THE MAJOR WORKS OF PARIS
How we transform Saint-Lazare station

It is not only through its streets that Paris currently offers the appearance of a vast construction site, but also through its buildings.
On the Boulevard desItaliens, passers-by stop, startled, in front of the gigantic scaffolding which completely covers the facade of the Crédit Lyonnais.
They would be even more surprised if we told them that this formidable wooden construction which extends between rue de Choiseul and rue de Grammont its grid of trusses and crosspieces assembled and bolted, was put in place in 48 hours and amounts to a twenty thousand francs. Which is not a record for “expensiveness” since, in fact, the scaffolding of the Trinity cost 150,000 francs.
But it is not, moreover, only in these places that the walker encounters a building surrounded by a temporary framework. Those of our readers who are users of the Saint-Lazare station have been able to notice, for some time now, that the rear platform of the main lines and even of some suburban lines was also nothing more than a vast carpentry site.
In fact, when getting off the train, we pass under a veritable vault of planks supported by three rows of pillars, made of assembled planks. Daylight, thus stopped, has been replaced by electric light, which does not mean that there reigns in these already insufficiently light places a blinding brightness.
And the poor travelers, who by the thousands travel through this station every day, say to themselves: But what is happening? When will we see the end of this mysterious work? This public concern is very legitimate, since, for almost a year, they have been passing under this scaffolding without being able to realize what is being done above. For him to reassure himself, he would have to see things from above.
Seeing things from above means being on the fifth floor of the station, in the office of Mr. Sarteur, state railway engineer,
— What does the transformation work at Saint-Lazare station involve? said Mr. Sarteur to me, but you just have to look…
From the office window we can see, in fact, what travelers can only contemplate upside down,

what happens above the scaffolding

— You see first of all, over there, continues the engineer, this new construction. It is the main building of the station which has been raised by several floors, in the half closest to rue de Rome. On the other hand, all these roofs which lengthen and swell before your eyes, these are the glass halls which dominate the roads. They came perpendicular to the main building, up to a meter from the windows. So we cut these halls eighteen meters from their end, so as to place above the rear quay which gives access to the boarding platforms, a transverse hall which will form a gallery similar to that of the Pas- Lost. You immediately see the improvements brought by such a work: space and light, since the cast iron posts will have disappeared and the central surface of the hall will be glazed.
— By the time the work will have been completed? —At the end of the year, everything will be over. Already, as you see, the first half of this transverse hall is completed. But in this place we were only able to remove the scaffolding halfway. Because we have to bring our materials to the unfinished site. The beams arrive via the Auteuil roads. It's better, isn't it, to pass them above the travelers than through the crowd. No doubt our scaffolding seems cumbersome, but the fact remains that this work, which contains 600 tonnes of iron, will be able to be completed without any disruption to station traffic and without any accident.
—Is this the only transformation that was planned?
— No, no. There is still major work to be done, such as the creation of an underground station for the electrification of suburban lines. It will come. But we can't do everything at once. It costs. The expenditure made this year already represents two million.

Mn.