RFP Now Available for LA's 6th Street Viaduct Design Competition

Image via bridgehunter.comLast week news broke of a design competition by the city of Los Angeles for a replacement for the 6th Street Viaduct that connects the Arts District with Boyle Heights on the east side of Downtown Los Angeles. The current 6th Street Viaduct, the most recognizable of the bridges that crosses the LA River, is a 3,500-foot art deco throwback that has been well documented in films, television, and commercials since it was constructed in 1932.  A type of “concrete cancer,” however, is destroying the bridge slowly from the inside out, necessitating a replacement rather than a renovation. Both the Design and Architecture show on KCRW and the Architect’s Newspaper provided full coverage of the competition, the announcement of which came as a happy surprise to architecture and bridge enthusiasts who lamented the utilitarian designs featured in the city’s earlier plans. The city has $401 million for a replacement bridge, with $50,000 available to competition finalists. The city has also announced that it intends for the design of the bridge to be a modern cable-stayed design.

According to the RFQ/RQP released on April 25, the design competition will occur in three stages, with an anticipated timeline of seven to eight weeks for project finalists to produce design proposals. The RFQ/P makes it clear that the design should be a “signature bridge” and allows a little room for flexibility within the cable-stayed format: “The aesthetics and number of towers for the new Viaduct is not fixed by the FEIR/FEIS.” The entire project is expected to take seven years.

What To Do This Weekend: Ribbon Cutting for the New Calatrava-Designed Bridge in Dallas

Images via InhabitatSantiago Calatrava has brought his considerable bridge design talents to Dallas, where this week the ribbon will be cut on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge over the Trinity River in West Dallas. As reported by Inhabitat, every day, 14,000 vehicles on six lanes will enjoy the 400-foot arch adorning the cable-stayed bridge. The bridge is also the centerpiece of a grander vision to revitalize the industrial neighborhood of West Dallas. Plans for a recreational area at the foot of the bridge are still in development, as are designs for a forthcoming series of bridges designed by Calatrava that will eventually cross the Trinity River.

The Arganzuela Footbridge

Paris based architect, Dominique Perrault, recently opened the Arganzuela Footbridge to the public in Madrid, Spain which stretches over the Manzanares River into the park. The project stands out as an iconic element in the city by a pair of conic structures that are wrapped in interlocking metallic ribbons.

Providing direct access to both pedestians and cyclists, the porous design takes advantage of the natural light that breaks through the park's exisiting vegetation while establishing viewsheds throughout its 250 meter long span.

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