Gustave Eiffel: 1 Killed Million Spent
on Saturday, December 15, 2018Gustave Eiffel Money Quote saying in a seemingly cavalier way that there is an average number of lives lost to building major projects. Gustave Eiffel said:
“It has been ascertained by statistical observation that in engineering enterprises one man is killed for every million francs that is spent on the works… In building the Eiffel Tower, which was a construction costing six million and a half, we only lost four men, thus remaining below the average” — Gustave Eiffel
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In this quote, Gustave Eiffel seems to be reflecting on safety and loss of life during the construction of monumental engineering projects like the Eiffel Tower. Some key points:
- He notes that based on statistics, for every million francs (currency at the time) spent on such works, approximately one worker would be killed on average.
- The Eiffel Tower project cost 6.5 million francs to complete.
- Eiffel points out that despite this large budget, only 4 workers lost their lives during construction.
- He states this death toll remained “below the average”, meaning safety protocols on the Eiffel Tower job performed better than statistical expectations based on costs.
Eiffel appears to be expressing pride and satisfaction that the project finished under budget in terms of human costs, even for a huge undertaking. The quote conveys his evident priority of minimizing risks to workers through effective planning and precautions during the ambitious construction process.