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Wednesday is a year ago that a great sea of flames burned Notre Dame. With 67 million people in France forced to stay home, the planned cathedral repairs, which have suffered several setbacks, have been further delayed.
On March 17, French President Emmanuel Macron decided that the French people should stay home. At this time, restorers had just started cleaning some forty thousand pieces of cast scaffolding from the badly damaged cathedral.
These scaffolds were in Notre-Dame for restoration work, which likely caused the devastating cigarette fire. Only after these pieces of iron have been removed can the ancient Notre-Dame be damaged.
Scaffold removal was planned for the fall, but lead contamination in the soil caused significant delays in rebuilding. The molten scaffold had lead particles in the air and on the ground.
The investigation showed that the concentration of lead in the air was not so bad, but the metal was found in the ground in the area directly around the cathedral and near some schools on the left bank of the Seine.
The area where lead particles were found in the soil was cleaned. After this, the repair work could be resumed. But then several autumn storms caused further delays.
A ceremony took place at Notre Dame on Good Friday. (Photo: Photos / professional image)
The restoration job can take months to complete
Now that the corona pandemic is launching a monkey wrench in the works, it will take months before restoration work can resume. However, the cathedral is not completely unusable, it turned out last Friday.
Patrick Chauvet, a top Notre-Dame cleric, gave a small ceremony on Good Friday.
A total of seven clergymen were present, wearing safety helmets and face masks. The rest of France was able to follow him on television. “The restoration phase will undoubtedly begin in 2021,” Chauvet promised.
The blockade in France may end on May 11. According to the restoration team, restoration costs are already higher. That is why we are investigating whether a small number of restorers can continue to remove the scaffolding prior to the blockade.
