Architectural Polymers

Texas State Highway Loop 250, a bypass of northern Midland, recently underwent construction to improve the flow of traffic and the local economy. The nearly $40 million project included overpasses connecting the East Loop to the Business 20 and Interstate 20 highways. The walls of the interstate embankments feature two key symbols of the area: pumpjacks representing the oil industry and cotton bolls representing the area’s agricultural activity.

The precast walls for the embankments were produced by Reinforced Earth with the help of Architectural Polymers. The mural is comprised of 16 different 5’ by 10’ graphic panels that combine standard textures and custom 3D graphics.

Architectural Polymers applied CAD/CAM technology to a CNC (Computer Numeric Control) router and created the design in a master mold which eventually casted the elastomeric formliner.