“The crowning achievement of Anne Hidalgo’s career”, “Paris hits rock bottom”, “The symbol of Hidalgo’s #saccageparis”. Here are some of the comments of Internet users posted under publications claiming for a few weeks that the Eiffel Tower would threaten to fall. While the fireworks will be fired on Thursday July 14 from the Trocadero gardens, the state of the monument is causing concern.
It all started with an article published at the end of June in a serious newspaper, the weekly Marianne, titled like this: “Exclusive: Bad shape, rusty, will the Eiffel Tower fall?” In this article, the journalist explains that he had access to three reports on the condition of the Eiffel Tower dated from 2010 to 2016. “According to our sources, the symbol of Paris is in very bad shape”, can we read. According to the journalist, these reports describe “a very degraded state and a now that leaves something to be desired”. Several testimonies also point in this direction, such as that of a current executive, quoted anonymously, who “is sorry” reports Marianne. “If Gustave Eiffel visited the place, he would have syncope”says the interviewee.
Bad shape, rusty, will the Eiffel Tower fall? https://t.co/wz8FOdlYU5
— Marianne (@MarianneleMag) June 29, 2022
Contacted, the operating company of the Eiffel Tower (Sete), however, disputes this diagnosis and ensures that the reports were not alarming. The director, Jean-François Martins, even assures that “the Eiffel Tower has never been so preserved”. It confirms the existence of these reports, commissioned by Sete itself. One in 2010, another in 2014 and the last in 2016. But the Sete does not draw the same lesson. According to Jean-François Martins, the three reports describe “a tower in good general condition”. La Sete only provided franceinfo with an extract from the 2010 report. “The observations made on site reveal that the structure of the tower as a whole is in good general condition”. Concerning the paintings, another extract indicates that “the paint systems applied to date are well adapted. The periodicity and the procedures are well respected”. The other reports have not been released.
The boss of La Sete, however, confirms the anomalies denounced in the article. 884 faults were detected in 2016, classified according to their seriousness from B to F (F being the lowest score). Thus, 68 of these 884 reports would be classified as F. This category corresponds to parts which are deemed to need to be changed or processed urgently. In concrete terms, these are parts that are too rusty. But Jean-François Martins ensures that these so-called defects “urgent” are present only on annexed documents, “ornamental”, which do not threaten the structure. He adds that these recommendations have indeed been implemented since the repair of these 68 parts is well scheduled in the 20th painting campaign started in 2019 and which should continue until 2024. To date, six of these parts have already been processed.
La Sete explains that he followed another recommendation by stripping part of the Eiffel Tower for the first time in the history of the monument. 5% of the total surface was exposed to check the condition of the metal under the layers of paint. Management ensures that the results have largely reassured. “The wrought iron is in impeccable condition”assures Jean-François Martins.
In summary, the Eiffel Tower requires a lot of work but does not threaten to fall tomorrow. This is confirmed by the legal expert who wrote one of the reports. Bernard Giovannoni, legal expert, at the origin of the 2014 report on the state of the paintings, confirms that he has not “never wrote that the Eiffel Tower was in danger of collapsing”. There was good “Crumbling paint, rust”but “nothing that jeopardizes the tower”. On the other hand, he recalls and “assume” that he called at the time to engage “work as soon as possible”at the risk that the bill will increase in the years to come, in particular due to the presence of lead and a possible tightening of the regulations which, in his eyes, would have resulted in an additional cost.
How can everyone be better informed?
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