Notice Anything Different About the US Capitol?

WASHINGTON, DC — If you've had a chance to gaze upon the U.S. Capitol since Thursday morning, you might have noticed something a bit different: no scaffolding whatsoever.

That's right, after two years of restoration, the ugly scaffolding has finally been fully removed from the spectacular structure, the Architect of the Capitol tweeted Sept. 15.

"Sunrise view this morning from the now SCAFFOLD FREE Dome," the AoC said in a caption to the above picture. "Restoration work continues."

The dome restoration project has now entered the completion phase, AoC added later.

The scaffolding was first erected in 2014. It was a huge amount of pipework -- 52 miles of metal pipe, to be exact. The project aimed to fix 1,300 cracks in the dome, which is now about 150 years old. The project also involved scouring and repainting the surface, as the wear was starting to show. It should last the Capitol another 100 years before another restoration is needed, hopefully.

Image via Architect of the Capitol