According to CNN, the unnamed need for maintenance was first uncovered in confidential reports obtained by the French periodical Marianne. Rust damage to the structure has accumulated over the years, a product of the lead contained within the paint which was originally meant to protect its steel from oxidizing but is now slowly making its condition worse in the opinion of at least one structural engineer with knowledge of the situation.
As Marianne noted, this represents the 20th time the tower, which Gustave Eiffel originally conceived of as a 20-year temporary installation, has been repainted since its debut as the centerpiece of the 1889 Exposition Universelle. The latest round will reportedly cover a mere 5% of the entire 1,063-foot structure. An unnamed expert told the magazine: "At best, it will be mostly useless, but at the very worst, it will make the defects in the existing layer of paint worse and result in corrosion."
In 2017, it was announced that the popular tourist destination was to undergo a fifteen-year, €300 million ($301.7 million) refurbishment at the hands of the publicly-owned Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (or SETE) that would bring it up-to-snuff for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Writing on the tower’s official website, French architect Bertrand Lemoine offered his assessment that the Iron Lady could theoretically "last forever" if enough paint is effectively reapplied. He also cited the damage caused by a process known as micro-movements, which, if left unchecked, would reportedly destroy the tower within a period of roughly 1,000 years.
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Here's the original design. Interesting how they pronounced the vertical thrust over the arch for the better imho. Plus, loosing some extraneous decorations also seems for the better.
Better call Dépôt à Domicile to make sure they have enough in stock.
"Blanc Navajo? Non!"
Let Earl handle it:
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