The New Mexico DOT and City of Albuquerque had the foresight to plan the aesthetics for their interstate reconstruction program in a corridor-wide fashion well ahead of actual design and construction. This advance planning allowed the stakeholders to agree to a vision of what the reconstructed interstate should look like and provide to the surrounding community. When design began on the Big I Reconstruction, the framework was already in place for finalizing aesthetic treatments.

The Big I Reconstruction Project team, in the final design of bridges, continued this vision. The designers chose bridge treatments that blended into the surrounding. 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. By involving the owner and major stakeholders in the aesthetic task force, fiscal responsibility was injected in the development of the aesthetics. Estimated construction costs were continually monitored during the design with input from the contracting community. Add-on features were either avoided or delayed for future construction. Finally, when money was tight, tough decisions were made to delay certain aesthetics elements, such as public art, until alternate funding could be secured.

The Big I Reconstruction Project design team delivered a “… unique freeway interchange that demonstrates a cohesive and consistent quality of design through a clean, simple, timeless form that celebrates Albuquerque as the crossroads of the Southwest”. The team also delivered the reconstruction within the available funding and fast-track timeline.

Reference: Alex Whitney and Barry Chung
Bridge Aesthetics for Reconstruction of System Interchange at I-25 and I-40,
Journal of the Transportation Research Board No. 1892, Design of Structures 2004.