Contributor
Very cool - thanks for the updatesOriginally Posted by Kevin Jenness
I "get" how the original gang went about making square-ish beams with hand tools 6 - 8 centuries ago.
Then I watch the video of the tower crane used in the lift - and nope. Don't get that at all. Did they hoist the truss/rafter components and assemble up on top? Doesn't seem like they could hoist a finished rafter into place. But then - Stonehenge.
Fascinating. I'm good without knowing how stuff was done eons ago.
When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.
[OP]
Contributor
Kent, I believe the original builders would have assembled the trusses on the ground and lifted them into place with a crane powered by a walking wheel (like a hamster wheel for humans). I saw one used for hoisting well water in an 11th century chateau, about 13" in diameter. David MacAuley's Cathedral is a good illustrated reference. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...m=IGRE&first=1
[OP]
Contributor
Some footage from Remy Desmonts' workshop in June https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9bLO58VT_c and some more from Briey where the steeple is being fabricated https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4BUvrMlYFc
Miles called my mother a few days ago from up in the cathedral where he was attending a lead hazmat training (the original roof was lead and there is residual contamination from the fire). He will be coming home in a couple of weeks, then returning in November to assist with the truss installation.
I see I had a Spinal Tap moment in the post above this one - the walking wheel hoist at the Chateau d'Harcourt is more or less 13' in diameter, not 13"!
Last edited by Kevin Jenness; 08-13-2023 at 12:20 AM.
Contributor
This is n example of a twisted spire about 30 miles from where I live in the Uk
https://matthewjonesphotography.co.u...-chesterfield/
Contributor
The massive staging to build the spire is overwhelming!
thanks for keeping us up on this Kevin.
[OP]
Contributor
My daughter-in-law came by today and said Miles had facetimed her from Paris earlier in the week, gone walkabout after his hazmat training in the staging forest, following hidden staircases and frolicking among the gargoyles. I would have liked to see that. Said he had dreamed of exploring the attic since he visited the cathedral at age 10. Living large!
From Miles' Instagram account:
alexandergorlinarchitects
Pretty weird to have to sign an NDA to rebuild a medieval cathedral ! What’s the secret?
vtheavytimber
]@alexandergorlinarchitects I think it’s understandable. This is a project where the client is the French government, and the French people themselves, and they’d like to be able to control the narrative. It’s very rare that someone would turn down the chance to work on a unesco world heritage project just because of the nda, so there’s really no downside for them.
alexandergorlinarchitects
Perhaps but the entire process is being watched by the world and the specific techniques of reconstruction will be documented along the way, especially as it’s a UNESCO monument as well as a holy place. What secrets are being held ?
vtheavytimber
lol. Per the NDA, any secrets will remain such. I’ll never tell about the hidden passageways and secret tunnels that the knights Templar have instructed us to build. Only one craftsperson can work on them at a time, and that person only knows about the small section that is in their purview.
Last edited by Kevin Jenness; 08-13-2023 at 6:22 PM.
Contributor
Oak is reputedly a difficult wood to dry.
How do they fell the selected trees and construct the trusses with the lumber so quickly?
[OP]
Contributor
Most timber framing is done with green wood, and this project is no exception.
Contributor
Okay, thanks.
[OP]
Contributor
An interesting pan view of the formwork used to support the new vaulting filling in where the falling spire crashed through the original masonry ceiling of the cathedral https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoK8c8H8rtE and a video of the "poultice" work being done on the remaining vaulting that was damaged by water infiltration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y354cdTN5Y
On another note, Miles has been home for three weeks but will be returning in November for several months to work on installing the roof trusses until that work is complete.
[OP]
Contributor
Craning a principal truss into place https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geBbUBA8dLE Given how fast they are moving along they may be done before Miles' expected return in November.
Last edited by Kevin Jenness; 10-25-2023 at 1:39 PM.
[OP]
Contributor
The party is over for Miles, as his crew has completed their installation work on the nave trusses. I think he was disappointed not to get in on that phase but he certainly had a good run in the shop from January through August. He is in Paris now as he had to pick up a couple of axes he had commissioned and collect his new work visa, good for 4 years, in person. His boss has arranged a tour of the jobsite as the choir and spire work are still going on. Quite the experience, and it seems likely he will go back over time to work on other projects. Having put a lot of effort into several ephemeral projects over the years that were ripped out due to a change in fashion I envy him helping to rejuvenate a building that may well last another 800 years.
[OP]
Contributor
For anyone interested, there is a Youtube video on this project by a participant. Josh Jackson, a Vermont builder who worked on the nave trusses at the Desmonts shop, gave a lengthy slide presentation at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum last week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHBPdg8h6es
The roof framing was completed in January according to this article. https://www.osvnews.com/2024/01/22/c...eph-and-jesus/
Last edited by Kevin Jenness; 03-09-2024 at 7:34 PM.
Contributor
Fascinating information….
Chris
[OP]
Contributor
A New York Times article on Hank Silver, one of the expatriate carpenters on the project. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/29/w...carpenter.html
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
