It's All Gone Now

[Herv Peairs]

I hope that the common cause of rebuilding Notre Dame will help bring the people of France (and beyond) together.

When our own National Cathedral was damaged in the 2011 earthquake, there was concern about finding masons with the necessary skills. They found some: https://wamu.org/story/18/12/12/re-c...quake-repairs/

Also related to restoration: https://wamu.org/story/19/03/01/nati...ning-to-legos/

[Kurtis Johnson]

It's a ruins for sure. Studied it in art school. My heart aches.

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[Jim Koepke]

It is a sad time for Mankind.

Already there is the hope of Mankind in the movement to rebuild.

Now we will shed tears of loss. In time to come we will shed tears of joy as we witness the restoration of Notre Dame.

jtk

[Rob Luter]

I’m seeing some promising reports and photographs. It looks like the roof burned, but the point of ignition was at the roof level. The structure is largely undamaged. There’s a big pile of rubble but not wholesale destruction. .

[Allen Read]

It was a sad loss, but apparently it could have been a lot worse. I doubt the 5 year schedule of the politicians, but maybe it will be rebuilt in my lifetime. (I'm 68)
Fortunately, the stone carvers are still available. They are rare, but they are there. The knowledge is not completely lost.

One problem may be finding a match to the existing limestone. It would be very fortunate indeed if even the same quarries still match today. Check out the Washington Monument for an example of this. Being in the stone business, I'll be very interested in how this plays out.

Allen

[Tom M King]

Allen, my thoughts as well on the matching of the stone being the issue nearest to impossible.

copied and pasted from my reply in another thread, which gives my opinion on the 5 year statement:
The questions I get asked the most, which also immediately alerts me to the fact that these people aren't worth taking much time talking to, are, "How much is it going to cost, and when will it be finished?" No lie. These are the number one (since they are always asked together) most asked questions I get when discussing resurrecting some Historic house from partial ruin by visitors when I'm at some stage into the process. These aren't the people I work for.

Setting the highest priority on the list at getting it done in five years is just plain stupid.

[JimA Thornton]

To me the biggest challenge is going to be rebuilding an ancient building while working within modern building codes. Maybe someone experienced with this type of situation has some idea how this would work.

Jim

[Tony Zaffuto]

My oldest daughter is a registered architect, studied in Rome, along with the US. She just shakes her head in wonderment with some of the goals being set, but adds their profession thrives on seemingly unrealistic goals.

[Dan Sheehan]

Fear not. When I first heard of the fire I thought immediately of the Medieval guilds that built this cathedral and many like it. Their tradition is still alive and well in France and Germany, and now America.

The American College of Building Arts was founded in large part with instructors who are members of the Compagnons du Devoir. They go back centuries. I worked doing timber framing with two of these guys, and took a course in roof framing from another one. They are absolutely amazing. They train for ten years and can layout any roof by hand with a rule, divider and square. They have to draw and build to scale models of cathedral roofs to earn their qualifications. No CAD allowed.

They will be very busy in the coming years. My guess is that now a few well trained Americans might also be involved.

It's this Architecture contest I fear. That spire was pretty good the way it was.

https://acba.edu/History.php#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnons_du_Devoir

[Allen Read]

"How much is it going to cost, and when will it be finished?"

Tom, We think alike on this. This is a valid question for the construction of an office building or a mall. But, as I'm sure all of us recognize, Notre Dame is in a vastly different class of construction. A case could be made that it is not so much building construction, but art. The answer to this question is that it costs what it costs and it will take as long as it takes.
It took 182 years to build it. Modern construction equipment and methods will greatly shorten the repairs. Just a horseback guess based on over over 4 decades in the construction business, I doubt they will be completely finished in 15 years. And that's if the remaining walls are structurally sound. If not, then 20 to 25 years. They may have the roof on in less than 5 years. There are "only" 52 acres of trees up there. There is a huge amount of work on the interior that can't be done by just anybody.
I hope that I will see the reopening before I die.

Allen

[Allen Read]

To me the biggest challenge is going to be rebuilding an ancient building while working within modern building codes. Maybe someone experienced with this type of situation has some idea how this would work.

Jim

Jim, this is a valid question. Nobody has flying buttresses like this in many years. Modern structural engineers are not experienced in designing them. Maybe the 5 year goal is to get the building permit paperwork straightened out.

Allen