(Paris) Less than fifty days before the Paris Olympic Games, the Olympic rings were hung overnight from Thursday to Friday at the Eiffel Tower thanks to several cranes and a team of rope access technicians.
These thirty tons of steel, made by Arcelor Mittal, arrived in pieces, and were assembled this week before being hoisted overnight between the first and second floor of the monument symbol of Paris.
These rings, 29 meters long and 13 meters high, will be lit in white every night, and include 100,000 LEDs, the Olympic organizing committee explained this week.
They are fixed to the most robust elements of the Eiffel Tower, explained to the press Alain Dumas, technical director of the Eiffel Tower Operating Company. Around fifteen rope access technicians took part in the hanging operation as well as several cranes.
Tests and studies have been carried out for many months to carry out this operation, explained Pierre Engel, engineer at Arcelor-Mittal.
“It will be one of the images of the Games,” predicts Thierry Reboul, director of events and ceremonies for the Paris Olympic organizing committee, referring to these five rings measuring nine meters in diameter which will look towards the Trocadéro.
On Wednesday morning, the Olympic rings were also hoisted on the pediment of the Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre where the Olympic swimming events will take place. This is the only equipment to have rings, except for the rings at the Georges-Vallerey swimming pool in Paris, site of the 1924 Olympics and training site this summer.