Two years after the Notre-Dame fire, a non-stop excursion to work on the reconstruction of the cathedral

On April 15, 2019, flames destroyed part of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral – its roof, the spire and part of the vaults – causing international unrest. Two years later, the work to consolidate the building and recover the remains are nearing completion. thanks to the tireless work of a multitude of professionals.

It is an extraordinary work, to which it is difficult to access. The fire on the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris, in April 2019, melted tons of lead that were deposited in all corners of the cathedral. As it is dangerous for your health to breathe or ingest this lead dust, a special protocol has been established for entering and leaving the work area.

“Here are the overalls and disposable underwear, I will give you boots and here is a helmet”, they tell us at the entrance. In a sort of transit cabin, the preventionist explains that when we leave, we will have to decontaminate our equipment, take a full shower and change our clothes.

We took the elevator for a few minutes and reached a height of 35 meters. Paris is visible at 360 degrees. The Pantheon in the distance on one side, the Sacré-Coeur on the other. “We are at the provisional floor, above the nave of the cathedral. It was built to weigh down the walls of the nave and to protect the vaults from the rain ”, explains Guérin Chatenet, from the Jarnias company. He is responsible for work at height, attached to ropes. Here, before the tragedy, the wooden framework of the roof of Notre-Dame began. Today, there is only one giant hole left.

“This is the intersection between the ship and the cruiser. The spire rose precisely here, above these collapsed vaults, ”explains Chatenet. In this impressive wound in the body of the cathedral, men descend, with harness and ropes, towards what remains of the vaults. Pieces of beams on fire, pieces of metal from what used to be the roof, climb and collect hundreds of kilos of charred debris.

“They remove the rubble from the vaults so that architects can later declare them safe,” explains Michaël Lemaire, who supervises their work. “At the moment when they might collapse, that’s why we don’t put any weight on the top and we work in suspension. Sees it? They barely touch the stone with their toes“.

It is not possible to use machines here. The human gesture is more precise. “It’s very physical work,” says Lemaire. “Since they cannot support themselves on their feet, they have to force themselves into areas of the body that are not normally used for this: the back, the shoulders, the arms.”

Pieces of history

Where do they work the “mountaineers” of Notre-Dame, there are a lot of lead emissions. Therefore, in addition to the special clothes that we all wear, they must work with assisted ventilation masks. With your whole face covered and breathing through a tube that filters the air.

“What they collect is ashes with stones. Sometimes there are pieces of copper, wood, nails. It was all the roofing material that turned to dust. These are not rubble, they are vestiges ”, specifies Lemaire. These pieces of Notre-Dame have been damaged or burnt but they have a history. “They made us maps with very specific areas of the cathedral and every time we take something we have to identify exactly which area it is from.” The cathedral has evolved over time, it has been restored at different times, so each district of Notre Dame has a different age. “And this can be seen in the wood, the metal or the assemblies that exist,” he emphasizes. “Everything we recover interests archaeologists and architects, specialists in metal, wood, stone.”

Michaël Lemaire and his colleagues started working just a few days after the fire in April 2019. “During the first two weeks, I felt very depressed seeing this chaos. Every time I went up I felt very sad. Everything was black, twisted, broken», He reports.

Two years later, the experience has been exceptional, he says. “It is a living monument that makes itself felt. When I arrived, I had not realized this dimension, but soon after, I started to refer to “that” as a person. Now we all say we take care of her. “

Treasures, not debris

In the square in front of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, archaeologists dig and excavate huge bags of charcoal unloaded with ropes and recover the remains that could be of interest.

“We collect small pieces of metal, including forged nails, assembly parts of the wooden structure, small pieces of wood or large pieces of coal that will be scientifically analyzed. There are also fragments of glass, mortar and stone, ”explains Dorothée Chaoui-Derieux, archaeologist and curator of the Regional Archaeological Service for the Paris region.

The scientific study of these remains, selected and inventoried, could reveal still unknown aspects of the history of the cathedral. “We have a lot of wood fragments, for example. We are going to analyze them to have information on the varieties of trees they used, at what times, what the climate was, what were the construction techniques. “

Thousands of stones fell at the time of the disaster. Lise Leroux, geologist at the Historical Monuments Research Laboratory, participates in the selection of these remains. “The stones of the arch of the collapsed nave will give the architects indications on the shape of the arch, as it must be restored, rebuilt,” he explains. “And it is likely that some elements, those which are still in good condition despite the fire, will be reused inside the cathedral.” Not all stones can be used for restoration. The heat of the flames and the fall from a height of 30 meters could have altered its properties.

Angel heads

“We inspected thousands of cubic meters of charred and demolished material, for months “, says Dorothée Chaoui-Derieux. And in the midst of it all, they found treasures. “We recovered two angel heads, almost intact on the ground “remembers the archaeologist. The angel’s face is perfectly visible, with his golden hair. “It’s a miracle that they survived! “

In this unusual work, rope access technicians, archaeologists, carpenters, stone sculptors, crane operators learned from each other. “It was an exceptional human adventure. Strong links were created between different professions which were not used to working together “, destaca Chaoui-Derieux.

Olivier Puaux is another of the volunteer archaeologists who have spent months digging. “Among all the discoveries that I made during these two years, I remember in particular the moment when I found a piece of the Notre-Dame clock, when I took out fragments of bells, ”he said.

Dozens of researchers – specialists in wood, metal, medieval architecture for example – now aspire to be able to study the remains saved from the disaster. “I am sad for what happened but so happy for the work we have done in these two years. We have saved a small part of the heritage of the cathedral which, I hope, we will reintegrate into the monument, or perhaps we will exhibit in a museum, ”concludes Puaux. “The future will tell.”

Originally posted by RFI

KEEP READING: