$60 million restoration of U.S. Capitol dome will alter D.C. skyline for at least 2 years

When the U.S. Capitol dome was built in the 1860s, cast iron was the high-tech building material of its day, lighter and easier to erect than stone, more fireproof than wood. But if the peoples business never stops below, neither do the wind and rain above and now, after 150 years of duty as Washingtons all-weather symbol of democracy, the dome is getting an overdue metal makeover.

Preparations for the long-planned $60million restoration project got underway this week as officials suspended tours of the upper structure and prepared to string protective netting in the vaulted and vaunted space above the Rotunda. Capitol architects took reporters for a final climb to show where leaks coming through the battered dome are beginning to threaten the historic interior. Some massive metal parts have already been removed to keep them from plunging to the always-crowded floor below.

Its like having a bridge as the roof of your building, Kevin Hildebrand, of the Architect of the Capitols office, said Thursday as he climbed through the web of girders and braces lacing the domes upper reaches. The space is like a concave Eiffel Tower sandwiched between two sloping sheets of metal. On some of the softball-size bolts, the name M.C. Meigs can still be seen beneath multiple coats of paint, a bit of stamped graffiti from the legendary Army captain who supervised the building of the dome.

Today, this would never be made of cast iron, Hildebrand said. It would probably be made of steel and glass. Its an archaic material. But it is the symbol of our country. Its an icon that has to preserved.

Access to the Rotunda floor will continue mostly uninterrupted (for a few weeks in February, a covered walkway will be installed during some dicey aerial work above).

In the spring, a towering web of scaffolding will encase the entire top of the 288-foot edifice, transforming the skyline of the Mall for at least two years. LED lights attached to the scaffolding will provide some nighttime visual interest, however. And the recent repairs of the Washington Monument, which was damaged in the 2011 earthquake, showed that tourists can take these national excuse-our-dust periods in stride. Some residents even petitioned the White House to make the monuments temporary lights permanent.

Im just glad they are taking care of [the dome] its so beautiful, said Janice Bradley of Pennsylvania, who was touring the Capitol during a holiday visit. I just wish they would fix our roads.

Moviemakers may be more put out, according to John Latenser, a local location scout who has set up shots of the Capitol for The West Wing, Veep and other productions.

Its one of the shots that tell you youre in D.C., he said. It will change some scripts, change some angles. Some people may try to take out the scaffolding in post-production.

Workers will deploy a range of newly developed techniques and materials to fix more than 1,000 cracks in the 9 million pounds of cast iron, almost every piece of which was cast in New York and shipped to Capitol Hill during the Civil War.

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$60 million restoration of U.S. Capitol dome will alter D.C. skyline for at least 2 years