Years-long rehab of towering U.S. Capitol dome completed

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

The rebuilt cast-iron dome of the U.S. Capitol, a soaring symbol of national unity since the 19th century, was formally completed on Tuesday after a $60 million overhaul that included repairing more than 1,300 cracks and weak spots.

The project was the first complete rehabilitation of the 288-foot-tall (88-meter-tall) Civil War-era dome since 1960. It was finished in time for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.

"It is the symbol of American democracy and a beacon of hope around the world, and we delivered," Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers said at a news conference.

The 150-year-old structure tops the home of the U.S. Congress and can be seen throughout the capital. The Capitol is a major tourist site, drawing thousands of visitors daily.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-districtofcolumbia-capitol-idUSKBN13A28T

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U.S. | Tue Nov 15, 2016 | 7:44pm EST
By Ian Simpson | WASHINGTON

[BumRushDaShow]

1. And here is what it took to get to this point

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/8/26/1124471/-Capitol-s-dome-is-falling-apart-House-Republicans-block-repair-funds

which was a discussion of this article, with summary excerpt -

<...>

Like most of what the federal government is on the hook to fix — highways, bridges and airports — the dome is imperiled both by tough economic times and by a politically polarized Congress. While Senate appropriators have voted to repair the dome, which has not undergone major renovations for 50 years, their House counterparts say there is not money right now. In that way, the dome is a metaphor for the nation’s decaying infrastructure.

<...>

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/us/politics/capitol-dome-is-imperiled-by-cracks-and-a-partisan-divide.html

They were finally able to get appropriations (Omnibus 2013-2014) to fund -

Capitol Building

For all necessary expenses for the maintenance, care and operation
of the Capitol, $61,376,000, of which $21,400,000 shall remain available
until September 30, 2018, and of which $15,940,000 shall remain
available until expended solely for expenses related to rehabilitation
of the U.S. Capitol Dome.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/3547/text

& award a contract for this renovation.

And ironically, just over a year ago, #NMP complained about the renovation and had to be called out on it -

<...>

Donald Trump, head of a real estate empire, must know a thing or two about wrapping buildings in scaffolding for renovations. Trump, as a reality television star, must also be familiar with props and other stage settings. But how much does the Republican front-runner for president know about the renovations underway on the U.S. Capitol's dome? Not so much, according to Rep. Bob Brady, the Philadelphia Democrat who serves as minority chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Administration, which is overseeing the renovation. Brady took issue with claims Trump made during a campaign rally Monday in Dallas.

<...>

Trump said a construction firm involved in the renovation recently told him it had too little time to complete work on the dome before the next president's inauguration in January 2017. Trump cast that scaffolding as a political prop for government inefficiency. "So they're going to take all the scaffolding down, pay millions of dollars to do that. Millions," Trump told the crowd. "And then after the inauguration, they're going to pay millions of dollars more to put it up again."

<...>

No, Brady advises, you cannot believe it. Trump, Brady said, has the facts all wrong. "Though it may look like it at times, we are not running some kind of reality TV show here," Brady said. "We don't pull down scaffolding from the Capitol dome for a TV shot just to reerect it when the cameras are gone."

<...>

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150916_Bob_Brady_calls_out_on_Donald_Trump.html

[hatrack]

2. Maybe they could save money by just pouring buckets of shit over it . . .

Seems appropriate about now.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. There's already plenty of it inside so the materials would be free.

[librechik]

4. The United States of Irony. n/t