There remain "three major points of fragility" in the Notre-Dame cathedral of Paris on which work is ongoing, said Thursday the Minister of Culture Franck Riester on BFMTV-RMC.
Risk of collapse
On the gable of the transept north (the transverse nave), "important work was done tonight to make the hooping of the upper part, a kind of shoring with a wooden device.It threatened to collapse", a the minister said.
Second point sensitive in this inventory: the pinion (upper part) west, between the two belfries. "He is very fragile, he looks especially because the statue of the angel, above, is so burned that it is split all the way up," said Franck Riester. "An operation taking place today aims, via a scaffolding that will be installed, to strap this angel and withdraw," said the minister.
Third problematic point: the angle of the south belfry, "which has been so heated, with stones become completely friable, that there is a risk that chimeras collapse". "If they collapse they could endanger the great organs that have been preserved for the time being," said the minister. "The operation to remove the chimeras is launched."
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A canopy quickly
There is also in Notre-Dame "three very problematic places" where the vault collapsed: "the nave, because of the collapse of the arrow, at the crossing of the transept, and in the north transept". "In these three places the vault has collapsed and there is a real risk that it will collapse elsewhere, which is why scaffolding will be installed today, to put trays to remove the rubble that is on the ground. vault, and very quickly the roofing.If it started to rain there would be an accumulation of water, it would weigh on the roof, "warned the Minister of Culture.
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