Notre Dame’s stonework isn’t flammable but may be structurally damaged

Michel Euler/AP/REX/Shutterstock

By Sam Wong

Police and fire services will exhaust the next 48 hours assessing the protection and security of Notre Dame cathedral after an spacious fire was extinguished within the Paris landmark.

It might maybe in point of fact maybe also hold months for an official investigation to decide what resulted in the fire, nonetheless French media hold reported that renovation work occurring within the cathedral might maybe were a imaginable source.

The roof of the cathedral consisted of a stone vault stable by a trees structure above. That made it more resilient than cathedrals with trees ceilings corresponding to York Minster within the UK, which suffered a fire in 1984.

“At Notre Dame, the stone vault was so strong that the collapsing trusses didn’t (most frequently) punch through it. This supposed that the collapsed trees contributors remained on high of the vault, fuelling the fire,” Robert Bowles from the Institution of Structural Engineers acknowledged in a press release.

Layers of security

Fire engineers most frequently deem about six layers of security from fires: prevention, detection, evacuation, compartmentation, suppression and stability.

At Notre Dame, the genuine layer was prevention: maintaining ignition sources – corresponding to electrical work – away, says Guillermo Rein, a fire engineer at Imperial College London.

Sadly, fires in historical constructions most frequently launch at some level of renovation work, when such precautions can be breached.

Once the fire at Notre Dame had started, there was itsy-bitsy to pause the fire from tearing through the roof. “Firefighters were going through potentially one of potentially the most sophisticated fires they hold ever faced,” says Rein.

Even though the stone walls, vault and flying buttresses are not flammable, they’ll even hold suffered structural damage from the warmth. “The masonry can even hold heated up and expanded, which it might maybe maybe maybe hold without collapsing. Because the masonry cools down and shrinks it might maybe maybe maybe also deform,” acknowledged Bowles.

Pledges to rebuild

Assessing which aspects of the constructing can be unstable might maybe be the predominant priority. Unstable aspects can be rapidly propped up or dismantled.

Then the charred timbers on high of the vaults will must be removed, which is able to potentially require cranes. A temporary roof can be wished to present protection to the masonry from the ingredients.

President Emmanuel Macron has promised to rebuild the cathedral. French companies and nicely off families hold already pledged over 600 million euros to the reconstruction effort, per the AFP data company.

When the roof is rebuilt, it might maybe maybe maybe hold more layers of security inbuilt, says Rein. “We hold this with iconic constructions all world large.”

Sprinklers are a likelihood, nonetheless they’re very pricey.