Saturday November 16, 2024, at the Requeil village hall (Sarthe), Patrick Jouenne, the manager* of the reconstruction site of the spire of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, gave a conference on the various stages of the work. The craftsman also shared his professional journey with the public.
Patrick Jouenne has been a carpenter and companion of duty since 1993. Meilleur Ouvrier de France since 201, he is also manager of the Notre-Dame de Paris spire construction site since 2022. This Norman, installed in Sarthe in December 1995, enabled the restoration of the Notre-Dame de La Faigne chapel in Pontvallain (Sarthe) and those of the washhouse and hemp oven in Requeil.
When on April 15 and 16, 2019, Notre-Dame de Paris burned at the age of 850, Patrick Jouenne decided not to miss the opportunity to lead the reconstruction project. In 2020, he left the company in which he had worked as a partner for 25 years to join Le Bras Frèresone of the companies likely to win the contract for the reconstruction of the spire.
Finally, in 2022, the group obtained the market under the aegis of the Public Establishment. However, given the technical difficulties of reconstruction and the search for all the outlines**, four competing companies have joined forces to carry out this work: Le Bras Frères (representative), Cruard Carpentry, Asselin and the Woodworking Trades.
Watercolor by Christian Pacaud
Plan of the spire of Notre-Dame de Paris
Used to pull the verticals
“The greatest success is the group that we formed” (Patrick Jouenne)
A year and a half were necessary for Patrick Jouenne to achieve the purity* complete with arrow. The team was then divided into two groups: the first will work on the site, while the other will work in the workshop. These are 330 cubic meters of green wood*** (around 330 tonnes) that the craftsmen cut to make the arrow, taking into account the drying of the wood which will lose 5 to 6% of its mass in the next 40 years.
Thanks to their goldsmith's workthe rooster and his relics returned to their original place, at the top of the spire of Notre-Dame de Paris, 96 meters high, on December 16, 2023.
Text and photos: Maéva VALLÉE PINOT.
* leader of workers in the workshops, project manager.
**graphic representation of a three-dimensional figure by its projections (in elevation, in plan, in profile or in section), which in the case of the carpenter allows the cuts to be made for the construction of the work.
*** 3 years of drying.
