Paris (AFP)

It is a work of goldsmith that starts Monday at Notre-Dame de Paris: the dismantling of the scaffolding installed before the gigantic fire of April 2019, which presents a potential danger for the cathedral and constitutes one of the most delicate stages of a titanic site.

Two teams of five rope access technicians will soon descend as close as possible to the burnt out parts. Their mission: to cut, using saber saws, the welded metal tubes between them by heat. This scaffolding was installed before the fire to renovate an arrow that has now disappeared.

"There may be pieces that fall from the scaffolding and weaken this or that part of the cathedral walls," said the head of the Notre-Dame foundation.

The scaffolding made up of 40,000 pieces, 200 tonnes, half of which is more than 40 meters high, resisted the collapse of the boom, but was deformed by the heat, to the point of resembling a large canvas spider.

To prepare for this perilous operation, in addition to the installation of a giant crane, the scaffolding was surrounded with metal beams several months ago, on three levels to prevent possible collapse. A second light scaffolding rises on either side of the old one. Nacelles were also installed for this operation.

- Architectural or identical gesture? -

Monday morning, workers with hard hats began to climb inside the scaffolding, via an elevator, for checks before the arrival of the rope access technicians, the "squirrels", on Tuesday. A sort of "+ check-up", as in a rocket before takeoff, "underlines Mr. Rousselot.

This operation, initially planned to last four months, must take place throughout the summer. It has been repeatedly postponed with the many ups and downs suffered by the Notre-Dame site, between the introduction of measures against lead contamination, bad weather at the end of 2019 and the coronavirus crisis. It gradually resumed in late April.

General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who heads the "Notre-Dame task force", recognized that there would be an additional cost due to all the delays, a cost that "we have not yet fully calculated". The completion of the current security phase is still planned before the end of 2020.

After dismantling the scaffolding, the time will come for architectural choices and calls for tenders. The reconstruction phase could then begin in 2021.

The reconstruction of the spire is one of the sensitive points of the project, between President Macron's wish to include a "contemporary gesture" on the cathedral and the supporters of architectural continuity with an identical restoration.

Some have proposed a glass spire, or to create an organic garden park on the roof, or even a panoramic terrace for tourists ...

The architect Philippe Villeneuve argues for loyalty to the work retouched in the Gothic style by the architect Viollet-le-Duc, of which the plans are kept. He estimated that an identical reconstruction would make it possible to better meet the deadlines for a reconstruction within the period of five years desired by Emmanuel Macron.

© 2020 AFP