The tower, including its TV antenna, is 317 meters (1,040 feet) high. On a clear day you can see it from 65 km. (40 miles) away. With an open-framework construction, the tower unlocked the almost unlimited possibilities of steel construction, paving the way for skyscrapers. Skeptics said it couldn't be built, and Eiffel actually wanted to make it soar higher. For years it remained the tallest man-made structure on earth, until skyscrapers like the Empire State Building surpassed it.