The Széchenyi Chain Bridge
At Budapest, the capital of Hungary, the first permanent bridge built across the river
Danube, was opened in 1849. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge (see Photo 2.1) is a
suspension bridge that links the western and eastern sides, namely Buda and Pest, on
the two (right and left banks, respectively) of River Danube. It immediately boosted
the country’s economic, social and cultural life.
At the time of its construction, with its centre span of 202 metres, it was
considered as one of the modern engineering wonders and it elevated Hungary’s
status in Europe. The bridge’s cast iron structure was updated and strengthened in
1914. In World War II, the bridge was blown up on 18 January 1945 by the retreating
Germans during the Siege of Budapest, with only the towers remaining. It was
rebuilt, and it reopened in 1949, a century after its initial construction.
In 2001, after Péter Besenyei, the Hungarian stunt pilot, flew upside down under
the bridge, that manoeuvre became a standard in Red Bull air races today. The bridge
is featured in the 2002 movie I Spy, in Katy Perry’s music video Firework, while the
climax scene of Bollywood’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was shot on this bridge.
The Eiffel Tower
Initially, the Eiffel Tower (named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company
designed and built the tower) was conceived as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair
to be held in Paris, and to be discarded soon after. However, Gustave Eiffel manage
to convince the government that the tower would be useful for other purposes. In the
end, he obtained a grant of 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs (less than
a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs), but Eiffel was to collect all revenue
arising from the tower’s operations: commercial exploitation of the tower during the
exhibition and during the next 20 years. He later set up a separate company to
manage the tower, contributing half the necessary capital himself. (Chap. 18 deals
with the participation of the private sector in such enterprises).The Eiffel Tower was
initially condemned by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its
design, and in their protest letter, indicated their reluctance, to bear with the structure
for the next 20 years, probably hoping for it to be demolished, after the 20 year
period.
The tower is 324 metres (1063 ft) tall, as high as an 81-storey building, and the
tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each
side. As a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France, it is
very light, weighing only 8000 tonnes (eight million kg - it is difficult to make a
30 cm model of it weighing only 8 grammes).
However, by 1918, it had developed into a symbol of Paris and of France after
Guillaume Apollinaire wrote a nationalist poem in the shape of the Eiffel tower
(a calligram) to indicate his feelings about the war against Germany. Today, it is
widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art, and is often featured in
films (Bollywood’s Evening in Paris - 1958, Sangam 1964, for example) and
literature. The Eiffel Tower has become a global cultural icon of France and one
210
7 Economic and Social Aspects of Infrastructure
At Budapest, the capital of Hungary, the first permanent bridge built across the river
Danube, was opened in 1849. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge (see Photo 2.1) is a
suspension bridge that links the western and eastern sides, namely Buda and Pest, on
the two (right and left banks, respectively) of River Danube. It immediately boosted
the country’s economic, social and cultural life.
At the time of its construction, with its centre span of 202 metres, it was
considered as one of the modern engineering wonders and it elevated Hungary’s
status in Europe. The bridge’s cast iron structure was updated and strengthened in
1914. In World War II, the bridge was blown up on 18 January 1945 by the retreating
Germans during the Siege of Budapest, with only the towers remaining. It was
rebuilt, and it reopened in 1949, a century after its initial construction.
In 2001, after Péter Besenyei, the Hungarian stunt pilot, flew upside down under
the bridge, that manoeuvre became a standard in Red Bull air races today. The bridge
is featured in the 2002 movie I Spy, in Katy Perry’s music video Firework, while the
climax scene of Bollywood’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was shot on this bridge.
The Eiffel Tower
Initially, the Eiffel Tower (named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company
designed and built the tower) was conceived as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair
to be held in Paris, and to be discarded soon after. However, Gustave Eiffel manage
to convince the government that the tower would be useful for other purposes. In the
end, he obtained a grant of 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs (less than
a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs), but Eiffel was to collect all revenue
arising from the tower’s operations: commercial exploitation of the tower during the
exhibition and during the next 20 years. He later set up a separate company to
manage the tower, contributing half the necessary capital himself. (Chap. 18 deals
with the participation of the private sector in such enterprises).The Eiffel Tower was
initially condemned by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its
design, and in their protest letter, indicated their reluctance, to bear with the structure
for the next 20 years, probably hoping for it to be demolished, after the 20 year
period.
The tower is 324 metres (1063 ft) tall, as high as an 81-storey building, and the
tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each
side. As a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France, it is
very light, weighing only 8000 tonnes (eight million kg - it is difficult to make a
30 cm model of it weighing only 8 grammes).
However, by 1918, it had developed into a symbol of Paris and of France after
Guillaume Apollinaire wrote a nationalist poem in the shape of the Eiffel tower
(a calligram) to indicate his feelings about the war against Germany. Today, it is
widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art, and is often featured in
films (Bollywood’s Evening in Paris - 1958, Sangam 1964, for example) and
literature. The Eiffel Tower has become a global cultural icon of France and one
210
7 Economic and Social Aspects of Infrastructure