www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/15/paris.airport.reut -> www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/15/paris.airport.reut/
PARIS, France (Reuters) -- The concrete shell of a terminal at France's m ain international airport was cracked before it collapsed last year kill ing four people, and very cold weather was a significant factor, an offi cial report said on Tuesday. The four victims died when part of the roof of the futuristic terminal 2E collapsed at Charles de Gaulle airport on May 23, 2004, little more tha n two years after it was built. Jean Berthier, the head of the independent commission that drew up the re port for the Transport Ministry, said freezing temperatures were a signi ficant factor in the accident, although quality of materials was not in question. "The shell was cracked before it collapsed," Berthier said. "The interior concrete shell is air-conditioned, so its temperature varie s very little, but the stirrups which support it from the outside have s ignificant temperature swings," he added. "The morning of the collapse, it was 41 degrees Celsius, the coldest tem perature of the month." The terminal, used mainly by national carrier Air France, has only partia lly reopened but Berthier said the structure itself could be saved. A permanent closure of the terminal would be a big blow to the finances a nd image of Paris airports operator Aeroports de Paris (ADP) as it prepa res for partial privatization. "ADP will compare the price of reconstruction and the price of repair. Eiffage's Eiffel unit put up the glass and aluminum casing of the concret e structure at the terminal while Vinci's GTM unit helped build part of a passageway that collapsed under the roof. The initial findings of the investigating commission, released last July, were that weaknesses in the concrete used for the terminal was the main cause of the collapse. The report did not aim to blame anyone for the accident and did not propo se indicting anyone.
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