This debris was no ordinary rubble devoid of interest or value: it bore the memory of the parts of the cathedral that disappeared in the fire. To preserve this memory and also to enable the securing work to begin, experts from the archaeological department of the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs for the Ile de France region (DRAC/SRA) set about a long and painstaking task.
Clearing, sorting and documenting
Mandated by the necessity of securing the cathedral without delay, the experts and companies on site began to evacuate with great care the debris consisting of three large heaps on the floor of the cathedral. The state of the vaults of the central nave prevented them from passing under them: they thus had recourse to remote-controlled articulated arms in order to remove beams and stone blocks.
The location of each of these elements on the floor was noted meticulously in order understand its position in the destroyed structures. A sorting table installed in the transept then facilitated an initial selection of remains, elements of heritage or scientific interest, in order to separate them from the gross rubble.
Bags containing these remains were then evacuated from the cathedral and stored in order in large tents installed on the square for this purpose.
In 2020 and 2021, the same methodology was applied to the debris from the framework, which fell, not on the floor but on the extrados (the top) of the vaults, and which the rope workers removed piece by piece.
Two years of sorting and inventory
Once the remains had been evacuated, the detailed inventory could begin. Specialists in different disciplines succeeded each other in the tents on the square, interpreting the remains of the framework and roofing: analyzing the age of the wood, noting metal nails and staples, coring stone voussoirs…
The remains, which could not stay in the square for long, were transferred to a storage center located in the Paris region which also served to store elements from the cathedral: stained-glass windows, chandeliers and organ pipes, while waiting to be restored in the workshops of the companies assigned to the works. This transfer was completed in spring 2021. The center was open to researchers who could continue their investigations there as part of the scientific project involving the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research).
Main visual ©David Bordes / RNDP