Riverside Drive - Zoo Drive Bridge

Riverside Drive - Zoo Drive Bridge. . , A Dangerous Bottleneck , Prior to the Riverside Drive Bridge that you see today, there was once a wooden structure crossing the Los Angeles River in its place. However, this old wooden bridge was inadequate to serve the increasing number of cars that traveled from Riverside Drive to Victory Boulevard over the Los Angeles River. The wooden bridge was narrower than the approaching roadway and it had a tight 90 degree turn, causing one of the most dangerous traffic bottlenecks between Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley at the time. , An Unruly River , In addition to the congestion, the wooden bridge was frequently damaged by seasonal river floods. So, as early as 1924, a civil group called the Burbank Valley Booster's Association lobbied the City to widen Victory Boulevard north of Riverside Drive and construct a sturdier bridge over the river. A new wider bridge would not only be designed at a skew to improve traffic safety but it would relieve the increasing traffic congestion over the nearby Cahuenga Pass and San Fernando Road. , Plea for a Replacement Bridge , In 1927 strong river swells caused by a heavy winter storm damaged the old wooden bridge, prompting the Los Angeles Board of Park Commis-sioners to join the Booster's Association's plea for a new concrete crossing at Riverside Drive. But despite the damage, its replacement was delayed nearly a decade until flood control measures could first be completed along the river near Griffith Park and funding could be secured to construct a sturdier concrete bridge. , A Modern Addition , In order to correct geometric deficiencies, retrofit the bridge to meet current seismic standards, add and improve bicycle and pedestrian access, in 2015 the Bureau of Engineering seismically fitted the Riverside Drive Bridge and widened it on its downstream side to provide wider sidewalks, vehicular lanes and shoulders. The widened side of the bridge was designed to complement the original Art Deco design, but is slightly different from the original so that the new portion can be distinguished from the old section of the bridge. The above image is a photo-simulation of the project. , Deco Design for the New Structure , The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering prepared designs for a new concrete bridge in the 1930s by under the direction of engineer Merrill Butler. Butler had been responsible for the design and construction of a number of concrete arch bridges over the Los Angeles River in the decade before. The new Riverside Drive Bridge was designed in an Art Deco motif, which had gained popularity in the United States during the 1920s. The style is identifiable by "zig-zag" decorative features, smooth surfaces and geometric ornament that you see on the face of the railings and piers of the Riverside Drive Bridge. , The Feds Fund a New Crossing , The new bridge over the Los Angeles River at Riverside Drive was funded in part by the Works Progress Administration, or WPA. The WPA was a program formed in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression to put unemployed professionals back to work on civic improvement projects. Within Los Angeles, other examples of WPA-funded projects include the monumental sculptures at the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Bowl. , Completion of the New Bridge , Construction of a new concrete bridge began in the spring of 1937. The new Riverside Drive-Zoo Drive Bridge was constructed using reinforced concrete curved T-beams. At just over 380 feet long, it is one of the shortest crossings over the Los Angeles River, but this bridge was one of several small to medium sized bridges constructed between 1935 and 1943 in the City of Los Angeles. It was one of the final improvements for the Riverside Drive/Victory Boulevard project, which was completed in 1938. In the state of California, over 12,000 men were employed on street improvement projects in the mid 1930s, receiving a wage of around just $6 a day.