BREAKING NEWS!! NOTRE-DAME of PARIS is ON FIRE!

About your thread with Boston and a gun (or something like that), similar to msolga's thread about guns, the last pages are non-stop idiocy mostly from 3 individuals who are putting nothing of value into the conversation there.

Defense of civil liberties

PARIS (Reuters) - The operation to shore up fire-ravaged Notre-Dame Cathedral is entering a risky stage as engineers resume preparations for the removal of scaffolding that could provoke a further collapse.

The Paris landmark lost its roof and spire in the April 15 blaze, but the main bell towers, outer walls and much of the vaulted ceiling survived, along with religious relics and artworks.

After the first Christmas in more than two centuries without Notre-Dame services, work resumed on Thursday to prepare the site for years of rebuilding due to begin in 2021.´

Engineering teams have brought in a 75-metre crane now towering over the partly destroyed cathedral.

Starting in February, their first delicate task will be the removal of 250 tonnes of damaged scaffolding installed for a renovation planned before the fire, without it falling onto the medieval vaulting.

“We don’t know how that is going to affect the stability of the structure,” said a spokeswoman for the Catholic Church’s Paris diocese that includes Notre-Dame.

Supports are now being installed around the mangled scaffolding to mitigate the risk of collapse, and a second lattice structure suspended above it for access.

The edifice is monitored by dozens of sensors, crack detectors and lasers to pick up any first signs of instability, so that workers can be evacuated swiftly and damage minimized.

“We’ve known from the start that there’s a certain amount of risk nobody can really quantify,” the diocese spokeswoman said. “A partial collapse of the vaulting is a possibility that can’t yet be ruled out.”

I wish there was a way to remove the "BREAKING NEWS!!" from this 8 month old thread (assuming, of course, they have put the fire out by now).

maxdancona wrote:

I wish there was a way to remove the "BREAKING NEWS!!" from this 8 month old thread (assuming, of course, they have put the fire out by now).

That's fair. And makes sense to. I'll drop a request with the admins. Of course, nothing will likely happen.

Considering that the Contact Us doesn't have any Captcha option to fill out and verify a poster's question (especially absurd for being a member of a2k for over 10 years)? Good luck getting any request or question through to the admins.

Head of restoration says removal of fused scaffolding may destroy vaulted ceiling

The French general appointed to oversee the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral has said the iconic building is still at risk of collapse more than six months into the efforts to restore it.

Gen Jean-Louis Georgelin said the cathedral is “not saved yet” and has to undergo a delicate operation to remove fused scaffolding that was around the spire, destroyed by a devastating fire last April.

“The cathedral is still in a state of peril,” Georgelin told French broadcaster CNews. “There is an extremely important step ahead, which is to remove the scaffolding,” he said.

Georgelin, who has described the conservation and restoration of the cathedral as “an immense challenge”, added that the condition of the ceiling vaults is not fully known and he could not guarantee they “won’t fall apart. However, he said initial observations on the current state of the 12th-century edifice were “reassuring”, adding: “We feel quite confident.”

The cathedral’s rector, Monsignor Patrick Chauvet, said a fortnight ago that the cathedral is so fragile there is a “50% chance” the structure might not be saved if the scaffolding falls onto stone vaults weakened by the inferno.

“It will be out of danger when we take out the remaining scaffolding,” Chauvet said.

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

In November, the Archbishop of Paris, Monsignor Michel Aupetit, said work on the cathedral was still in the “diagnostic” phase and final evaluation of the damage should be finished this spring.

Aupetit said the operation to remove 500 tons of scaffolding, which came down when the spire collapsed, was a delicate one.

“We will have to encircle the scaffolding, then put a second scaffolding over it. From this new scaffolding, workers will descend by rope and cut it bit by bit into small pieces and this will take a long time,” he said.

Afterwards, the vault will have to be examined stone by stone, he added.

“We cannot take any risks … we have to know which ones need replacing and which ones to keep … only then will we know how much [the repairs] will cost and how long they will take.”

For the first time since the French Revolution there were no Christmas services in the cathedral this year.

Georgelin was appointed to oversee the restoration of Notre Dame by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who in the wake of the fire said the cathedral would be rebuilt within five years. Experts have thrown doubt on whether the work can be completed in that time. Georgelin denied reports that the wooden roof structure – known as “la forêt” (“the forest”) because of the quantity of wood involved – would be rebuilt exactly the same, from wood.

“There will be a study and all possible options will be looked at,” Georgelin said. Once the extent of the damage is known, work is expected to begin in 2021.

Cathedrals are complex structures. Art historian Barbara Schock-Werner knows this not only as an architect and monument conservator, but above all through her 13 years of experience as a master builder of Cologne Cathedral — as the person responsible for the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe. As an expert and coordinator of German aid to Notre Dame, she is closely following the reconstruction process after the major fire in Paris.

DW: Patrick Chauvet, dean of Notre Dame Cathedral, recently expressed his concern over the sensitive condition of the cathedral, stating that there is a 50% chance that the structure could collapse after all. How do you assess this prognosis?

The risk of further collapse is quite realistic. The vault is unlikely to collapse as a whole, but more parts could come down. What most people don't realize is that heat can also damage stone. Intense heat dissolves — simply put — the structure of the stone.

