frame, spire, finials… the striking images of the reconstruction of the missing roof

Throughout France, pairs made up of a forester and a carpenter traveled 800 hectares for six months to select an average of two oaks per hectare. They were taken at the end of winter 2021.

At the Géants sawmill, in Craon (Mayenne), eight oaks of exceptional dimensions – 1 m in diameter and at least 20 m in useful trunk length – are cut. They will be used for the reconstruction of the framework of the stool (base) of the spire raised by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century.

Certain traditional tools, such as roughing axes here, were used to cut beams. Around fifty were remanufactured for the occasion by five tailoring companies.

Blank lifting of the trusses (the large triangles which give its shape to the frame) to check the adjustment of the assemblies by the Perrault and Desmonts workshops. The latter joined forces to reshape its medieval parts (nave and choir).

Winter 2023. It is still being assembled. Above the openwork floors, these beams will soon come together around the immense central needle formed by four trunks placed end to end which will culminate at 96 m high.

Spring 2024. The openwork floors. Their covering will not be completed until the fall, after the roofing, because the large scaffolding which surrounded the spire was removed: it rested on the ground and prevented the closing of the hole in the vault and the rearrangement of the choir in the set deadlines.

January 12, 2024. While the spire is not yet unscaffolded, a bouquet is placed at the top of the choir symbolizing the end of the structural work. Notre-Dame has regained its “great height”.

Spring 2024, Lemer foundry, in Carquefou (Loire-Atlantique). Above, a gantry lifts the crucible in which the liquid lead is at 450°C.

Opposite, before casting, oxides and surface impurities are removed.

Finally, the florets, these roof decorations designed by Viollet-le-Duc, come out of their cast iron mold where the lead has covered a sand “core”.

The ornamentists chisel the edges to make them more nervous and find the shadows of the relief. It is also necessary to remove the sand from the core so that the floret can attach to an iron frame. On the other hand, we keep it in the foliage part to avoid possible deformation of this flexible metal.

On the roof of the nave, the roofers weld cabochons which will hold the lead tables in place. The width of each table coincides with its crest. And the width of the ridges was calculated to the nearest millimeter so that the pattern ended right at the end of the roof line.