When Gustave Eiffel designed the tower that bears his name he specified that the steel construction had to be painted every seven years.
Next week this paint job will start for the nineteenth time. A group of 25 Greek and Romanian painters will start from the top, and work towards the bottom of the tower. It’s a job that takes 22 months, requires 60 tons of paint, and costs four million euros. The work is done with a brush because a spray gun would waste too much paint.Old paint is never removed, although after seven years three-quarters of the last layer has disappeared as a result of the wind and blowing sand. The total weight of all remaining paint after eighteen treatments is estimated at 250,000 tons — a quarter of the tower’s own weight.
In case you were wondering how the painters relieve themselves while hanging in their harnesses: a suspended toilet travels with them.
