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The Architect of the Capitol is currently repairing the Cannon House Office Building’s balustrade after discovering damage to some of the stones. After the stone was removed, craftsmen installed stainless steel rods into the stone and epoxied it together before resetting it in its original place. Additionally, the team is cutting out the old sealant and caulking between the balustrade wall to preserve the stone and fix any deficiencies in the caulking. This is a difficult task to perform as half of the work is on the outside portions of the roof on a three-foot... More »
The AOC is currently making life safety improvements to the Capitol Building’s elevator emergency power system. This work will primarily be performed in mechanical and service spaces; therefore minimizing the impacts on building occupants. Construction on the Senate side of the Capitol is currently underway.
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The AOC has identified areas throughout the Capitol that contain historic paint colors or decoration that need restoration. In many of these areas the plaster has cracked under the stress and weight of multiple paint layers, a result of decades of repainting wall and ceiling surfaces. These areas have been marked for paint analysis; a process that allows the AOC to record what finishes were used in the past before repairing the wall. This allows the area to be restored to its original appearance. Once an area has been documented, the walls must be stripped down to a stable surface that... More »
Repairs to the Capitol's exterior windows will be performed April 1, 2013 through late September 2013. The repairs are focused on the exterior side of the windows and some minor work on the interior side will take place during non-operational hours to avoid disruptions to the space occupants. A scaffold system will be used to reach each window and perform the repairs. Once the repairs to a block of windows have been completed, the scaffold towers will be relocated to the next set of windows requiring a similar access to complete the work.
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Work is underway at the northwest corner of the Library of Congress John Adams Building to replace the existing emergency generator with one that provides more than twice the power.
The existing emergency generator had reached the end of its serviceable life and lacks adequate capacity to support future needs of the John Adams Building.
To minimize noise impacts on the community work will take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
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AOC is replacing the original, historic bronze doors of the Library of Congress John Adams Building to be compliant with fire, security and ADA codes. The new door design incorporates cast glass panels mounted within a bronze framework that reference the artistic heritage of the original doors by recreating the original, historic bronze reliefs in kiln-cast glass. The kiln-formed sculptural glass was made from molds taken off the original door sculptures.
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On the fourth floor of the Rayburn House Office Building there is a five-foot wide ledge that surrounds the majority of the building. This ledge is covered with a copper flashing and acts as a gutter that helps protect the building from the elements. The caulking in the joints that run the length of the flashing is failing, which allows water to get behind the stone and causes the steel to rust and expand, thus damaging the stones. Craftsmen are currently caulking the joints to repair the areas, which are hard to access and require extensive training in fall... More »
The Architect of the Capitol is currently installing a new automatic fire sprinkler system in the Russell Senate Office Building, adjacent to the Kennedy Caucus Room and the Russell Rotunda.
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Beginning in February 2013, the murals in the Senate Reception Area of the Brumidi Corridors will be under restoration for at least eight months. Scaffolding will be in place for the work on the ceiling until late summer 2013, but the space will remain accessible. The ceiling and lunettes in this area will be restored through a combination of conservation and of replication in areas where it is not feasible to remove the overpaint without losing the original. The vertical wall panels will be conserved to reveal the original layer and the remaining walls will be... More »