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| Sunday, 28 November 2004 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Lighting up the city of Paris
The Tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel for the Universal Exposition celebrating the centenary of the French Revolution. Construction work, started in 1887, was completed in March 31, 1889 at a record time of two years, two months and five days. It was built at a cost of 7,800,000 gold francs. The foundation was constituted in stonework. Hydraulics were used during construction to help establish the correct inclinations of the four base pillars in relation to the first floor. The Tower is manufactured of puddle iron, which is made using a special baking technique relying on swirling during the liquid phase to prevent the carbon and the impurities in the metal from mingling. The Tower comprises 18,038 pieces and 2,500,000 rivets. Its base is 125 metres on each side. It is 324 metres in height and was the tallest building in the world till 1930. It is relatively lightweight. Its total weight is about 10,100 tons while the metal framework weighs 7,300 tons. The tower has a tourist office, souvenir shops, snack bars, photo studios, animated window scenes and a representation of Gustave Eiffel's office on the top floor. The illuminations were inaugurated in December 31, 1985. The lighting effects have been designed at different moments to decorate the tower for a day or for longer periods of time. The force of the wind causes the top of Eiffel Tower to sway 6 to 7cm. Heat also moves the top, with a curve of movement measuring 18cm. The Tower has a unique system that monitors this movement in real time, with a laser beam. Originally, the Tower had a spiral staircase between the second floor and the top level. Gustave Eiffel used these stairs to get to his top floor office. The staircase, which had 1665 steps from the ground to the top, was dismantled in 1983. Now the stairs stop at the second floor, from where there are two elevators to the top. The elevators were first made available in May 1889, and all elevators were in working order by June that year. These elevators run about one hundred round trips per day or one trip every eight minutes. The Eiffel Tower is completely repainted every five years. It takes 15 months, 60 tonnes of paint and 25 painters using only brushes to paint the entire tower. It is painted in three shades, with the lightest shade at the top and the darkest at the bottom. It has so far been visited by more than 210,485,130 visitors. The 200 millionth visitor was welcomed in 2002 while 6,103,978 visitors were welcomed last year. The Eiffel Tower belongs to the city of Paris and is now operated by a company named the Socit Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel. ______________________________________________ The hub of economic activity
This building houses the headquarters of the Bank of Ceylon, a leading State bank in the country. It is a very important economic centre in Sri Lanka as it is the headquarters of a bank which has branches spread in almost every part of the island. Thousands of people work in this building while thousands more visit it everyday to attend to various business matters. The high-rise building is 105 metres (344 feet) in height and has 32 floors. It is serviced by elevators. It was considered a technical marvel when it was built in 1985 as its architectural design was thought to be far ahead of its time.Its unique cylindrical shape earned it the nickname 'pittu bambuwa' as it reminds one of the steaming utensil used to make the delicacy known by the name of 'pittu'. Although it is now dwarfed by the 152 metre twin towers of the World Trade Centre which stand next to it, the Bank of Ceylon building was at one time the tallest edifice in Sri Lanka. It still continues to be one of the tallest buildings in Colombo. From the top floors of the building, one gets a breathtaking view of the City of Colombo as well as of the Indian Ocean, which is closeby. |
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| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
The Eiffel Tower in the heart of Paris, France is one of the most
visited sites in the world and has contributed in no uncertain terms to
Paris being named 'the most beautiful city in the world'. Its amazing
architecture has resulted in its popularity as a historical monument and a
symbol of Paris.
The Bank of Ceylon building at the Fort, Colombo is another Sri Lankan
landmark most of you would readily recognise.
