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Title:

BRIDGE AESTHETICS FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF SYSTEM INTERCHANGE AT I-25 AND I-40: NEW "BIG I," ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

Accession Number:

00984601

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States
Order URL: http://www.trb.org/Main/Public/Blurbs/155508.aspx

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Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309094879

Abstract:

The interchange reconstruction project at I-25 and I-40 will be used as a case study to show that aesthetic enhancements that are simple yet have significant visual impact can be developed and implemented for bridges. The history of the planning process is traced, and the vision and goals for the aesthetic enhancements are described. Attention is then turned to the way recommendations were developed into reality from the design and public consultation process through to the implementation of the design of aesthetic features. The New Mexico Department of Transportation and the city of Albuquerque had the foresight to plan the aesthetics for their Interstate reconstruction program in a corridorwide fashion well ahead of the actual design and construction. That planning allowed the stakeholders to agree on a vision of what the reconstructed Interstate should look like and provide to the surrounding community. This vision was continued in the final design of the new bridges. Designers chose bridge aesthetic treatments that blended into the surrounding landscape. Bold use of color, repetitive bridge elements, and repeating textures added to simple and fluid structure lines, producing economical bridges that made a visual statement. Fiscal responsibility was injected in the development of the aesthetic treatments by involving the owner and major stakeholders in the aesthetic task force. Estimated construction costs were continually monitored during the design with input from the contracting community. Finally, when money was tight, difficult decisions were made to delay certain aesthetic elements, such as public art, until alternative funding could be secured.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1892, Design of Structures 2004.

Monograph Title:

DESIGN OF STRUCTURES 2004

Monograph Accession #:

00984600

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Whitney, A
Chung, B

Pagination:

p. 3-13

Publication Date:

2004

Serial:

Transportation Research Record

Issue Number: 1892
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISSN: 0361-1981

ISBN:

0309094879

Features:

Figures; Photos; References (6) ; Tables (3)

Geographic Terms:

Subject Areas:

Bridges and other structures; Design; Finance; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Jan 25 2005 12:00AM

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