Three years to a day after the fire angered millions of people around the world, Emmanuel Macron set aside the president’s campaign to walk the construction site of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which he still intends to make accessible to the public. in 2024..
Greeted by the President of France those who spend their days and nights to fix the building, a testimony of hope […] at this time when we are emerging from COVID-19 and the war in Europe.
The President did not fail to underline the symbolism of this third anniversary, which coincides with the celebration of Christian Good Friday. Believers were also able to celebrate a first liturgy in three years in front of the cathedral, in the morning.
Coincidentally this religious holiday also coincides – quite rarely – with Passover for our fellow Jewish faiths and with Ramadan for our fellow Muslim faiths. he noted, noting a kind of synchronicity while affirming its role as president of a secular republic .
During his site inspection, the president described the progress of the work rare and reaffirmed the goal of returning the cathedral within five years, i.e., by 2024, even as those around him determined that some work may continue after reopening .
Working at two strokes
The goal of reopening in 2024 has to do with the interior of the cathedral, to make it accessible to believers and tourists.
According to architectural historian Jean-François Cabestan, this is a timeline candue to the progress of the work.
Despite everything that has happened, whether it is COVID -19 or the detection of high lead concentration – all the elements have been combined to delay the construction site – we have reached the end of security, consolidation, internal and external cleaning of the cathedral explanation of the lecturer at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
The stabilization of the building and its dusting, the first stages of Notre-Dame’s restoration, was completed in the summer of 2021 at a cost of 207 million Canadian dollars.
Cut stones selected to replace those damaged during the fire are extracted. Reconstruction of collapsed vaults only requires 150 m3 new stones.
However, it is not nothing to see in the reconstruction of the spire and frame, says Jean-François Cabestan. More than 1,000 oak trees have been cut down in various parts of the country to provide the beams needed for this work, which will begin in 2023.
The work can continue in a decades due to the complexity of the external works, which still exist many strangers .
The expert specifically mentioned the debate about the use of lead, a source of pollution after fire, to cover the spire and the roof of the cathedral. Paris town hall was reluctant to use it, while President Macron’s choice of a similar reconstruction required it.
However, this is an option that will have an impact on the wholebuilding balanceaccording to the historian.
Source: Radio-Canada