The Eiffel Tower is rusty and needs repairs

Paris – The Eiffel Tower is in poor condition and riddled with rust, leaked reports from the company managing the monument, obtained by the French magazine Marianne, suggest. According to documents, the renowned structure requires a complete overhaul, but instead, it is set to receive a coat of paint before the Paris Olympics in 2024 for 60 million euros (nearly 1.5 billion CZK), which experts consider merely a cosmetic touch-up.

When the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, it was assumed it would last 20 years before being dismantled. After 133 years, however, the tower still stands, thanks only to careful maintenance. The report on the tower's condition states, according to the magazine, that the monument is not in good shape. "If Gustave Eiffel were to visit, he would have a heart attack," an unnamed tower custodian told the magazine, referring to the tower's designer.

Eiffel, whose company designed and built the more than 300-meter-high steel landmark of the French capital, stated that the biggest challenge for the longevity of the structure is to find rust and stop its spread. As a solution, he suggested that the monument be painted every seven years. "Painting is a fundamental component of protecting the metal structure, and the care taken in doing so is the only guarantee of its longevity," he wrote at the time.

As part of the preparations for the Summer Olympics in 2024, the monument will be painted for 60 million euros. Originally, one-third of the tower's paint was to be scraped off, and then two new coats were to be applied. However, delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the presence of lead in the old paint mean that only five percent of the surface will be treated.

Experts from Marianne magazine stated that this is merely a cosmetic touch-up and predicted that the final result would be "deplorable."

The company Sete, which manages the Eiffel Tower and is 99 percent owned by the Paris city hall, is reluctant to close it for a long time due to the income from tourism that it would lose. The monument is usually visited by about six million people a year, making it the fourth most visited cultural landmark in France after Disneyland, the Louvre, and the Palace of Versailles. Its closure forced by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 led to a loss of revenue of 52 million euros (nearly 1.3 billion CZK).

"Sete must revisit the Eiffel Tower and propose an entirely new maintenance policy that focuses on testing the aging metal structure," states a report from 2010. A second report from 2014 found that the tower has cracks and is rusting. According to a third report from 2016, the monument has 884 defects, including 68 that pose a risk to the longevity of the structure.

Architect, engineer, and historian Bertrand Lemoine offers a more optimistic perspective on the Eiffel Tower's website. He claims that the enemy of iron is corrosion, caused by the oxidation of iron exposed to air and water. But if it were to be repainted, according to Lemoine, it would last forever.