Notre Dame Is Burning

[hazard]

And if you think they can use that scaffolding to start rebuilding already, think again. A good chunk of that has been twisted or wrested out of shape and needs to be torn down, reconstructed and recertified as safe. And frankly? Just getting the interior of the church itself sorted out enough to rebuild stone interior ceiling is going to take a while, rebuilding the outer roof is going to a 'start from scratch' approach because they're going to either need to source a lot of high quality hardwood timber or accept that they're going to need an alternative.

[robkelk]

Two things heard on the radio today:

1) President Macron is willing to let foreign workers in to get Notre Dame rebuilt within five years.
2) Firefighters are still putting out smouldering fires in Notre Dame.

This isn't going to be a five-year rebuild... unless you go with a concrete-and-glass structure.

[classicdrogn]

Much smaller church involved, and pine timbers instead of oak, but an interesting look at craftsmanship techniques and some of the challenges involved in recreating them.


(non-embedded)

[hazard]

Trying to do that with oak will be a challenge, because oak is a denser and stronger wood. Still, they used a single tree nearly 200 years old to produce those eight rafters. I think the Notre Dame is going to need a lot more and centuries old oak for its own roof.

At least only the rafters need wood like that, and only if the French don't want to replace the burned down wooden construction with something else. I'd advise using wood though; as long as the place doesn't get too damp wood doesn't rot away the way a steel construction would.