). Conservation of Historic Buildings. New York: Routledge. Greene, M. (2004). Eiffel Tower. San Diego: Blackbirch Press. Kelly, B. (2000). Number and Operation. Ontario: Brendan Kelly Publishing Inc. Lakes, R. S. (2009). Viscoelastic Materials. New York: Cambridge University Press. Sohn, E., & Hansen, A. (2011). Models and Designs: Its a Roller Coaster Ride! Heshan: Norwood House Press. Spellman, F. R., & Bieber, R. M. (2012). Environmental Health and Science Desk Reference. Maryland: Government Institutes. Zaruba, Q. (2012). Engineering Geology. New York: Elsevier. Read More