Sixth Street Viaduct

The Sixth Street Viaduct, also known as the Sixth Street Bridge, is a viaduct bridge that connects the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles with the Boyle Heights neighborhood.

The Sixth Street Viaduct spans the Los Angeles River, the Santa Ana Freeway (US 101), and the Golden State Freeway (I-5), as well as Metrolink (Orange County and 91/Perris Valley lines), Amtrak (Pacific Surfliner and Southwest Chief), and Union Pacific (along with Metrolink's Riverside Line) railroad tracks and several local streets. The first incarnation, which opened in 1932 and demolished in 2016, was replaced with the second incarnation in 2022. The predecessor was composed of three independent structures: the reinforced concrete west segment, the central steel arch segment over the river, and the reinforced concrete east segment. In 1986, the Caltrans bridge survey found the Sixth Street Viaduct eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The demolition of the predecessor bridge was due to serious structural issues, including several large cracks, resulting from the high alkaline content of the concrete composition, due to architectural unsophistication. As a result, concerns over the structure's seismic instability outweighed its historical status, leading to its closure for demolition and replacement in January 2016. The new replacement bridge was completed six years later and opened on July 9, 2022.

Demolition and replacement


During the construction of the viaduct in the 1930s, an onsite plant was used to supply the concrete for construction. However, the quality of the concrete turned out to have a high alkali content and led to an alkali-silica reaction (ASR), which created cracks in the concrete and sapped the strength of the structure. It is the only one of the historic L.A. River viaduct bridges to suffer from ASR.

Estimates stated that the viaduct had a 70% probability of collapse due to a major earthquake within 50 years. After initial demolition plans were delayed, the bridge was closed on January 27, 2016, and demolition began on February 5, 2016. It took nine months to demolish the existing bridge.

Prior to the demolition, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti recorded the R&B song "101SlowJam", backed by musicians from the city's Roosevelt High School, and issued it via a video on his own YouTube channel. The public service announcement video advertised the closure of parts of the 101 Freeway to accommodate the demolition of the viaduct. An estimated 48000 cuyd of concrete, 1,245 tons of structural steel, and 4,200 tons of rebar were hauled away as construction began on the replacement.

The newly completed bridge is designed by architect Michael Maltzan and the HNTB Design-Build team and contractors Skanska and Stacy and Witbeck. The new design has several green spaces built under and around it. Bridge construction has experienced several years-long construction delays and multimillion-dollar cost increases. When opened, the new span included single-direction bicycle lanes separated from motor traffic with rubber curb bumps and impact-forgiving bollards, a design feature that was universally panned as unsafe and dangerous to cyclists using the bridge. A need for emergency vehicle access was given as justification for this design decision by officials, however this has been challenged by advocacy groups and community members. The bridge opened on July 9, 2022.

Cultural depictions of the 1932 incarnation
The former bridge was a well-known local landmark, and was iconic due to appearing in numerous films, television shows, music videos and video games since 1932.

Films

 * I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
 * Them! (1954)
 * Hot Rod Girl (1956)
 * Point Blank (1967)
 * Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
 * Top of the Heap (1972)
 * That Man Bolt (1973)
 * Freaky Friday (1976)
 * The Gumball Rally (1976)
 * Bare Knuckles (1977)
 * Grease (1978)
 * Boulevard Nights (1979)
 * Vice Squad (1982)
 * Blue Thunder (1983)
 * Repo Man (1984)
 * Savage Streets (1984)
 * To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
 * Armed and Dangerous (1986)
 * Cyclone (1987)
 * The Wild Pair (1987)
 * They Live (1988)
 * Colors (1988)
 * The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
 * Tapeheads (1988)
 * Hit List (1989)
 * Robocop 2 (1990)
 * Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
 * Sketch Artist (1992)
 * Blood In Blood Out (1993)
 * The Mask (1994)
 * My Family (1995)
 * The Crow: City of Angels (1996)
 * Playing God (1997)
 * Blade (1998)
 * Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
 * Swordfish (2001)
 * Biker Boyz (2003)
 * The Core (2003)
 * National Security (2003)
 * Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
 * S.W.A.T. (2003)
 * Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
 * Be Cool (2005)
 * Dirty (2005)
 * Crank (2006)
 * Transformers (2007)
 * Drive (2011)
 * Horrible Bosses (2011)
 * In Time (2011)
 * Zombie Apocalypse (2011)
 * The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
 * Gangster Squad (2013)
 * Stand Up Guys (2012)
 * The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
 * Knight of Cups (2015)
 * Furious 7 (2015)
 * Lowriders (2016)
 * Killing Joan (2018)
 * Ambulance (2022)
 * The Bad Guys (2022)
 * Family Switch (2023)

