Reconstruction of the General Hitchcock Highway - Segment 7 Wins
Arizona Engineering Excellence Award
September 2005

Aspen Fire Created Challenges for Project
R S Engineering, a Tucson engineering firm, won a prestigious 2005 Arizona Engineering Excellence Grand Award for their design for the General Hitchock Highway (Mt. Lemmon Highway), Segment 7. R S Engineering's Context Sensitive Design (CSD), meticulously designed the final five miles of roadway to prevent damage to existing terrain and pinnacles. Working closely with The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the USDA Forest Service and the Pima County Department of Transportation, a wider and safer roadway, with shoulders for bicyclist, new pullouts and parking areas, additional vista points and renovation of many recreation area roads were created.

Keeping the community and ecological interest in mind, special blasting techniques were used to prevent and/or minimize damage to existing rock formations while at the same time providing irregular surfaces to reflect as natural a surface as possible. R S Engineering's employment of the CSD approach during design assured lasting value to the community of Tucson, as well as the residents and businesses of Summerhaven, that their "Sky Island Scenic Byway" was preserved with the same elements of the original roadway constructed in the 1920's.
This difficult project was successfully accomplished amidst the devastating Aspen Fire, which destroyed more than 85,000 acres of vegetation, and in spite of numerous weather related shut downs. A spokesperson for the Federal Highway Administration announced the project has succeeded beyond their expectations.