Strike at the Eiffel Tower: the interview with the Iron Lady in question

Repaint it every seven years. Such was the instruction given at the end of the 135th century by the engineer Gustave Eiffel, father of this national symbol which today reaches the age of XNUMX, for whom painting was "the essential element in the conservation of 'a metal work'.

But despite a 20th painting campaign underway since 2019, the Eiffel Tower Operating Company (Sete) and its ultra-majority shareholder, the City of Paris, are under fire from unions who accuse them of a lack of maintenance .

“Numerous points of corrosion are visible, symptoms of a worrying deterioration of the monument,” say the CGT and FO.

Since Monday, photos and videos of rusty parts of the monument have been pouring in, fueled by critical voices such as the heritage defense association SOS Paris.

The puddled iron, chosen to build the tower, produced by refining the cast iron to eliminate excess carbon and make it more resistant, “rusts much faster than steel”, underlines Pierre Lamalattie, of the Friends association of the Champ-de-Mars.

“Every time there are spots of rust, it progresses quite quickly and can pose safety problems,” believes this painter and art critic.

Still 40% to process

“This monument is in very good condition,” retorts the first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire.

The current painting campaign is not over, Sete defends. “60% are done, 40% remains. The paint is degraded, not the structure,” summarizes its president Jean-François Martins to AFP.

The unions criticize management for delaying this campaign, which started in 2019 and which was initially supposed to end for the Olympic Games (July 26 - August 11).

The previous one began in March 2009 and ended at the end of 2010. The current campaign therefore started late compared to the seven years recommended by engineer Eiffel.

According to Pierre-Antoine Gatier, chief architect of historic monuments, selected by Sete to lead the project, the delay is explained by "the new organization of a tilting site", with in particular the "single task of stripping a significant part of the tower (3%), which had never been done."

Above all, “the major difference is that the current campaign lasts five to six years,” underlines Mr. Martins.

Two simultaneous hazards made this happen: in the midst of the Covid-19 health crisis, the discovery of traces of lead in the old layers of paint forced the suspension of the construction site for eight months.

“Superficial” corrosion

This delay and the change in technical and health procedures caused the cost to slip by 50 to 100 million euros.

But “then the iron structure will be incredibly well preserved,” promises Mr. Martins.

The current campaign, which will be interrupted this summer for the Olympics, must end in 2025-2026, the next one to be launched "before 2030", he indicates.

In the meantime, "the Eiffel Tower is not in danger", reassures Pierre-Antoine Gatier, for whom "corrosion is most often superficial".

In these cases, “spiking the corroded areas” makes it possible to find a “healthy surface” before applying the new coat of paint, he specifies.

According to the project manager of the site, studies carried out on the stripping areas, "where the paint was most altered", showed "puddled iron in perfect state of conservation".

This is particularly the case on the Champ-de-Mars side, where the tower is damaged “because of the combined effect of the wind and the sand” coming up from the esplanade”.

As for the state of the 18.000 pieces that make up the Iron Lady, checks showed "around 60 pieces to be treated, and without urgency", puts the architect into perspective.

“We have already replaced 10% of it and we are continuing,” adds the architect, for whom the current debate shows “our attachment to the tower”.