The last of the scaffolding, shown on September 14. (Courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol)

Like an orthodontist removing a final set of braces, the Architect of the Capitol declared the dome of the U.S. Capitol to be officially scaffolding free today.

There are still some residual materials to be removed, and interior work to be completed, but the Capitol is now in the “completion phase” of a two-year-long project to restore the building to its former glory. The rest of the work is expected to be done by the inauguration in January.

The scaffolding started coming down in March and the recently completed painting (three coats of “Dome White”) follows three earlier restoration phases: the removal of pounds of lead paint—14 layers of it—and hundreds of ornaments that needed to be fixed or replaced; priming the cast iron to prevent rapid rusting; and fixing more than 1,000 cracks using a painstaking method done by hand.