Notre Dame cathedral has just 50% chance of being saved, rector says

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-50-percent-chance-paris-landmark-can-be-saved-rector-said-today-2019-12-25/



DECEMBER 25, 2019 / 8:15 AM / AP

The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral says the Paris landmark is still so fragile that there's a "50% chance" the structure might not be entirely saved, because scaffolding installed before this year's fire is threatening the vaults of the Gothic monument.

Monsignor Patrick Chauvet said restoration work isn't likely to begin until 2021 — and described his "heartache" at not being able to celebrate Christmas services inside Notre Dame this year, for the first time since the French Revolution.

"Today it is not out of danger," he told The Associated Press on the sidelines of Christmas Eve midnight Mass in a nearby church. "It will be out of danger when we take out the remaining scaffolding."

"Today we can say that there is maybe a 50% chance that it will be saved. There is also 50% chance of scaffolding falling onto the three vaults, so as you can see the building is still very fragile," he said.

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Damn...

[hlthe2b]

1. I hope he is wrong... And yes, to the naysayers, it is "just a building" & people are suffering all

over the world. But, if you have spent time in that marvelous place, I think you'd be more conflicted.

It truly is a special place. May they have good fortune (or a more spiritual intercession) in trying to save it.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. I consider such religious structures more as tributes to Man than to any god

When you see them up close, and look at the detail in the stonework, and the stained glass... well, it takes your breath away to think mere mortals created it all!

[RKP5637]

6. Agree!!! K&R!!! Magic did not create them. It was the strenuous, artistic and caring work of

mere mortals that created them and made it all possible.

[dalton99a]

7. +1. The magnificent splendor has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. I couldn't have said it better.

Though I was raised Catholic, I left the church many years ago and have no religious affiliation. That said, Notre Dame is a beautiful church because of its amazing architecture and the fact it's 8 centuries old.

I've had the opportunity to visit Paris three times in my life and have visited it each time. I hope that it can be saved.

[LakeArenal]

3. So Catholics pocket the 400 Billion Dollars the billionaires sent?

I knew none of the parishioners would benefit from all that highly visible Donation fest.

[Brother Buzz]

5. The Church doesn't own the cathedral, France does

France raised the money, so theoretically, they would pocket the dough.

The church WILL be rebuilt, only, I suspect they will have to use a bit more of 'Hollywood' magic to make it happen; steel, fiberglass, Styrofoam. The Devil's building materials, Baby!

[dalton99a]

8. The French government owns all religious buildings constructed before 1905.

[Historic NY]

9. I'm hopeful, I've seen worse..

Last edited Wed Dec 25, 2019, 03:43 PM - Edit history (1)

put back from the scourge of war.

[link:|]


[link:|]

[Dennis Donovan]

11. I wouldn't oppose if they reconstructed it in the manner they did the Reichstag...

...using as much of the old structure as possible, but building it into a modern structure.

[brush]

10. It's several months. God! Why hasn't the work started?

[dalton99a]

12. They had to remove the scaffolding very carefully

When the fire broke out, maintenance work was under way on the cathedral’s spire and scaffolding had been erected. The metal scaffolding poles melted in the fire. Part of the reason for the delay, officials said, was that the deformed poles had to be disentangled from the cathedral’s structure.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-notredame-building-site/notre-dame-restoration-yet-to-start-six-months-after-the-blaze-idUSKBN1WU2CV

[brush]

13. They must save it. I'm an art history/architecture buff and it would be a great lost...

to the world to lose it.

[appalachiablue]

14. Notre Dame, Paris,

- 1853 photo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame_de_Paris

[mn9driver]

15. The vaults are critical.

They are the only thing keeping the nave from folding in on itself. Steel or massive wooden bridging needs to be installed on the inside to prevent this from happening, but there are hundreds of tons of melted steel scaffolding and lead hanging unsupported just above the vaults.

So, bridging can’t be installed until the horrible and dangerous mess above the vault is removed. But removing the mess may cause the vaults to collapse. Without bridging, that would be Game Over.

50-50 is probably optimistic unless they can figure out how to get bridging in there sooner rather than later.

[Dennis Donovan]

16. Jesus, I hadn't realized the scaffolding melted (meaning can't be easily disassembled)

Could they tie the walls back (pull on them from the outside) while cutting the scaffolding out?

[mn9driver]

17. Smarter people than me might be able to do that...

They’ve locked the flying buttresses into position using huge wooden forms, which is ingenious and takes some stress off of the vaults. Maybe they can figure out how to pull from the outside, but stone blocks held together with heat damaged mortar will present a problem. Everything in there was designed to let gravity hold everything up. It’s an incredible balancing of opposing forces.