French carpenter Frederic Malmezac and Sylvain Bouchard, a sports enthusiast with disability, pose in front of a 16-meter replica of the Eiffel Tower built from recycled wood which they hope to display along the path of the Olympic torch relay and on Olympic sites for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in La Chevroliere, near Nantes, France, Feb 19, 2024. (PHOTO / REUTERS)

LA CHEVROLIERE, France - Two friends in western France have built a 16-meter high replica of the Eiffel Tower from recycled wood, which they hope to display along the path of the Summer 2024 Olympic torch relay and on Olympic sites.

French carpenter Frederic Malmezac and Sylvain Bouchard, a sports enthusiast with disability, work on a 16-meter replica of the Eiffel Tower built from recycled wood, in La Chevroliere, near Nantes, France, Feb 19, 2024. (PHOTO / REUTERS)

A drone view shows a 16-meter replica of the Eiffel Tower from recycled wood built by French carpenter Frederic Malmezac and Sylvain Bouchard, a sports enthusiast with disability, in La Chevroliere, near Nantes, France, Feb 19, 2024. (PHOTO / REUTERS)

Frederic Malmezac, a 38-year-old carpenter, paired up with 46-year-old Sylvain Bouchard to build the model, using wood that would otherwise have been thrown away.

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"The project was to build a wooden Eiffel Tower replica using as much recycled material as possible ... to show that with material due to be thrown away, we can build great things," Malmezac said.

A drone view shows a 16-meter replica of the Eiffel Tower from recycled wood built by French carpenter Frederic Malmezac and Sylvain Bouchard, a sports enthusiast with disability, in La Chevroliere, near Nantes, France, Feb 19, 2024. (PHOTO / REUTERS)

The pair used about 825 pieces of wood, Malmezac said, starting their project in September 2023. They are hoping to soon get authorization to display their mini-Eiffel Tower near Olympic sites.