The 4-Man "Extreme Sport" That Built the Eiffel Tower #rivets #eiffeltower #railwaybridges #riveting

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]The Eiffel Tower has 2.5 million rivets.

[00:00:03]Old railway bridges have millions more.

[00:00:05]So why did engineering completely banish riveting by the 1960s? First, installing them was a dangerous four-man extreme sport. One guy heated it red hot, threw it across the scaffolding, a catcher caught it with tongs, and a pneumatic gun smashed it. It was slow, deafening, and hazardous.

[00:00:23]But the real killer was mechanics.

[00:00:25]Rivets are bearing type joints. They deform to fill the hole and fight loads via shear. Then came HSFG bolts, high-strength friction grip. These clamp plates together so tightly that the load shifts purely through friction. Where we don't bolt, we weld. Welding doesn't require drilling holes, meaning zero reduction in the plate's net sectional area. It gives you near 100% joint efficiency and slims down dead weight.

[00:00:51]Today we test welds with ultrasound and check bolts with torque wrenches. No more tapping rivets with a hammer to guess if they're tight. If welding is so efficient, why do railway bridges still heavily rely on HSFG bolts?

[00:01:04]Drop your answers below and like, share, and subscribe for more civil engineering secrets.