2021 DCC Award Winner
UC San Diego Mesa Housing Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge, T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc.

First Place: Cast-in-Place Special Finishes, Over 5,000 SF

UCSD Mesa Housing Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge is an exciting new addition that enhances the campus experience, promotes a healthy lifestyle, and establishes UCSD as an easily accessible destination.

The design intent was achieved with a two-color transition from a turquoise blue that fades to a cobalt blue. The turquoise area is a blend of three different shades of¼" turquoise glass.

Lighter and darker shades of turquoise provide depth and interest and avoid a boring uniform color. Similarly, the cobalt area is a blend of three different shades of¼" cobalt glass.

The bridge was poured in different sections. One challenge was moving the pour materials onto the bridge, including all the buckets of premixed glass. This required tying ropes to the bucket handles to pull them up onto the bridge, then staging the buckets along the narrow bridge perimeter. The main challenge was pouring such a large amount of concrete and doing the process within a narrow window of time; requiring us to work with a combined team of over 15 workers.