Norman, OK

2009

The U.S. 77 Interchange illustrates the Oklahoma Cross Timbers ecoregion, characterized by prairies, savannas, and light woodlands. Aesthetic treatments and concrete textures for the bridge include stylized mixed grasses that appear on the wing walls, wrap around the piers, span the parapet, and extend onto the embankments leading down to the roadway. As commuters drive beneath the overpass, the bridge visually reads as an extension of the prairie itself—its grasses seemingly growing from the structure. The immersive effect surrounds drivers as they pass through the rolling grasslands, emphasizing the prairie as a defining characteristic of and gateway into the City of Norman.

Approaching the bridge, commuters can also spot Oklahoma’s state bird, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, depicted flying low above the grass blades represented on the piers and wing walls. Sunlight casting shadows across the two-inch-deep reliefs animates the scene, making the birds appear to hover above the grasses in flight.