The vault of Notre Dame was damaged by falling parts in three different places. Tons of burnt oak beams are still lying on the still standing sections of the vault; that's why no one is allowed under the vault since stones continue to fall from above.

What is particularly delicate at this point in the reconstruction process?

At the moment, builders are currently removing the scaffolding around the crossing tower that was set before the fire for its restoration. This scaffolding was completely welded into place by the intense heat generated by the fire. Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect of French monuments, is afraid that the balance that has recently been regained will be disturbed when the scaffolding is removed.

Also, it has not yet been possible to investigate to what extent the vault stones that are still up there were damaged by the fire. Even if the vault does not collapse, the investigations could reveal that the stones of the vault were so badly damaged by the fire that they will have to be replaced.

Only when these conditions have been clarified can a temporary roof be installed and the vault protected again. So far, the colleagues in Paris have been lucky that the vaults have not been exposed to storms and other weather stress.

What other hurdles remain in the reconstruction process?

Philipp Villeneuve has said that the upper 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) of the outer walls have been annealed, and investigations are currently being carried out. If the stones there were badly damaged by fire, the entire upper edge will have to be replaced.

That would delay the process even further. And of course the ubiquitous lead dust poses a health risk to people. Working quickly in the interior is also impaired since it can currently only be done when wearing protective masks.

Speaking of delays… French President Macron appeared quite ambitious when he announced that the cathedral would be rebuilt by 2024. How realistic do you think that is?

Well, it depends on the condition of the vault. Our Parisian colleague also wants to close it [the roof] as soon as possible so that the interior is preserved — to make it accessible to the public again.

The entire restoration of the cathedral — cleaning it inside and out, patching the windows, cleaning the walls, restoring the organ and so on — will certainly take more than five years.

But if people focus intently on the work and no major disasters occur, the interior could be reestablished in five years. Philippe Villeneuve works very efficiently and carefully. It is not always so easy to do so, given the political pressure.

You are organizing the reconstruction aid for Notre Dame from the German side and you serve in an advisory capacity. How can you help concretely at the moment?

I have offered that Germany could help with the restoration of the clerestory windows that have already been removed. I have just sent this offer to France and hope to receive a response within the next two months as to whether French colleagues would consider this useful. If so, we could step right in.

There are now all sorts of designs in discussion for a rather modern reconstruction approach, with some of them being quite bizarre. Which one is your favorite?

My favorite is the old spire. Eugene Viollet-le-Duc's crossing tower, rebuilt in the 19th century, was a masterpiece of neo-Gothic architecture. I would restore it exactly as it was. Of the designs that are in circulation, the one by Sir Norman Foster with its stainless steel and crystal crossing tower seems to me to be the most appropriate as it most closely complements the building. But I am actually in favor, as is my Parisian colleague, of reconstructing the original.

In your 13 years as master builder at Cologne Cathedral, you were also known for your commitment to innovation, for example with the cathedral windows by Gerhard Richter, which were inaugurated in 2007. Are there modern elements that you could also imagine in the context of the reconstruction of Notre Dame?

I'm reticent about that; that's up to the French. Whether one builds a modern work of art inside, an altar or a memorial by a modern artist that reminds one of the catastrophe... I can certainly imagine that.

And that would be a good addition since Notre Dame was robbed of almost all of original altars during the two revolutions. It would make sense.

Architect and art historian Barbara Schock-Werner is a consultant for the protection of historical monuments and was master builder of the Cologne Cathedral from 1999 to 2012. She is often consulted as an expert for historical church buildings. German Minister for Culture and Media Monika Grütters commissioned her to coordinate German aid for the reconstruction of Notre Dame in Paris.

“Our objective is to prepare the cathedral for mass on April 16, 2024,” Jean-Louis Georgelin, the retired army general leading the restoration project, told Reuters.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean everything will be finished.”

After fierce debate about 19th-century spire, consensus builds over restoration of fire-torn cathedral

The spire of Notre-Dame in Paris should be rebuilt exactly as it was before fire engulfed the cathedral last year, France’s chief architect for historic monuments has told the commission that must decide how the building is to be restored.

Philippe Villeneuve was to tell the National Heritage and Architecture Commission (CNPA) on Thursday his favoured option was a faithful reconstruction of the roof and spire, local media said.
... ... ...

There is a "large consensus" that the spire of the fire-damaged Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris should be rebuilt to resemble its former self, France's culture minister said Thursday, as a panel prepared to make a definitive decision.

French President Emmanuel Macron has argued for a "contemporary" touch in replacing the 19th-century spire which collapsed into the nave of the church in April last year.

The gothic steeple took a large section of the cathedral's roof with it as a blaze tore through the rafters of the 13th century church.

Newly-minted Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot told French radio "there was a large consensus in public opinion and among those deciding" for the 96-metre (315-foot) spire to be rebuilt as it was.

Her comments came hours before a commission that is set to rule on the thorny question was due to meet.

Bachelot said the final decision will be up to Macron, who previously said "an element of modern architecture could be imagined" for the new spire.

Macron has set a five-year target for the reconstruction to be completed, in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics.