A Capitol Job of Maintenance

  Despite a fire set by the British during the War of 1812, and thanks to some timely additions over the years, the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington still stands as a monument to the nation and as the heart of the government.  However, something has happened to the structure in the 210 years since George Washington laid its cornerstone.
  Just as it was when Congress first convened there, the Capitol is first and foremost the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. But, over the years, it has played host to numerous events critical to the nation’s history, while becoming an icon for those who envy the freedom and stability our government represents.
  Today, it’s both an office building and an historic site. And, while the durability of its stone construction has surely helped its longevity, it has daily assistance from a dedicated staff that recognizes its role as a working building while maintaining its historical integrity.
  The ultimate oversight of the Capitol belongs to the Architect of the Capitol, Alan M. Hantman, FAIA. He and his staff are responsible for the care and maintenance of the numerous Senate and House office buildings, the Supreme Court building, the various buildings housing the Library of Congress, the Botanical Gardens and the Capitol’s grounds and power plant.
  Superintendent of the Capitol Carlos G. Elias is in charge of the day-to-day maintenance, operation, repair and construction related to the building itself, aided by an in-house workforce.
  “The main thrust of our organization is the maintenance of the different systems, including painting, carpentry work, masonry work, electrical, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, as well as plumbing,” he says. “We also have sheet-metal workers, an elevator-maintenance crew and various laborers. We have all the different trades that keep up with this building and they also get involved in some of the renovation efforts, as well.”
  A separate floor-maintenance crew, also under Elias’ jurisdiction, is responsible for the constant stripping, sealing, waxing and buffing of the thousands of square feet of stone floors in the building.
  A crew of 10 experienced stonemasons skilled in tile setting, marble repair, pointing and caulking handles the remainder of the masonry maintenance work. The crew also includes a few plasterers.
  Ralph Adkins, engineering technician and previous supervisor of the masonry crew, says all have completed formal apprenticeship programs through the unions representing bricklayers and allied craftsmen. Adkins started his own career as a bricklayer in the 1960s, but later became interested in restoration.
  “Usually, when you started in the masonry trade, you don’t start in restoration,” he says. “I pretty much fell in love with restoration, plus they only hire people who are good at removing units of brick, stone or marble because if you break one of these pieces, you can’t go to the store and replace it. Our goal is to remove, restore, save and reinstall.”
  Elias says an important part of the masonry crew’s activity is the continual visual inspection of the Capitol’s stone surfaces. The building is of a composite construction, with stone interiors and exteriors and brick in the middle.
  “They’re constantly inspecting the surfaces to detect damage and deterioration,” he says. “When there’s a problem, they determine the extent of the damage and then repair it as needed. It’s a daily issue of inspecting, assessing and fixing.”
  Of course, there are also regular maintenance concerns that have to be addressed.  For instance, May-October is when the crew puts in time pointing and caulking because the work needs to be done when temperatures are above 70°F and the weather is dry.
  Another weekly occurrence during the summer season is washing of the façade with fire hoses. Adkins says the work is not done with high pressure and the crew doing the work stands at ground level.
  “We take the dust off the building in the summer, and during the high humidity times we have spider mites whose little cobwebs tend to draw birds,” he says. “There’s definitely a chain reaction, so we destroy the little cobwebs and keep the building clean.”
  He’s quick to add that the work isn’t done during the winter because of concerns the water and the freeze/thaw cycles could damage the exterior surface.
  Confidence in the long-term existence of the new government was so lacking at that 1793 groundbreaking that logs might have been a more appropriate material for the proposed Capitol. Cash was also in short supply, prompting a design that could be built in phases, and a decision to face the new building with Aquia Creek sandstone from Virginia, rather than more-expensive marble.
  Although both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress were able to occupy the original north wing in 1800 and the south wing was completed in 1807, the two were connected by nothing more than a wooden walkway when the British marched through in 1814 and torched the place.
  In less than a dozen years the structure was rebuilt and the central dome completed. However, by the late 1840s, the growth of the country had put such a premium on space in the Capitol that the decision was made to add new north and south wings outside the original structure and to adjust the proportions of the dome to balance the larger building.
  That work began in 1851, although work on the building as we know it wasn’t completed until 1863. It was during that expansion that the decision was made to reface the entire façade in Massachusetts marble, due to the deterioration of the Aquia sandstone and its lack of availability.
  Since then, the major work on the Capitol has centered on building its imposing terraces, and an extension of the east entrance that removed some of its sandstone façade and duplicated it in marble.
  Adkins says the last major restoration on the façade was done in the mid-1980s because the weight of the dome was putting too much pressure on its support walls.
