What is sure to please a lady on her birthday? A new outfit of course! And so the “iron lady” – as Parisians lovingly call the Eiffel Tower – is getting a fresh coat of paint right on time for her 120th birthday.
Bayferrox pigments from LANXESS will provide the right shade for the 324-meter high monument.

As ordered by builder Gustave Eiffel, the French emblem is repainted every seven years. For this purpose, 60 tons of corrosion inhibitor are applied by 25 painters using 1,500 brushes and rollers during the renovation period of 18 months. The new coat for a total of 250,000 square meters of steel costs around four million Euros. Painting is to be completed by the fall of 2010.

Regular painting is required because weathering and environmental effects are constantly eroding the paint. Of the 60 tons currently being applied to the steel structure, only around ten tons will remain after seven years. The Eiffel Tower already has 18 layers of paint. Colours range from the first coating in “Venetian Red” through shades of yellow to today’s “Eiffel Tower Brown”.

The understated shade, which harmonizes with the rooftops and monuments of Paris, is a blend of three different brown grades from the Bayferrox range of iron oxides. Iron oxides feature ultimate light and weather resistance, high colour strength and chemical resistance as well as outstanding coverage. The premium pigments can be blended without any problems and processed with nearly no dust formation. In addition, the products are easy and environmentally friendly to process - so that the Eiffel Tower will soon be resplendent in its new finery.