The Mission Valley Viaduct was recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as the "Outstanding Civil Engineering Project for 1973 in the San Diego Area"; it was designed to match the close by Mission San Diego de Alcalá with its columns that look similar to cathedral windows, and arch-like shapes etched into the textured concrete. The viaduct was designed to span , and use squared-off support columns instead of traditional cylindrical supports. Octagonal columns were to be used on the ramps and the ends of the bridge. Over 600 tons of steel bars were to be used, and the bridge was constructed as high as above I-8. The Adams Avenue Bridge over I-805 was also recognized for its span and two tapered supports on the ends of the bridge; in 1968, a Princeton University engineering professor asked for a copy of the design from Caltrans for educational purposes. The construction supervisor, in fact, compared the construction of this bridge to building a boat, and it was constructed from the middle outward rather than the conventional method of building from the ends inward. The span was designed to be long, and high.