Notre-Dame came far closer to collapsing than people knew. This is how it was saved.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/07/16/world/europe/notre-dame.html#

Reading about that convoluted "fire system" reminded me of this:


A toothpaste factory had a problem: Due to the way the production line was set up, sometimes empty boxes were shipped without the tube inside. People with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming off of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which cannot be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean quality assurance checks must be smartly distributed across the production line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket won’t get frustrated and purchase another product instead.

Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory gathered the top people in the company together. Since their own engineering department was already stretched too thin, they decided to hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem.

The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP (request for proposal), third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later a fantastic solution was delivered — on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. The problem was solved by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box off the line, then press another button to re-start the line.

A short time later, the CEO decided to have a look at the ROI (return on investment) of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. There were very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That was some money well spent!” he said, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.

The number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. How could that be? It should have been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers indicated the statistics were indeed correct. The scales were NOT picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.

Perplexed, the CEO traveled down to the factory and walked up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before the scale, a $20 desk fan was blowing any empty boxes off the belt and into a bin. Puzzled, the CEO turned to one of the workers who stated, “Oh, that…One of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang!”

^ was OT regarding Notre Dame, but ...

have you guys read that none of the billionaires actually donated anything ? only after pressured did loreal gave 10 milion.....out of the 200 they promised (obviously i didnt believe they would give it at once but still).

It's their money. They can do with it what they wish.

well after you go public about donating a heft sum and cash in the publicity one would expect them to at least keep their word and give something!

It can take some time to convert assets or investments to cash, these people don’t have vaults full of gold, jewels, and canvas bags with € on them. They don’t just back an armored truck up to the mansion door and fill it full of cash.

Look, if there's anything I learned from Scrooge McDuck, it's that rich people swim in giant vaults of money all the time.

Back to the topic though, good on those firefighters. That's a tough and dangerous job and it's great that they managed to save what they did.

One year after the fire, it's not anywhere close to starting the reconstruction. I don't think it ever will. The craftmanship and knowledge that went into building Notre Dame, a construction that took almost 200 years, is no existent today. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-anniversary-rebuild/index.html Here in the USA I have seen many multi stories office buildings or apartment complexes built in 2 months or less. The craftmanship and quality is trash. A strong tornado or a thunderstorm with high wind and the roof is leaking and the ceiling is leaking and the structure is damaged. The Notre Dame stood there for almost 857 years.

We know well the lassitude and attitude of French maintenance and construction Industries from my Wife's Sister & Husband who managed a gated community in St Tropez and have been driven to early retirement by frustration at getting anything repaired, maintained and built. Previously they relied on an expat Englishman and his son to carry out these tasks promptly, but they have returned here.
Now in their new apartment, they are washing up in the bath and cooking on a BBQ due to tardiness in renovation work, now halted due to France's extreme lock-down implementation.

NoFlyBoy, I think it's wrong to denigrate the crafts people and artisans at work today.
There might not be as many as there were in medieval times, but the quality of their work stands up besides the originals:

It took 182 years to build.

We now have peeps on social media who thinks their selfies with filters that add bunny ears and puppies tongues and cat whiskers are masterpieces.