Music videos

 * Madonna video for "Borderline" (1983)
 * Chicago video for "Stay the Night" (1986)
 * The D.O.C video for "It's Funky Enough" (1989)
 * Amy Grant video for "Baby Baby" (1991)
 * Beastie Boys video for Sabotage (1994)
 * Usher video for My Way (1997)
 * The Psycho Realm video for "Stone Garden" (1997)
 * Jimmy Ray video for "Are you Jimmy Ray" (1998)
 * Kid Rock video for American Bad Ass (2000)
 * Madonna videos for "What It Feels Like for a Girl" (2000)
 * The Calling video for Wherever You Will Go (2001)
 * Vanessa Carlton video for "A Thousand Miles" (2002)
 * Avril Lavigne video for I'm With You (song) (2002)
 * Blink-182 video for Down (2003)
 * Tsunami Bomb video for Dawn on a Funeral Day (2004)
 * Kanye West video for Jesus Walks (2004)
 * Ray J video for "What I Need" (2005)
 * The Pussycat Dolls video for Don't Cha (2005)
 * Pussycat Dolls video for Stickwitu (2005)
 * Transplants video for Gangsters and Thugs (2005)
 * Transplants video for "What I Can't Describe" (2005)
 * Christina Milian video for "Say I" (2006)
 * System of a Down video for Lonely Day (2006)
 * INXS video for Afterglow (2006)
 * Maroon 5 video for "Wake Up Call" (2007)
 * T.I video for "Live Your Life" (2008)
 * Maroon 5 video for "Payphone" (2012)
 * Good Charlotte video for The River (2007)
 * Thirty Seconds to Mars video for Kings and Queens (2009)
 * Backstreet Boys video for "Straight Through My Heart" (2009)
 * Chris Brown video for Deuces (2010)
 * Far East Movement video for "Rocketeer" (2010)
 * Bruno Mars video for Grenade (2010)
 * Ne-Yo video for Beautiful Monster (2010)
 * Avril Lavigne video for What the Hell (2011)
 * Tyga video for "Reminded" (2011)
 * Limp Bizkit video for "Gold Cobra" (2011)
 * Foo Fighters video for "Walk" (2011)
 * Pixie Lott video for "All About Tonight" (2011)
 * Everlast video for "Long At All" (2012)
 * Conor Maynard video for "Turn Around" (2012)
 * Cheryl Cole video for "Call My Name" (2012)
 * Zedd video for "Clarity" (2012)
 * The Lonely Island video for "Yolo" (2013)
 * Pharrell Williams video for "Happy" (Despicable Me 2) (2013)
 * Calvin Harris and Alesso featuring Hurts video for "Under Control" (2013)
 * Future video for "Shit" (2013)
 * London Grammar video for "Strong" (2013)
 * The Summer Set video for "Maybe Tonight" (2013)
 * Rudimental video for "Waiting All Night" (2013)
 * Paolo Nutini video for "Scream (Funk My Life Up)" (2014)
 * Hilary Duff video for "All About You" (2015)
 * Galantis video for "You" (2015)
 * Monsta X video for "Rush" (2015)
 * Jedward video for "Good Vibes" (2016)
 * Taemin video for "Press Your Number_Performance Video Ver.1" (2016)
 * Red Hot Chili Peppers video for "Dark Necessities" (2016)
 * Beck video for "Wow" (2017)
 * Kendrick Lamar video for "HUMBLE." (2017)
 * Loona/Odd Eye Circle video for "Girl Front" (2017)

Television

 * Harry O – "Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On" (1973)
 * Hart to Hart – Season 2, Episode 20 "Blue Chip Murder" (1981)
 * St. Elsewhere – Season 3, Episode 1 "Playing God" (1984)
 * Remington Steele – Season 2, Episode 15 "Elegy in Steele" (1984)
 * Cagney & Lacey – Season 4, Episode 2 "Heat" (1984)
 * L.A. Heat – Season 2, Episode "Little Saigon" (1999)
 * Columbo – Season 13, Episode 5 " Columbo Likes the Nightlife" (2003)
 * 24 – Season 3, Episode 22 (2004) & Season 8, Episode 8 (2010)
 * Lost – Season 3, Episodes 22 and 23 "Through the Looking Glass" (2007)
 * Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – Season 2, Episode 1 "Samson and Delilah" (2008)
 * The Amazing Race – Season 15, Episode 1 "They Thought Godzilla Was Walking Down the Street" (2009)
 * Melrose Place – Pilot (2009)
 * Bosch – Season 1, Chapter Four: Fugazi (2015)
 * Fear the Walking Dead – Pilot (2015)
 * Stitchers – Season 2, Episode 3 "The One That Got Away" (2016)
 * BoJack Horseman – Season 5, Episode 9 "Ancient History" (2018)
 * On Cinema – "Decker" (2019)

Video games

 * Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
 * L.A. Noire
 * Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
 * Grand Theft Auto V
 * Midnight Club: Los Angeles
 * Split/Second

Music videos

 * YG - Maniac (2022)
 * Zee Will - In Da Bay - (2023)
 * Bebe Rexha - Chase It (Mmm Da Da Da) - (2024)
 * Quavo and Destroy Lonely - Potato Loaded (2024)

Commercials

 * Mazda (2022)
 * Nissan - Promoted by Brie Larson (2023)
 * Buick (2024)