But the iconic Paris landmark will only be fixed after the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to reports in French magazine Marianne. A source claimed that “it’s quite simple, if Gustave Eiffel visited the place, he would faint.” Another source said: “He’s not likely to go down tomorrow morning, but it’s true he’s not well at all.” The structure is currently undergoing a repaint with the upcoming 2024 Olympics in mind, but experts warned the magazine that a “mere coat of paint” won’t do the job. The Eiffel Tower is cracking and rusting, according to leaked reports (REUTERS) Current repairs are said to cost €59m (£51m), but due to delays due to the Covid pandemic, instead of treating around 30 per cent of the monument, only 5 per cent will be treated. According to the magazine, the commercial company that oversees the tower, Societe d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, is reluctant to close the tower for renovations because of the loss of tourism revenue it would entail. A worker is seen on the Eiffel Tower during the 20th Eiffel Tower Painting and Stripping Campaign in Paris, France (REUTERS) The 324-meter-tall tower was built for the World’s Fair of 1889. Gustave Eiffel, the civil engineer who helped design the monument, said that stopping the iron structure from rusting would be a key challenge. He wrote at the time: “Paint is the necessary ingredient to protect a metal structure, and the care with which it is done is the only guarantee of its longevity. The most important thing is to prevent rust from starting.” A 2014 report by a specialist paint company on the condition of the tower found it cracked and rusted. Only 10 percent of the newer paint on the tower was attached to the structure, according to their assessment. Rust visible on Eiffel Tower as reports emerge that the monument is in a ‘state of emergency’ (REUTERS) The report said: “Even if the general state of corrosion protection looks good to the eye, this can be misleading. Planning for a fresh application of a coat of paint cannot be foreseen which will do nothing but increase the risk of total loss of adhesion to the system.’ The head of the paint company, Bernard Giovannoni, told Marianne: “I have been working on the tower for several years. In 2014 I felt there was an extremely urgent need to tackle erosion.”
