After the catastrophic fires of April 15, 2019, the Cathedral of Notre Damein France it will reopen in all its splendor following the completion of the reconstruction operations. It is scheduled to open to the public Sunday 8 December 2024 from 6.30pm (local time): reservations are already active on the official website. The renovation works, which began a few years ago, have undergone an important push in the last two years, with the promise of reopen the iconic cathedral by the end of 2024. Let’s see here the salient steps of the reconstruction and the changes/improvements made on the roofing elements.
The story of Notre Dame and the 2019 fire
Notre Dame Cathedral, main Catholic place of worship in the French capitalwas accomplished between the twelfth and fourteenth centuriesin Paris onIle de la Citéthe eastern part of the city. It stands out for its particularity architecture gothic and it is in fact UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991but the structure as a whole is made up of various distinctive features, such as the presence of lateral facade towers which house the bells, 69 meters high, the very tall spire placed in the cruise of the cathedral ei colorful glass rosettes. Despite its long age, it has never been affected by fires, until 2019.
Probably due to an internal short circuit, the April 15, 2019 a fire broke out and destroyed the wooden roof of the cathedral. Although the causes were never clearly defined, operations were already underway on the structure renovation, both internal and external. The most accredited reason for the accident seems to be that of a damage to the electrical circuit which managed the movement of the bells, due to the scaffolding. The fire was so important that it led to the collapse of the historic symbol of the cathedral, its spire, and caused significant damage to the glass forming the equally iconic rose windows. The collapses affected approximately 2/3 of the roof and the fire was put out only approximately 9 hours after it started.
Reconstruction operations
The cathedral’s restoration plan officially started on December 9, 2021date of the first approval received from the competent French body. The works also benefited from important financing from private citizens and the state of progress has always indicated steady progress towards the complete restoration of the cathedral.
Fire protection
The reconstruction obviously planned the presence of a more efficient fire protection systemwhich now stands out as a component active and one passive. The active part concerns the pipe system that distributes water through a widespread network of covering nozzles: this it activates automatically if the analysis of the air inside the cathedral, constantly monitored, detects an anomaly. In addition, the structure is monitored internally in the most susceptible parts, such as the new spire, through a system of thermal imaging cameras. The passive part, however, is represented by a thickening of the thickness of the covering elements (about 15 mm more than necessary for strength) and the creation of a compartmentalization of volumescreated using the same trusses that support the weight of the roof. This compartmentation allows any fire to be isolated and significantly increases the structure’s exposure time to high temperatures.
The reconstruction of the roof and spire
Of equal importance, the reconstruction operations concerned the creation of a spire identical to the existing historic onedestroyed by the events of 2019. The same, together with all the wooden roofingwas redesigned based on the original drawings and using wood obtained from approximately 2000 trees. The process of creating and assembling the spire, specifically, was completed about a year ago and was carried out through meticulous assembly work on site, substantially divided into four parts. In the final part, 11 concentric wooden rings of decreasing diameter form the supporting framework of the system. The spire then returns to its originals 96 meters high! Certainly, however, the scaffolding system, up to 100 meters high and weighing around 600 tons, represented one of the major challenges in its reconstruction.
The entire roofing system has a subsequent lead finishwhile the highest point of the spire appears to contain relics of roofing saved from the fire and subsequent collapse in 2019.
