Workers at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris on Monday began the delicate task of removing tons of metal scaffolding that melted together during the fire that destroyed the monument's roof and spire last year, one of the riskiest operations in the rebuilding effort so far, reports FRANCE 24.
Around 40,000 tubes were fused into a tangled mass in the intense heat of the blaze, and must be removed without further damaging the limestone walls supporting the gothic vault.
Half of the metal remains suspended some 40 metres (130 feet) above the church's floor.
"When all this is taken care of, we'll be extremely relieved because the cathedral will have been saved," said Christophe Rousselot, director general of the Fondation Notre-Dame, the charity that is overseeing the collection of donations to the cathedral.
"Pieces of the scaffolding could fall and weaken parts of the walls," he said, describing the work as "very complicated, with a sizable degree of risk."
A telescopic lift carried workers into the middle of the structure for a last evaluation, and a towering crane installed at the site brought up equipment.
Later this week, workers will be suspended by ropes to start sawing apart the scaffolding, an operation expected to last through the summer, Rousselot said.