The students of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) constructed the Eiffel Tower, one of the most famous sights of Paris. The Tower layout, 8,58 meters high and 3,42 meters wide, made from paper rolls, claims to be written into the Lithuanian record book as the tallest Eiffel Tower paper layout. Young VGTU construction engineers constructed it, commemorating the 125th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower.
Alfonsas Daniūnas, the Rector of VGTU and Maryse Berniau, the Ambassador of France to Lithuania, welcomed VGTU students during the Eiffel Tower lightening ceremony.
„I am very glad that now the Eiffel Tower in Paris is not the only one in the world. Congratulations to everyone who contributed to this unique project,“ – said the Ambassador of France.
Replicating one of the world's most famous buildings, the students performed an incredible work – they have found a way to reinforce the paper, estimated how many materials and fasteners they need and what loads different parts of the tower would have to cope with, as well as carried out all design and construction works. The students used almost sixteen thousand sheets of paper and 2.5 thousand screws for building the tower. For about 1 050 hours the team of forty students have been working on the layout of the Eiffel Tower.
"The constructing of the layout of the Eiffel Tower became a remarkable instrument for students not only to consolidate in practice their theoretical knowledge, received during lectures, but also to make their learning process more varied and interesting. Although we were applying the same mechanical laws for constructing structures from paper, this material was not a typical one, so we met new challenges. Using our engineering knowledge and testing everything in a creative way, we solved all our problems, "– said Edgaras Timinskas, the author of the paper layout construction of the Eiffel Tower, and the lecturer at the Department of Bridges and Special Structures of Construction Faculty. Vytautas Tamulėnas and Arvydas Rimkus, Doctoral students and the leaders of some project parts, were the supportive colleagues.
Not for the first time, the young scientists of the University initiate creative engineering projects: they organise a championship of construction of bridges from noodles at VGTU every year.
"The University pays great attention to digital construction, engaging its aspects both into the research and training processes. We are pleased that new generation of VGTU students acquire new competences, and by their work they prove to become creative young specialists in future”,– said Alfonsas Daniūnas, the Rector of VGTU.
In designing the tower layout, the builders relied on Building Information Modeling (BIM) principles: they introduced innovative technological aspects, developed a digital model of the tower with real elements and merging details, and carried out all necessary calculations.
They divided the construction of the tower into ten stages. During each stage, they produced necessary quantity of building elements, combining them into structural fragments, and then into a whole unit, i.e. to one tower floor. They built the 8,58 meters high structure, without using any auxiliary building equipment – everything was manufactured and assembled by hands.
By their work, students encouraged everyone to use natural resources in a responsible way and manage waste effectively: all paper necessary for the construction they collected from VGTU community members. The students made a new tower layout from the paper, using it for the second time.
The Eiffel Tower, standing in the capital of France, is a real engineering miracle – the 324 meters tall metal structure weighs 7 300 tons. However, it loads the Earth just as one man, sitting on the chair. The engineering solutions applied do not allow the construction to fluctuate in the range higher than the peak of twelve centimetres, even during the storm. After the 1960's, they started to build almost all skyscrapers according to the sample structures of the Eiffel Tower.
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