Notre-Dame has changed its face and this has been expected for a long time.
Since Tuesday, the partly charred scaffolding which overhangs it has been completely dismantled.
“The fear that weighed on the monument is definitely behind us.
We can now say that Notre-Dame is saved ”, rejoiced the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, during her hearing on the follow-up of the site, late Tuesday afternoon.
The work of securing the Parisian building is, however, far from over.
The imposing metal structure of 200 tons and 40 meters high was in place at the time of the fire, to carry out a restoration operation of the cathedral.
If it had resisted the collapse of the arrow, it had, on the other hand, partly melted in the blaze and represented a real danger for Notre-Dame.
Its evacuation was an essential prerequisite for the continuation of the site.
The dismantling of the scaffolding required a crane to remove all the debris. / Franck Badaire
This delicate operation, which began on June 8, lasted more than five months.
The iron tower first had to be surrounded by metal beams on three levels to avoid any risk of collapse.
It was then lined with a second scaffolding to allow rope access workers to begin dismantling, with saber saws, the most charred parts.
The metal parts were finally evacuated using an 80 m crane, installed alongside the cathedral.
“The threat that this scaffolding represented for the cathedral is now over.
We are going to be able to get down to the final stages of securing ”, welcomed General Jean-Louis Georgelin, president of the public establishment responsible for the conservation and restoration of the monument.
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The next step now is to secure the births of the cross vault and proceed with the evacuation of the remains, the cleaning and the suction of the four vaults adjacent to the crossing of the transept.
Operations which should continue until mid-2021, while the removal of the great organ should be completed at the end of December.
A major change in the course of the work was also announced.
There is no longer any question of making an “umbrella” above the roof of the cathedral, as had been suggested at the beginning.
"Its weight would risk weakening the structure of the cathedral," fears the minister.
Other equipment will therefore have to be put in place to insulate and protect the future site of the oak frame of the roof.
"The deadlines will be met"
It is therefore only after the summer of 2021, subject to diagnostic studies, design and tendering procedures, that the real restoration work can begin.
Roselyne Bachelot remains confident that the date of 2024, promised by Emmanuel Macron, will be respected: “The deadlines will be met.
We will sing a Te Deum in the cathedral ”, even said the minister… This one, questioned at the end of the day by the parliamentary committee of the National Assembly, also returned to the subject of a possible replacement of the gray stained glass windows of the chapels - installed by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century - with contemporary stained glass windows.
“The thing is inadmissible.
I want to be perfectly clear on this point ”, she insisted, faced with the working hypotheses put forward by a reflection team set up by Mgr Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris.
Recalling at the same time that "the State owns Notre-Dame and that the stained glass windows were constitutive of the building, and not a simple element of decoration".
