The American Society of Civil Engineers salutes the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement with Gold honors in the 2024 Outstanding Civil Engineering Awards (OCEA) program. The largest, most complex bridge project in Los Angeles history, the $588 million crossing replaces an iconic double-steel-arch structure, one seen in many movies and TV series, with a span featuring 10 pairs of sculptural arches. Forty-feet wider than its predecessor and stretching nearly 3,100 feet, the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement carries four vehicular and two bike lanes, plus two pedestrian walkways.
“Historic infrastructure becomes a part of a community’s identity and maintaining that legacy while adapting structures to modern needs and resilience measures can be a challenge,” says ASCE President Feniosky Peña-Mora, P.E. “The Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement updates a historic structure with its community in mind, sparing no details as to the aesthetic of the bridge while also building a bridge that can withstand seismic events. Resilience is at the forefront of ASCE priorities, and we are proud to recognize a project with broad appeal that will also improve public safety.”
Thanks to the strength underlying a new seismic design concept, HNTB Corp. engineers anticipate the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement would function safety after exposure to a one-in-1,000-year earthquake event and represents the world’s longest seismically isolated concrete arch bridge. The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering’s commitment to excellence and community-focused design has been instrumental in bringing the project to life, notes HNTB Project Manager Michael Jones, while the Skanska and Stacy Witbeck joint venture brought the design team’s visionary concept to life. “The Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement is more than just a bridge; it’s a Los Angeles icon and destination point to be enjoyed by the entire Los Angeles community,” he adds.
