Eiffel 埃菲爾

Eiffel was born in 1832 in Dijon city in the east of France. His father was a civil officer in the army. His mother was an imaginative woman. In the mid-19th century， after collapsing of Napoleons Empire， French economy was in a total recession. To move out of poverty， Eiffels mother resolutely took the burden of life， deciding to run a coal bunker by herself. So Eiffel was brought up by his grandmother.

Eiffels grandmother was cautious and kind. Its with his mother and grandmothers influence and education that Eiffel was able to think independently， and imagine freely at an early age， which laid foundation for him to be an extraordinary engineer. At age 12， Eiffel entered the local royal middle school. At the beginning， his studies were not good， and he couldnt be admitted to the famous Ecole Polytechnique.

But he was not discouraged. At age 20， with outstanding achievements by hard working he finally was admitted to the tech school to train himself an engineer. He rented a single dorm， and studied between a table and a stove day and night. It wasnt long before that he received the diploma of engineer.

After graduating from tech school， one of Eiffels friends recommended him to work as an engineer in Western Railway Bureau. From then on， Eiffel took his career as a structure engineer and made great contribution to human progress with his talent.

In 1860， Eiffel designed and completed famous French Bordeaux Bridge project. The 500-meter-long steel structure was built on 6 piers which went across the river Geelong. The completion of the enormous project made Eiffel well known throughout the engineering field.

With Eiffels devotion to studying and his courage to innovation， by using steel and concrete he freed engineering from the “soil” and “wood”. He made great efforts to design the tower， drawing more than 5，000 pieces of paper. These valuable materials as the fruit of the Eiffels labor are properly preserved in Paris.

Eiffel， who made miracles in the architectural history， will always be remembered.

埃菲爾1832年出生于法國東部的第戎城。他的父親是軍隊的文職人員，母親是一位富有想象力的婦女。19世紀中葉，拿破侖第一帝國滅亡后，法國經濟一片蕭條。為擺脫家境的貧困，埃菲爾的母親毅然挑起了生活的重擔，決定獨自經營一家煤棧，于是就將埃菲爾交給埃菲爾的外婆撫養。

埃菲爾的外婆心思縝密、心地善良。正是由于受到母親和外婆耳濡目染的影響和教育，埃菲爾從小就有獨立思考和自由想象的能力。這為他日后成為一個出類拔萃的工程師奠定了基礎。埃菲爾12歲進入本地的一所皇家中學學習。開始時他的學業不算好，中學畢業時沒能考上著名的巴黎理工大學。

但他并不灰心，刻苦地補習功課，到了20歲那年，終于以優異的成績考上了培養工程師的技術學校。在那里，他租用單身宿舍，經常擠在桌子和火爐中間夜以繼日地埋頭讀書。不久，他就取得了畢業文憑。

技術學校畢業后，埃菲爾經朋友介紹進入西部鐵路局擔任工程師。從此，埃菲爾踏上了建筑結構工程師的道路，為人類進步做出了偉大的貢獻。

1860年，埃菲爾設計完成了法國著名的波爾多大橋工程，將長達500米的鋼鐵構件架設在跨越吉隆河中的6個橋墩上。這項巨大工程的完成，使埃菲爾在整個工程界名聲大振。

埃菲爾肯鉆研、敢革新。他使用鋼材和混凝土，使土木建筑從“土”和“木”中解脫出來。他為設計鐵塔付出了巨大的勞動，僅設計圖紙就有5000多張。這些寶貴的資料作為埃菲爾勞動的結晶，至今仍被人們妥善地保存在巴黎。

埃菲爾這位在人類建筑史上創造奇跡的工程師，將永遠被人們銘記。