The Getty photo collection has a very good visual coverage of the fire. Link
The restoration work at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris had been entrusted to the Socra company, specialized in delicate and valuable restorations based in the region of Pèrigord.
Only speculation but the cathedral was undergoing renovations. So hundreds of years under the care of the church through wars, no issues. Lowest bid contractor using cheap materials or cutting corners on construction practises and there's a problem.
So I wonder if the contractors or any parties insurance will cover the damages, or will it be upto the taxpayers. Also if the contractors end up going to court will the contractors just go bankrupt and put all the workers out of work.
"So hundreds of years under the care of the church through wars, no issues."
Well ... not exactly!
[ul]
[li]The first flying buttresses were installed some time in the 13th century; they were replaced by larger and stronger ones in the 14th century.[/li]
[li]In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged some of the statues of Notre-Dame.[/li]
[li]During the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, the cathedral underwent numerous alterations.[/li]
[li]A colossal statue of St Christopher, dating from 1413, was destroyed in 1786.[/li]
[li]The spire, which had been damaged by the wind, was removed in the second part of the 18th century.[/li]
[li]In 1793, during the French Revolution, many of the treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. The twenty-eight statues of biblical kings located at the west façade, mistaken for statues of French kings, were beheaded. [/li]
[li]The cathedral was functioning in the early 19th century, but was half-ruined inside and battered throughout.[/li]
[li]A taller and more ornate reconstruction of the original spire was built in the restoration project during the mid-19th Century - this is the spire destroyed by today's fire.[/li]
[li]During the liberation of Paris in August 1944, the cathedral suffered damage from stray bullets - some of the medieval glass was damaged, and was replaced by glass with modern abstract designs.[/li]
[li]In 1963, the facade was cleaned of the centuries of soot and grime, restoring it to its original off-white color; stones damaged by air pollution were replaced.[/li]
[/ul]
Having had the good fortune to stand in the Notre Dame it is a real tradegy that the stained glass appears to have been lost. I was only a child but the beauty of the light streaming through those windows is firmly etched into my memory.
I suspect most everything structural can be rebuilt but I doubt the stained glass can be reproduced in all it's splendor. I lived outside Paris for a couple of years and spent many a weekend in the heart of the city. I probably spent 4 or 5 days in NDdP altogether and have been up in the towers. Because the spiral staircases are narrow and worn, you ascend in one tower and descend in the other. While I was at the top, looking at the bells, etc. I saw a very elderly woman who had a great deal of difficulty walking with a cane. I have no idea how she made it up all those steps and hope she made it down.
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I saw a quick news clip that a couple of folks were pledging about $300 million to restore it. I don't have any grasp of whether that will be enough or not - I'm sure France, and other countries, will contribute as well.
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Probably owes to not much was really flammable. Then the flames had to work against rock.
I can't imagine every window has been photo cataloged in detail in the past. There are thousands of hobbyist stained glass makers in the world. I'm betting a lot would like to be able to say they have a window in Notre Dame.
Just to correct the record. Le Bras Freres now appears to be the main contractor. Socra is doing restoration of the ?copper/bronze? statuary that was removed from the roof prior to work commencing on the spire. Link
One source has stated there isn't any electrical for work at the location where the work was commissioned, so everything electrical or pneumatic likely involving a number of generators & the like hoisted to the roof.
cab- I bet there's a stack of reports to the Fabric Committee recommending upgrades to the fire suppression systems that were shelved, and are rapidly heading to the shredder as we speak.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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Since the most intense fire and flames appears to have been confined to the roof, with only falling debris making it into the cathedral itself, it's possible that any heat damage to the masonry may be confined to only those parts of the building where the wood that burned interfaced with the building's stonework. From the photos of the interior released so far, it would appear that there was very little actual fire inside the building and certainly not in proximity to the load bearing walls and pillars, at least not near their base. The only fire near the base of these parts of the building appears to have been the burning debris that fell from the ceiling and roof, and while a large percentage of the roof was destroyed, it was not the entire roof.
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