The enormous effort to restore one of the world's most iconic religious structures is ramping up, just eight months after fire tore through the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.
Eight months after a devastating fire ravaged the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, engineers are preparing for a crucial but complicated step in the herculean restoration effort: removing a mound of scaffolding mangled in the blaze.
The scaffolding was erected for renovation work on the 13th-century cathedral before a fire on 15 April tore through Notre-Dame's roof and dramatically toppled its spire.What remains of the metal platform that once encircled the spire now threatens the stone vaulted ceiling underneath, and with it the very integrity of the cathedral which, for the first time in more than 200 years, could not host Christmas mass this year.
This will be done with the help of a giant crane - 75 metres high and able to lift eight tonnes - that was installed this month on the cathedral's southern flank, overlooking the River Seine. A second, lighter scaffolding frame is being erected on either side of the old scaffolding. This new structure will allow abseilers, dubbed squirrels by the project team, to go in and saw the melted scaffolding into manageable parts for the crane to remove them piece by piece.
An electric transformer station has been delivered to the work site by barge to provide power for the operation.The Catholic cathedral's interior has been emptied with the help of robots. What could be saved has been itemised and stored in tents in the courtyard, which is due to reopen progressively to visitors from next month.
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