menu Home chevron_right
PETS & ANIMALS

Building the Eiffel Tower | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBS

NOVA PBS Official | August 19, 2025



Explore the engineering behind Paris’s iconic landmark, the tallest structure of its time.

Official Website: https://to.pbs.org/49api5G | #novapbs

Explore the revolutionary engineering behind Paris’s iconic landmark. Completed in just over two years for the 1889 World’s Fair, the iron tower smashed the record for the tallest structure on Earth, ushering in a new age of global construction that reached for the skies. How did the engineers do it? Follow the innovations, successes, and failures that made one of the most famous buildings on the planet possible.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:21 The Original Plan of the Eiffel Tower
06:31 Building Tall Structures With Wrought Iron
12:27 Aerodynamics of the Eiffel Tower
15:17 Building the Foundation of the Eiffel Tower
23:09 Lesson Learned from Statue of Liberty Construction
28:24 Building the Platforms of the Eiffel Tower
38:00 The Elevator System of the Eiffel Tower
42:27 Various Paint Jobs of the Eiffel Tower
45:35 The Paris World’s Fair 1889
47:30 Making the Eiffel Tower a Permanent Structure
51:20 Conclusion

© 2024 WGBH Educational Foundation

All rights reserved

This program was produced by GBH, which is solely responsible for its content.

This program is made possible by viewers like you. Support your local PBS station here: https://pbs.org/donate/

Enjoy full episodes of your favorite PBS shows anytime, anywhere with the free PBS App: https://to.pbs.org/2QbtzhR

Stay up to date on the latest science discoveries, full episodes, articles, videos, and more by signing up for NOVA’s newsletter here: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/newsletter/

FOLLOW US:

NOVA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/novaonline
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NOVApbs ​
X: https://twitter.com/novapbs ​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/novapbs/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@novapbs

PBS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PBS/
X: https://twitter.com/PBS/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PBS/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/PBS/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbs

Shop: https://shop.pbs.org/

#eiffeltower #engineering #documentary

Tagged as , , .

Written by NOVA PBS Official

Comments

This post currently has 39 comments.

  10. @EnSerio71

    August 19, 2025 at 7:20 pm

    Funny part it only had like a 20 yr lease at first. If they didn't figure out another purpose than an art project it probably wouldn't be standing. 😅

  12. @WhiteDragon689

    August 19, 2025 at 7:20 pm

    Wether the Chinese who build for influence or Arabs with more money than God for avarice, the French were FIRST! Much like the USA was first on the Moon. That can not be erased.

  18. @andy11ink

    August 19, 2025 at 7:20 pm

    Why doesn’t it show how visitors climb to the top on foot because the elevators weren’t ready by the world fair opening???…I never saw a ladder that goes to the top, did visitors climb the damn side of it?

  19. @andy11ink

    August 19, 2025 at 7:20 pm

    Why do they rely on showing so much CGi and not real footage?…do they not have better footage?….probably the worst Eiffel Tower doc ever, way too much damn CGI

  22. @Wj8rk

    August 19, 2025 at 7:20 pm

    Human arrogance has no end.
    All those lives sacrificed, all that money spent for arrogance.

    That money could have been spent to build bridges, hospitals, schools, universities, roads, farms, supermarkets, research, innovation, medications, medical treatments.

  24. @YippeeSkippie426

    August 19, 2025 at 7:20 pm

    2:44 – For those of you wondering about or are appalled by Lemoine's right-hand thumb and fingernails; notice that his left hand has neatly trimmed nails.
    I couldn't find information on whether or not he plays classical guitar as a hobby, but those nails on his right hand, which look carefully grown and shaped, are certainly those of a right-hander who plays classical guitar. Picking nails like his help to give the strings on those instruments more clarity and the player more control over dynamics than playing with just fingertips.

  27. @wamm1478

    August 19, 2025 at 7:20 pm

    Why don’t you tell truth. as poor as Haiti is France made Haiti pay them to build the Eiffel Tower so it was money from Haiti the poor country tell the truth shame the devil PBS it was built on slaves backs

  31. @GH-oi2jf

    August 19, 2025 at 7:20 pm

    The statement that we would not have tall buildings today had the Eiffel Tower not been built is nonsense. Jenney's Home Insurance Building, the first building with a steel frame, had already been built by the time the Eiffel Tower was completed. There is no question that larger buildings would have followed, as engineers continued to develop steel frame technology. The Tower was certainly an inspiration, but not necessary to the development of skyscrapers.

Comments are closed.

Related
River Monsters: Jeremy Wade Investigates the Piranha (S1, E1) | Full ...
Animal Planet | April 22, 2026
Related
Songs About Us
Ze Frank | April 20, 2026
Related
A magical rock in northern Minnesota
Voyageurs Wolf Project | April 20, 2026

This area can contain widgets, menus, shortcodes and custom content. You can manage it from the Customizer, in the Second layer section.

 

 

 

Go to album
  • play_circle_filled

    92.9 : The Torch

  • play_circle_filled

    AGGRO
    'Til Deaf Do Us Part...

  • play_circle_filled

    SLACK!
    The Music That Made Gen-X

  • play_circle_filled

    KUDZU
    The Northwoods' Alt-Country & Americana

  • play_circle_filled

    BOOZHOO
    Indigenous Radio

  • play_circle_filled

    THE FLOW
    The Northwoods' Hip Hop and R&B

play_arrow skip_previous skip_next volume_down
playlist_play