It's easy to see why the Capitol dome needs repairs, but this rendering of the upcoming scaffolding only gave people a vague (and somewhat terrifying) idea of what was in store for the seat of Legislative Power. Well, the group behind the repairs, Architect of the Capitol, has created a video that has clarified a few things. See those things (and the video) after the jump.
· The exterior repairs to the Capitol will take significantly longer than the repairs to the Washington Monument. This may seem like a no brainer, but in fact, the disappearing Washington Monument scaffolding only started going up in February. This project will last two years and the video really illustrates the depth and detail of the project.
· There probably won't be any rappelling workers. From the looks of it, there will be several rows of temporary floor-like structures affixed to the dome upholding both the rest of the scaffolding and the workers themselves.
· The Capitol will be illuminated at night much like the Washington Monument. At least, that's what it looks like when you get to the 1:16 mark in the video.
· This scaffolding doesn't look any less creepy in 3-D. Trying to think of the pointier scaffolding as relaxing acupuncture needles has not worked. It still looks like the Capitol is turning into the titular character from Hellraiser for Halloween the next two years.
· Video: What The Capitol Dome Will Look Like Under Scaffolding [DCist]
· Washington Monument will turn off the lights as repairs move closer to completion [WaPo]
· All Capitol Building Coverage [CDC]