Notre-Dame de Paris: Where Are We Now?

[Disir]

As the public body set up by the French government to carry out the operation Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris readily admits, restoration work proper has not yet begun, and will not do so until September 2021 at the earliest, once consolidation of the building has finally been completed. This mammoth effort, estimated at $200 million, has involved decontaminating the site of hundreds of tons of lead dust dumped by the fire; removing, analyzing and cataloging all the debris from the burnt roof and partially collapsed high vault; removing stained glass and artworks for offsite conservation and storage; dismantling the scaffolding that had been put up before the fire and which had fused together in the heat (each of its 40,000 metal tubes had to be sawn out one by one); dismantling and removing the west organ (which counts 8,000 tubes); shoring up all the vaults and windows with timber supports; and installing access scaffolding and a temporary roof to protect the building from the elements. Slowed down by health-and-safety concerns over both lead pollution and the coronavirus pandemic, the consolidation process was a race against time to prevent the cathedral collapsing due to the fire and water damage and the instability caused by the absence of its heavy timber roof.

Notre-Dame de Paris: Where Are We Now?

How far has work come since the Cathedral of Notre-Dame caught fire two years ago?

www.architecturalrecord.com

They aren't even going to start building until September. They have been getting stuff ready though. They may not be completed by 2024.

 

[mdk]

I look forward to the day that this magnificent wonder of the world is fully restored. Seeing it in person was one of the highlights of my trip to France, besides all the fabulous food and wine.

 

[Dekster]

As the public body set up by the French government to carry out the operation Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris readily admits, restoration work proper has not yet begun, and will not do so until September 2021 at the earliest, once consolidation of the building has finally been completed. This mammoth effort, estimated at $200 million, has involved decontaminating the site of hundreds of tons of lead dust dumped by the fire; removing, analyzing and cataloging all the debris from the burnt roof and partially collapsed high vault; removing stained glass and artworks for offsite conservation and storage; dismantling the scaffolding that had been put up before the fire and which had fused together in the heat (each of its 40,000 metal tubes had to be sawn out one by one); dismantling and removing the west organ (which counts 8,000 tubes); shoring up all the vaults and windows with timber supports; and installing access scaffolding and a temporary roof to protect the building from the elements. Slowed down by health-and-safety concerns over both lead pollution and the coronavirus pandemic, the consolidation process was a race against time to prevent the cathedral collapsing due to the fire and water damage and the instability caused by the absence of its heavy timber roof.

Notre-Dame de Paris: Where Are We Now?

How far has work come since the Cathedral of Notre-Dame caught fire two years ago?

www.architecturalrecord.com

They aren't even going to start building until September. They have been getting stuff ready though. They may not be completed by 2024.

They will not be completed by 2024. That was just a date set by Macron because the Olympics will be in Paris. It will probably take at least a decade, maybe 2, to do the full restoration.

 

[martybegan]

As the public body set up by the French government to carry out the operation Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris readily admits, restoration work proper has not yet begun, and will not do so until September 2021 at the earliest, once consolidation of the building has finally been completed. This mammoth effort, estimated at $200 million, has involved decontaminating the site of hundreds of tons of lead dust dumped by the fire; removing, analyzing and cataloging all the debris from the burnt roof and partially collapsed high vault; removing stained glass and artworks for offsite conservation and storage; dismantling the scaffolding that had been put up before the fire and which had fused together in the heat (each of its 40,000 metal tubes had to be sawn out one by one); dismantling and removing the west organ (which counts 8,000 tubes); shoring up all the vaults and windows with timber supports; and installing access scaffolding and a temporary roof to protect the building from the elements. Slowed down by health-and-safety concerns over both lead pollution and the coronavirus pandemic, the consolidation process was a race against time to prevent the cathedral collapsing due to the fire and water damage and the instability caused by the absence of its heavy timber roof.

Notre-Dame de Paris: Where Are We Now?

How far has work come since the Cathedral of Notre-Dame caught fire two years ago?

www.architecturalrecord.com

They aren't even going to start building until September. They have been getting stuff ready though. They may not be completed by 2024.

