The falsework is being stripped away as construction approaches the home stretch for the new Sixth Street Viaduct.

Aerial view of the Sixth Street Viaduct looking east toward Boyle HeightsHunter Kerhart Architectural Photography

Spanning 3,500 feet above the L.A. River between Downtown Los Angeles to Boyle Heights, the new bridge replaces the 1932 viaduct of the same name which was demolished in 2016 out of a fear that an alkali-silica reaction – colloquially known as “concrete cancer” - would result in the structure collapsing during a major earthquake.

Michael Maltzan is designing the new bridge, which costs an estimated $500 million, and references the iconic twin arches of the Art Deco original with a series of 10 undulating concrete spans.

In addition to serving as a key means of vehicular travel from the Eastside into Downtown, the new viaduct will also add something that its predecessor did not: dedicated multi-use paths along both sides of the roadway, with stairways and access ramps for cyclists and pedestrians.

Rendered aerial view looking westMichael Maltzan Architecture

Additionally, plans call for the construction of roughly 12 acres of new green space below the bridge in both Boyle Heights and the Arts District. The new park space, designed by Hargreaves Associates, recently secured state funding and is scheduled to break ground in 2022.

Most recently, the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering estimated that viaduct will open in Summer 2022.

In the years to come, the new viaduct may also serve as an important anchor for another piece of transportation infrastructure. Metro is currently studying an extension of subway service into the Arts District from Union Station, with a new terminus planned along the banks of the L.A. River at 6th Street. The Los Angeles City Council's Transportation Committee voted last year to fund the project using Measure M returns.