Over the Christmas and New Year's Day weekends, I took pictures of some of LA's LA River bridges (mainly the ones near downtown). Over the years I've driven over them and have appreciated them from a driver's point of view, but this time, taking my time walking over them, looking at the details, I feel I've come to know them even better; each one definitely has its own personality. They're now my current obsession. If anyone wants to take a gander at my pics of the bridges, I created a thread
here.
Here's a mix of old and new photos.
9th Street Bridge (now Olympic Blvd. Bridge) looking west, 1930. This bridge was built in 1925.
LAPL
Olympic Blvd. Bridge looking west, January 1, 2012.
Photo by me
Photo by me
It replaced this metal truss bridge, which I assume was built in the late 19th or very early 20th Century. At the turn of the 20th Century, many bridges that crossed the LA River were of this type. I guess they served their purpose during the horse-and-buggy days, but by the 1920s, they were considered outdated, and created traffic bottlenecks.
LAPL
Notice that the bridge was at grade, which meant that traffic crossing the bridge also had to deal with railroad traffic that ran along both sides of the LA River/both ends of the bridge. A number of these older truss bridges were at grade. The newer bridges were built with approaches so that traffic could clear the railroad tracks.
Eastern end of 6th Street Bridge, looking west, January 1, 2012.
Photo by me
Eastern end of 6th Street Bridge, looking west, 1933. This photo was taken before the bridge was opened to traffic. Notice the street lamps; they have since been replaced with utilitarian and ugly street lamps; most recently, LED street lamps were installed.
USC Archive
Walking this bridge, I can see the state of disrepair that it's in. I was first very disappointed when I found out that the bridge is going to be knocked down, but after walking it, I'm not so disappointed. A lot of its original details have been removed over the decades. Yes, they could restore/recreate the details and retrofit the bridge, but being that the concrete is deteriorating, the bridge still would only last a few more decades. I think knocking it down presents the opportunity to create something new and iconic, and could complement the other bridges. Wow, did I actually just say that?
Here's a modern view of the south side of the 6th Street Bridge:
Photo by me
Compare it with this view from the 1930s:
USC Archive
When I first looked at this photo, I was struck by the details of the bridge; not only the lamps, but the pylons at the center. Those are now gone. When I saw those pylons in the photo, the pylons that still exist at the eastern end of the bridge then made sense to me; before, I thought they were kind of odd, but now I know that walking or driving across the bridge, the center ones would kind of echo the ones on the end; it makes me wonder if the western end of the bridge also had decorative pylons. I couldn't find an old picture of the western end (or maybe I haven't looked hard enough).
And, look at the LA River in its natural state. It was paved over after a great flood in 1938 that inundated the Los Angeles area. I don't know why they had to pave it over; so that the river wouldn't overflow its banks, I think they should've just dug a deeper channel and left it unpaved. Then over time, vegetation would have grown again and wildlife habitats would have come back. Hmm, but if the LA River was never paved over, there would be no drag race scene in "Grease."
Here's another shot of the 6th Street Bridge in 1933, right before it was opened to traffic; behind it is the 4th Street Bridge, and in the distance behind that, is the 1st Street Bridge.
USC Archive
USC Archive
The 6th Street Bridge has great views of the downtown LA skyline.
Photo by me
Look how ratty it's become.
Photo by me
No center pylons.
Photo by me
Look at all the nice embellishments that were removed.
USC Archive
USC Archive
From 1937. This is noirish LA, after all. So... a suicide from the 6th Street Bridge. Ernest Besselman decided to end his life.
USC Archive
Here's an aerial view taken in 1924, over the Broadway Bridge and North Spring Street Bridge. Look at the LA River, with vegetation growing in it.
LAPL
Broadway Bridge, 1924. This bridge opened in 1911.
USC Archive
Here's a shot from 1922. Notice the bridge on the right; that's the old North Spring Street Bridge, which was later replaced with a concrete bridge that opened in 1928.
USC Archive
This picture was taken in November, 1937. Notice the street lamps; the originals were removed, and these were installed, I guess so that the lamp posts could also hold the trolley wires, as opposed to the poles that were planted in the sidewalks in the older photos. But notice that they got rid of the columns at the ends of the bridge.
USC Archive
December 26, 2011. The bridge was seismically strengthened and its historical details recreated in 2000.
Photo by me
Photo by me
Broadway Bridge, 1978. I wish this were a larger photo, because then you could see that by this time, all of the old historical details of the bridge had been stripped away. The columns were gone, the balustrade replaced with a very 1950s-looking freeway-type railing, and the street lamps were modern light standards.
LAPL
Broadway Bridge, January 2, 2012.
Photo by me
Broadway Bridge in foreground, North Spring Street Bridge behind, December 26, 2011.
Photo by me
Here's a view, circa 1900.
USC Archive
This area is the main entrance to Elysian Park. Today you get good views of downtown Los Angeles from the park. I drove through the park the day I took these photos. Nice views from the park, though you see lots of guys sitting in their parked cars here and there. It kind of creeped me out a little; I was thinking they were there to buy or sell drugs, or to cruise other guys.
December 26, 2011.
Photo by me