In 1857 Nepveu negotiated a contract to build a railway bridge over the river Garonne at Bordeaux, connecting the Paris-Bordeaux line to the lines running to Sète and Bayonne, which involved the construction of a iron girder bridge supported by six pairs of masonry piers on the river bed.
Eiffel se je želel vpisati na "École Polytechnique", vendar njegovi mentorji odločili, da njegov nastop ni bil dovolj dober in se je zato vpisal na "École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures" v Parizu, ki je precej bolj poklicno usposabljala.