  “At that time, we actually had the opportunity to remove broken stones and replace them,” he says “Of course, we have normal deterioration on the building and its columns, but we also have curators and historians who dictate what kind of work we can do and what we can replace. We could replace broken elements constantly, but over time we’d destroy the fabric of the building and remove its historic elements.”
  Today, Adkins adds that the philosophy is anything worn by wind or erosion is part of the fabric of the building. Replacement is done only when life safety issues or leaking water are involved.
  Not only are officials often reluctant to replace components, but actually getting the materials can be difficult. For instance, when any of the existing sandstone has to be replaced, limestone is used today due to availability; not only is the Aquia sandstone no longer available, but the same holds true with some of the Tennessee marbles used on the interior.
  “That’s a key, because we have to use American marble and stone,” says Adkins.
  He adds that not only do the substitute materials have to be native to this country, they have to be quarried in the same way as the original stone, meaning they must be hand-cut rather than blasted.
  “Some of our biggest concerns are figuring out what the elements are in a particular section as far as the time period and the masonry involved,” Adkins says. “We don’t throw away pieces. We sometimes have to reuse them. When we can’t get a particular unit anymore, sometimes we recreate it out of existing materials.”
  While the goal of the curators has been not to touch the normal wear-and-tear that occurs with any structure, the Capitol’s use as an office building has dictated that changes do need to be made. Telephones, electric lighting and elevators were all invented after the structure was completed. More recently, the electronic age has meant more utilities have been added.
  “With projects such as implementing utilities, we have to remove the stone and then reinstall it to the way it was before we started,” Adkins says. “We try to do things that people have learned from their fathers and grandfathers. We try to be very creative, because the ultimate goal is to remove a stone unit without damage and we know mechanical tools will destroy it.”
  However, he adds that while a lot of his job involves using techniques taught in restoration, the job does present some challenges that previous generations of masons didn’t face.
  “For one thing, I can’t produce dust like I used to,” he says. “I have to control the dust to protect the members of Congress, the tourists and the workers. All the masons here have to be trained in the area of safety, as well as the building’s air systems and the elements they disburse. We have to be very sensitive to the environment we affect, as well as to the masonry.”
  The nature of Congress also impacts the way the work is scheduled, Elias says. Larger projects – such as those involving scaffolding – are put up for bid by contractors, but the in-house staff does become involved in them, as well as the day-to-day upkeep of the building.
  “We usually do projects during congressional recess periods,” Elias says. “During those times the majority of the workforce is concentrated on finishing the projects. Once Congress comes back, projects impacting the Congressional business or building occupants are put on hold until the next recess.”
  The same holds true with the daily schedules worked by the various crews.
  “Again, we have to meet the needs of Congress, plus these are working offices,” says Adkins. “We have people who come to work at midnight, at two in the morning, at four in the morning and at six in the morning. All the noise stops before 8 a.m., so we have to adjust our workforce, and the needs of the job determine how many people are assigned.”
  Adkins likes to stress the living nature of the structure – the phases of building and rebuilding the Capitol, its terraces and entrances – including a new visitors’ center now under construction. However, for both men, a great deal of their work centers on the historic.
  Elias is particularly proud of a current project to replace what are called the Minton tiles. These decorative ceramic floor tiles were made by the firm of Minton, Hollins and Co. of Stoke-on-Trent, England, in the 1850s and installed in the then new portions of the Capitol between 1856-1861.
  Wear-and-tear has taken its toll on the tiles, and some stretches were even replaced with marble tiles in the 1920s. Although as much as possible was done to protect and conserve the tiles, in the 1980s it was learned that Minton’s successor in the United Kingdom –  H & R Johnson Tiles Ltd. –  still had the old molds in a warehouse and a replacement plan was begun. The company is doing similar work for the original building of the Smithsonian and Britain’s Houses of Parliament (the Palace of Westminster) in London.
  “We’re going to bring those floors back to the original look,” Elias says. “They will be done with different tile – new tile – but it’s being done in accordance with the original design and manufactured by the same company, as well.”
  Sadly, that isn’t possible with all the stone in the Capitol, but another major restoration project involving that component of the building is likely in the near future.
  “We have an on-going design plan for the restoration of the stone and marble surfaces,” says Elias. “What we’re doing is documenting the existing conditions of both the joints and the actual stones and marble and then we’ll develop recommendations for repairing them.”
  Otherwise, he says the masonry crew remains committed to its daily, weekly and annual maintenance tasks, especially the pointing and caulking that keeps water from entering the joints and beginning the damaging process of expansion and contraction.
  “A lot of it is just a matter of that annual maintenance of the joints,” the superintendent concludes. “When we do that, this building can last for a long time.”
  
This article first appeared in the August 2004 print edition of Stone Business. ©2004 Western Business Media Inc.