600 million to one billion euros needed to restore Notre Dame Cathedral – experts
(AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to complete a painstaking renovation of Notre Dame within five years after the historic cathedral suffered a monstrous fire that destroyed its spire and roof.
But will France be able to muster the necessary workers and materials to meet the challenge? While some experts say it’s possible, others are less sure, especially if officials want to stick as closely as possible to the original features of the 850-year-old gothic masterpiece.
Experts believe the price tag for the ambitious restoration will cost anywhere from 600 million to one billion euros ($680 million to $1.1 billion).
What needs to be done?
The cathedral’s floor is littered with charred debris that will require weeks, if not months, to clear.
Architects say that before any work can begin
they must establish how solid the stone structure is since it might have been weakened by the fire’s extreme heat and water.
Culture Minister Franck Riester said Tuesday that two gables are at risk of falling, including one high above a row of apartment buildings just to the north of the church.
If it were to fall, “it could bring down the central gable that is between the two towers, the one you see when looking at Notre Dame’s facade,” Riester said.
Once structural integrity is assured, workers can begin erecting a vast “umbrella” to keep rain from pouring into gaping holes, including one made by the spire’s collapse.
Renovation of the roof can then proceed – assuming officials have decided on aesthetic choices and materials.
“Five years isn’t much. Above all, it means three or four years of actual work, because first there’s the security phase of several months, and then six to seven months for diagnostics, if they deploy enough people,” said Frederic Letoffe, co-president of France’s GMH association of monument restoration firms.
Before Macron’s announcement, Letoffe had estimated the work would take 10 to 15 years.
But some things just can’t be rushed, for example the drying of concrete and sealants, “which can take months,” he said.
For architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the five-year goal is “tenable, but they’ll have to make the right technological choices.”
He advised replacing the old roof ’s oak beams and lead sheeting with steel girders and titanium panels. “Those don’t burn,” he told France Inter radio.
Would an identical restoration take longer?
“Rebuilding exactly as it was is both humanly and technically possible,” said Francois Asselin, president of the CPME small and midsize business association and a specialist in restoring historic wooden roof frameworks.
Experts would nonetheless have an ace up their sleeve: US art professor Andrew Tallon took ultra-precise measurements of the cathedral’s interior and exterior in 2011 and 2012 that could be used to create a 3-D digital model.
“It’s quite possible to do it (in five years) using multinational companies that work extremely fast, the way they build a reinforced-concrete skyscraper,” said Benjamin Mouton, chief architect at Notre Dame until 2013.
How much will it cost?
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Wednesday that the price tag for such an ambitious project was not yet known.
But experts have given ballpark estimates in the hundreds of millions of euros – former culture minister JeanJacques Aillagon said anywhere from 600 million to one billion euros.