Rare Look at Work on Fire- Ravaged Notre Dame.
VANIER: France aims to restore Notre Dame to its former glory three months after a fire ravaged parts of the famed cathedral. CNN is getting a rare look at what has been accomplished since then.</s>ALLEN: Sounds like quite the undertaking. Our Jim Bittermann tells us if reconstruction is possible within five years as many hope.</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tourists still make their way to Notre Dame and Paris but these days their holiday snapshots might look like they visited a construction site. Whether from an overabundance of caution or because those overseeing Notre Dame's rise from the ashes have never dealt with anything quite like this before, the worksite is a high security zone. Few are let in. And given the high concentration of lead from the melted roof all are required to wear special protective jumpsuits. On the roof, a gaping hole where the fire burned most fiercely three months ago. The lead and other debris still litter the parts of the vaulted ceiling which did not give way leading to worries the extra weight could still bring down parts of the building. For the moment, the chief architect is concerned about shoring up the flying buttresses which support the walls and vaulted ceilings. Huge precisely engineered wooden braces have been put in place but needs the ancient stonework to prevent it from shifting. No one is talking about rebuilding just yet. In fact it the restoration of Notre Dame has not yet started. It could be another nine months or more before that gets under way, right now, the chief architect says the building is in such fragile condition it could still possibly collapse. And so work proceeds very slowly. Debris still remains in this central nave area of the Cathedral. The engineer on site says "Studies need to be made when the walls of Notre Dame are thoroughly dried out to determine how much weight they can bear. Still he believes President Macron's 2024 deadline for rebuilding Notre Dame is possible.</s>JEAN-MICHEL BUILMENT, PROJECT ENGINEER: I think by mobilizing everybody and BY really committing large teams and major companies it is doable. It is absolutely doable but we must not waste time.</s>BITTERMANN: Meanwhile the treasures of Notre Dame like the religious relics which were rescued during and after the fireworks see are safely stored away, many at the Louvre Museum. The stained glass windows are gone, taken away for cleaning and protection". The cultural ministry's conservator on the project says the Cathedral's paintings survived surprisingly well.</s>MARIE HELENE DIDIER, COMMANDER, FRENCH MINISTER OF CULTURE (through translator): What reassured us when we made a through inspection we saw the masterpiece's were all tact. we were delighted especially compared to with the state of the building.</s>BITTERMANN: So given the state of the building, Notre Damn's rescue is cautious is slow. The cultural conservator says it's like working on a archeological day. Indeed -- every thing -- burnt timber are scorched down. Everything brought out of the cathedral. It's marked with a grid number to indicate where it was found. Even the conservators aren't sure where it will all end up. But religious, cultural and historical point out view. They are part of a monumental project unlike any of this</s>VANIER: And that does it for us this hour. Thank you so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier.</s>ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. More news next with Paula Newton and George Howell. See you later.