A global army of experts and craftspeople can be called on for the long, complex process of restoring the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris -- a project that will involve substantial challenges.
LONDON -- Notre Dame in Paris is not the first great cathedral to suffer a devastating fire, and it probably won't be the last.
Fortunately, Notre Dame is a thoroughly documented building. Over the years, historians and archeologists have made exhaustive plans and images, including minutely detailed, 3-D laser-scanned re-creations of the interior. Tom Nickson, a senior lecturer in medieval art and architecture at London's Courtauld Institute, said the stone vault "acted as a kind of fire door between the highly flammable roof and the highly flammable interior" -- just as the cathedral's medieval builders intended.
"Structural engineers, stained-glass experts, stone experts are all going to be packing their bags and heading for Paris in the next few weeks," Alexander said. Getting materials may also be a challenge. The cathedral roof was made from oak beams cut from centuries-old trees. Even in the 13th century, they were hard to come by. Nickson said there is probably no country in Europe with big enough trees today.
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