At the time when he was not yet married and father of two children, Arnaud Chauvin often went on weekend trips with his climbing friends in the Verdon gorges (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). Eighteen hour drive round trip from Paris to satisfy his passion for climbing. As a teenager, he practiced up to five hours of indoor rock climbing… a day! Mountaineers would say that his path was set to become a rope access technician: these professionals working at heights who evolve roped up along buildings, building facades, historical monuments or industrial sites.
Arnaud Chauvin has been practicing this profession for ten years, after obtaining a BTS in building design. He is now taking part in the 7th French Rope Access Championship, organized in Bagneux (Hauts-de-Seine) at the Center for Circus Arts.
Under a tent 28 m high, he will face the best in his discipline during tests of speed, rope movements, assembly and dismantling of structures or emergency simulations.
Install silicone joints on a tower 100 m above the ground
“In the past, for certain delicate projects, we called on mountain guides who carried out small repairs on a rope,” explains Arnaud. The trade has now become more professional, there are now training centers specializing in work with difficult access and we are expected to achieve the same results as in traditional construction.”
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Dismantling a metal structure in the enclosure of the reactor of a nuclear power plant, working on a hydraulic dam, abseiling along a building to repair a rainwater drain… rope access technicians work in multiple sectors. Often where neither scaffolding nor a basket is suitable. At 31, Arnaud already has solid experience behind him as a craftsman of verticality. In Paris, we have seen him recently install anti-rockfall nets on a facade, put silicone seals on a 100 m high tower or rush into the ventilation shafts of the metro and RER to make an inventory.
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During the 2012-2013 New Year, Arnaud placed fireworks along the tallest tower in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), 828 m above the ground. “I also inspected the Normandy bridge (214 m high) as the cars passed below us on the highway”, specifies the rope access technician who loves the “feeling of freedom” that this job provides. As for the dangers, he does not deny them but considers that it is not the height which is in question.
“It’s not dangerous, insists the vacuum specialist. It’s just a matter of respecting strict rules and preparing your site well. But accidents are always linked to human error, like when someone uses only one rope instead of two and it breaks or they slip off a frozen roof because they didn’t. attached.” Until what age does he intend to practice this profession which requires physical strength, precision and skill? “Up to the age of 50 if you stay sporty and have a healthy lifestyle,” says the young thirty-year-old. It’s my body that will tell me what the age limit is.”
5,000 vacuum experts in France
When you have to repaint the Eiffel Tower or change the bulbs of the Iron Lady, you call on them. When it is necessary to inspect the pillars of the Millau viaduct, it is still them who intervene. We also sometimes come across them hanging from a wind turbine, abseiling along a historic monument to be restored or on the facade of a building from which a piece of balcony threatens to fall. Five thousand people, often from the world of caving or climbing, work as rope access technicians in France. This activity has been professionalized over the past ten years and even has a union of “work at height contractors”. A rope access technician can earn between €2,000 and €2,500 per month and up to €6,000 for highly skilled professionals.
