Eiffel Tower gets a glass floor

Visitors to the Eiffel Tower in Paris will now be able to look down through a glass floor that forms part of a 30-million-euro refit of France’s most-visited tourist attraction!

The transparent floor will be on the first level of the tower, at 57
metres, where operators hope that visitors will linger before heading to the highest viewing platform at 276 metres above ground.

Traditionally, tourists to the Eiffel Tower spend little time here before moving on to catch better views from the two higher levels. To add more excitement to the view down to the ground, the old wire safety fence has been replaced by floor-to-ceiling glass barriers that tilt outwards.

The refitting of the half-hectare first floor, which began in May 2012 and was unveiled to the public in October 2014, also includes shops, restaurants and a museum telling the story of the 125-year-old structure.

The tower’s eco-friendliness has also improved, with the installation of four solar panels that will provide about half of the structure’s hot water requirements.  Some of the toilets will now make use of rainwater.

About seven million people visit the Eiffel Tower each year – 85 per cent of them foreigners – making it the world’s busiest paid-for tourist attraction.

The tower’s management also hopes that the renovation will attract more Parisians to the Dame en Fer (The Iron Lady), as it is sometimes referred to in French.