Gold confetti

As the gold foil is applied to the arch, the carrier strip of plain paper is discarded. The little strip of paper flutters away in the breeze.

Most of them flutter to land on the scaffolding underfoot. But a goodly number blow away in the breeze, leaving the downwind area lightly scattered with little strips of paper and tiny bits of gold leaf. Also shown on the scaffolding are pots of paint, solvents, tea infusions, cheesecloth, etc.

All the time I was on the Arch, one worker spent his time sweeping up the little pieces with a short broom. By time he was three quarters of his way along one side of the Arch, a fresh blizzard of paper bits was already descending onto the scaffolding behind him.

The workers draped large sheets of plastic over the area they were working in if they were on the up-wind side of the Arch, to prevent their gold foil from blowing away. Those on the down-wind side stuffed bits of cardboard in the nearby openings through the Arch to deflect the wind that funnelled through the gaps and blew away their bits of foil.