Bridges of Downtown Los Angeles

Kevin Break

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2015
• Edition: 0
• eBook ISBN:
  9781439654064
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

The Los Angeles River was tamed years ago. The river, by nature wanting to be violent and random, doses now in a concrete bed through downtown Los Angeles. In the city's core, there are over a dozen bridges that connect Los Angeles across the river--and these bridges are architectural marvels! These bridges were built in the first decades of the 1900s, and their history continues. The largest and longest bridge, the Sixth Street Viaduct, is in the process of being replaced. Others have been upgraded and enlarged; Spring Street is underway now. Many of the bridges were designed by one man, Merrill Butler, who made each bridge different, yet matching. In this volume, the reader will explore the necessity of the bridges, how they came to be, and where they are going in the future. The time is ripe for a reexamination of these jewels of downtown Los Angeles.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Fletcher Drive and Hyperion Avenue Viaducts
• 2. Riverside Drive at Figueroa Street
• 3. Spring Street and Broadway Viaducts
• 4. North Main and Macy Streets Viaducts
• 5. First and Fourth Streets Bridges
• 6. Sixth and Seventh Streets Viaducts
• 7. Olympic and Washington Boulevards Viaducts
• 8. Hidden Bridges