Workers in Paris have started a delicate operation to remove 200t of melted scaffold tubes that fused together on Notre-Dame Cathedral during the blaze on 15 April last year.
Rope-access workers will be lowered into the charred wreckage to cut through the tubing, with a crane lifting freed sections away, France24 and AP report.
Throughout the summer, two teams of five workers will take it in turns to cut through the tangle of 40,000 fused metal sections.
In preparation for the work, teams have spent months shoring up the damaged cathedral with metal girders, so the warped scaffolding can be dismantled without the walls of the building collapsing.
Prior to the fire, the scaffolding had been erected to restore the cathedral’s spire, which toppled dramatically in the blaze.
The cathedral will be closed for several more years for the comprehensive restoration.