In a job like this the demolition is part of the restoration. You can't just hack away at things and cart them off-site. The level of care is more akin to the first stages of art rehabilitation than construction demolition.

Plus I have a feeling they examined every bit of debris they pulled out for historical significance or even re-use value before tossing it.

 

[Disir]

As the public body set up by the French government to carry out the operation Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris readily admits, restoration work proper has not yet begun, and will not do so until September 2021 at the earliest, once consolidation of the building has finally been completed. This mammoth effort, estimated at $200 million, has involved decontaminating the site of hundreds of tons of lead dust dumped by the fire; removing, analyzing and cataloging all the debris from the burnt roof and partially collapsed high vault; removing stained glass and artworks for offsite conservation and storage; dismantling the scaffolding that had been put up before the fire and which had fused together in the heat (each of its 40,000 metal tubes had to be sawn out one by one); dismantling and removing the west organ (which counts 8,000 tubes); shoring up all the vaults and windows with timber supports; and installing access scaffolding and a temporary roof to protect the building from the elements. Slowed down by health-and-safety concerns over both lead pollution and the coronavirus pandemic, the consolidation process was a race against time to prevent the cathedral collapsing due to the fire and water damage and the instability caused by the absence of its heavy timber roof.

Notre-Dame de Paris: Where Are We Now?

How far has work come since the Cathedral of Notre-Dame caught fire two years ago?

www.architecturalrecord.com

They aren't even going to start building until September. They have been getting stuff ready though. They may not be completed by 2024.

In a job like this the demolition is part of the restoration. You can't just hack away at things and cart them off-site. The level of care is more akin to the first stages of art rehabilitation than construction demolition.

Plus I have a feeling they examined every bit of debris they pulled out for historical significance or even re-use value before tossing it.

Yes! I bet that would be so cool to go through that stuff. The prep work is incredible.
This though:
selection and felling of the 1,000 oaks needed for the new roof (which will be medieval in spirit but not an identical copy) began — an important step since the timber must cure for a period of 12 to 18 months before it can be used

is kind of interesting as well. I have never heard of curing wood. If they started in March of this year it would not add any time to it.

 

[martybegan]

As the public body set up by the French government to carry out the operation Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris readily admits, restoration work proper has not yet begun, and will not do so until September 2021 at the earliest, once consolidation of the building has finally been completed. This mammoth effort, estimated at $200 million, has involved decontaminating the site of hundreds of tons of lead dust dumped by the fire; removing, analyzing and cataloging all the debris from the burnt roof and partially collapsed high vault; removing stained glass and artworks for offsite conservation and storage; dismantling the scaffolding that had been put up before the fire and which had fused together in the heat (each of its 40,000 metal tubes had to be sawn out one by one); dismantling and removing the west organ (which counts 8,000 tubes); shoring up all the vaults and windows with timber supports; and installing access scaffolding and a temporary roof to protect the building from the elements. Slowed down by health-and-safety concerns over both lead pollution and the coronavirus pandemic, the consolidation process was a race against time to prevent the cathedral collapsing due to the fire and water damage and the instability caused by the absence of its heavy timber roof.

Notre-Dame de Paris: Where Are We Now?

How far has work come since the Cathedral of Notre-Dame caught fire two years ago?

www.architecturalrecord.com

They aren't even going to start building until September. They have been getting stuff ready though. They may not be completed by 2024.

In a job like this the demolition is part of the restoration. You can't just hack away at things and cart them off-site. The level of care is more akin to the first stages of art rehabilitation than construction demolition.

Plus I have a feeling they examined every bit of debris they pulled out for historical significance or even re-use value before tossing it.

Yes! I bet that would be so cool to go through that stuff. The prep work is incredible.
This though:
selection and felling of the 1,000 oaks needed for the new roof (which will be medieval in spirit but not an identical copy) began — an important step since the timber must cure for a period of 12 to 18 months before it can be used

is kind of interesting as well. I have never heard of curing wood. If they started in March of this year it would not add any time to it.

it's probably the medieval version of our pressure treated wood.