Saving Notre Dame’s Iconic Stone Vaulting
7y354cdTN5Y • 2023-01-06
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Language: en
on April 15 2019 the 850 year old
Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris is
undergoing a six and a half million
dollar renovation of the spire
when a fire breaks out inside the oak
framework of the roof
after 90 minutes the 400 ton Timber and
Lead Spire gives way and crashes through
the stone vaulting
fire destroys the roof Inspire and
leaves three gaping holes in the
vaulting with the loss of the roof and
no protection from the elements for
almost two years after the fire the
exposed Stone vaulting was repeatedly
soaked by rain
in the 18th and 19th centuries
restorers cast layers of plastic on top
of the vaulting in case of a fire
this protected the stonework from the
heat of the 2019 Inferno
but not from the water used to fight it
this along with months of rain water
washed salt from the plaster into the
lower layers of the porous Limestone as
the moisture evaporates the salt
crystallizes and forces the Limestone
apart
destroying the inner surface of the
vaulting
geologist veronique verges Belmont
will use a technique to draw the salt
out from the stone
to extract the salt vernik's crew will
coat the vaulting with a paste of clay
sand and purified water known as a
poultice
the water from the poultice is drawn
into the stone where it dissolves the
harmful salt crystals
as the clay of the poultice dries it
draws the salt water out of the Stone
saving the vaulting from further damage
the hypothesis will be removed when they
will all have dried
they load the sticky mixture into a
compressed air gun and spray it into
every crevice
finally they carefully smooth the
poultice across the areas affected by
the salt damage
very close leave the surface of the
Stone
we need to have a very slow process
until the votes are dry but this will
take time much time the poultice may
stay in place until the new roof is
built and the vaulting is permanently
protected from rain and snow
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file updated 2026-02-13 12:57:17 UTC
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