Eiffel Tower to lose some of its sparkle

The Eiffel Tower’s ‘Diamond Dress’ of lights will now only be seen for 5 minutes a day.

September 2008

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The Eiffel Tower as part of France’s decision to make its monuments more environmentally friendly is to lose its illumination from 10 minutes per day to just 5 minutes.

There are 20,000 bulbs used to illuminate the tower. Paris’s top landmark was given its “Diamond Dress” to mark the new millennium. The lights were kept on due to popular demand but Sete the company subcontracted to run the tower has decided to halve the time the Eiffel Tower is illuminated cutting the time from 400 hours per year to 200.

Bertrand Delanoe was re- elected as mayor and has put the environment at the heart of his policy making. “Above all it’s a symbolic decision, as the cost savings are not enormous” said the tourism deputy to the major.

Other green schemes already implemented include a low cost bike rental scheme which has already reduced traffic volume by 10%, pavements have been widened, parking spaces reduced and public transport promoted more widely to the residents of Paris.

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