Notre Dame is held together by a first-of-its-kind 'iron skeleton,' catastrophic fire revealed

[admin]

During its construction beginning in the 12th century, builders used iron staples to support Notre Dame's masonry.

Notre Dame is held together by a first-of-its-kind 'iron skeleton,' catastrophic fire revealed : Read more

 

[rolf]

This is incredibly misleading. Iron (and other metals) were used to hold stone together by numerous ancient cultures, and were even used in pre-Columbian South America. There is nothing 'first-of-its-kind' about this, except that it may (possibly) have been the first use of this technique in gothic cathedrals, and that possibly the staples were forged, not poured (article does not say). A lot of deceptive language in this piece. Either the researchers do not know their history, or they are pretending that they do not. Publish or perish, right? But the purpose of science is to make things clear, not sow ignorance.

 

[Dawn Lambert]

This is incredibly misleading. Iron (and other metals) were used to hold stone together by numerous ancient cultures, and were even used in pre-Columbian South America. There is nothing 'first-of-its-kind' about this, except that it may (possibly) have been the first use of this technique in gothic cathedrals, and that possibly the staples were forged, not poured (article does not say). A lot of deceptive language in this piece. Either the researchers do not know their history, or they are pretending that they do not. Publish or perish, right? But the purpose of science is to make things clear, not sow ignorance.

The researchers didn't write this article. If you click on the link provided and read the actual scientific article the researchers said that it was the oldest known Gothic cathedral to use the technique. The Live Science author kinda left out some important details...

 

[BicycleBob]

Iron in masonry is used to take tensile forces, which is the purpose of the chain around St. Peter's dome and concrete reinforcing. The usual problem is protecting it from rust. However, an arch is a compression structure, and very tolerant of variations in design. Were these staples only needed for temporary support during construction?