Eiffel Tower... - The Eiffel Tower (pronounced /'aif?l'ta??/; French: La Tour Eiffel, pronounced /'tur,e'fel/) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris. It is the tallest structure in Paris and possibly the most recognized symbol in the world. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, it is the most visited monument in the world; 6,428,441 people visited the tower in 2005 and more than 200,000,000 since his construction. Including the 20.75 m (70 ft) antenna, the structure is 320.75 m (1070 ft) high which is about 81 stories. Completed in 1889, the tower replaced the Washington Monument as the tallest structure in the world, a title it retained until 1930. In 1902, it was struck by lightning, which caused builders to reconstruct 300 feet of the top. The lights illuminating the tower also had to be replaced, due to short-circuiting. At the time of its construction in 1889, the tower replaced the Washington Monument as the world's tallest structure in the world, a title it retained until 1930, when New York City's Chrysler Building (1063.33 ft tall) was completed. The tower is the second-highest structure in France, after the Allouis longwave transmitter, built in 1930. The Eiffel Tower is the highest structure in Paris, the second-highest structure in Paris is the Tour Montparnasse. The structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tons. There are 1660 steps. It is not possible for the public to reach the summit via the stairs, elevators are required beyond the second platform. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 3.25 inches, due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50/60 tons of three graded tones of paint every seven years to protect it from rust. On occasion, the color of the paint is changed — the tower is currently painted a shade of brownish-gray. However, few people realize that the tower is actually painted three different colors in order to make it look the same color. The colors change from dark to light from top to bottom, but it looks the same because of the background (the sky being light and the ground being dark). On the first floor, there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the color to use for a future session of painting.