Sculptured Precast Concrete Soundwalls Beautify Maryland Interstate 216
Between the towns of Laurell and Scaggsville in Howard County en route to the city of Baltimore, Md., a 1-mile (1.6 km) stretch of Maryland’s Interstate 216 needed to have its vehicle noise levels shielded from a highly populated community. This could have been done with conventional concrete soundwalls, which have been used successfully in many parts of the country. In this instance, however, the owner (the Maryland State Highway Administration [MSHA]) wanted something special.
At a minimum, the MSHA wanted a safe, functional, aesthetic sound barrier, but it also wanted to showcase the natural wildlife of Maryland without
distracting motorists. Thus was born the idea of integrating sculptured life forms into the soundwalls.To carry out this assignment, MSHA commissioned Creative Design Resolutions Inc. (CDR), a professional design firm that has gained national prominence in converting nature’s life forms into sculptured murals (see Creative Design Resolutions Sculptural Art Forms on the following page). Also on the team was engineer of record JTE Civil Inc.