Los Angeles County, California Bridges: I-110 and I-5 Bridges across the Los Angeles River

August 1999 (34.0805 Degrees, -118.2270 Degrees) Los Angeles River Bridges

After crossing under the State Route 2 Bridge (53 0255), a seven span steel girder bridge, there were no other bridges across the L.A. River for several miles. However, as I approached the Metrolink switching yard (on the east side of the river) and Elysian Park (on the west side of the river) six bridges suddenly crossed the river at about the same location. In the photo above I'm looking downstream at the Metrolink Bridge in front of the two I-110 (Harbor Freeway) Bridges over the river.

In the photo above, I'm looking back upstream at the Harbor Freeway Bridges, the Metrolink Bridge, and the I-5 (Golden State) Freeway Bridge in the background. The Harbor Freeway Bridges (53 0042L/R) are 3 span steel girder bridges on tall piers that were built in 1936. The eastbound freeway lanes go through a tunnel before crossing the river (see photo below).

The photo below provides a closer view of the two span continuous through girder bridge that carries Metrolink trains over the river. It replaced a three span through truss bridge that is often seen in older photos (see photo below). Looking closely we can see a bit of the one span Southern Pacific Railroad Truss Bridge (53C0160) that was built in 1939 (behind the Metrolink Bridge) and the long Riverside Drive Sidehill Viaduct (53C1932) on the west (left) side of the river.

Los Angeles County, California Bridges: I-110 and I-5 Bridges across the Los Angeles River by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

American River Bridges: Business 80 Expressway Bridge

About two miles further downstream is the Business 80 Bridge. It's an eight-span steel plate girder bridge on oddly-shaped two column bents. The tops of the columns have pedestals that support the girders. The bridge was built in 1954 and renovated (and seismically retrofitted) in 1996.

This is a very busy bridge and expressway, and it's usually stop and go during rush hour. Its also quite noisy and you can hear the traffic from a mile away. I think steel plate girders must be noisier than concrete box girders.

American River Bridges: Business 80 Expressway Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Vancouver's Bridges: Oak Street Bridge

There's a third bridge (Cambie Street) across False Creek in Vancouver, but I never took a photo of it. South of Vancouver is the Fraser River, which splits into several arms as it flows into the sea.

Across the North Arm of the Fraser River (and just east of the airport) is the Oak Street Bridge. It is a long viaduct carrying Highway 99 on a plate girder superstructure. The main channel span is 91.4 m (300 ft) long, it has haunched girders, and it's supported on pier walls. The rest of the bridge has shorter girders and is supported on two column bents.

The Oak Street Bridge was built just east of the Marpole Bridge in 1957 as it's replacement. The girders from the previous Granville Bridge were made into barges and used to build the foundations of the Oak Street Bridge. It is said that traffic moved to the east with the opening of the new bridge, depressing businesses to the west. Tolls were charged for a couple years and then abandoned (for most bridges) in the early 1960s. The bridge was re-decked and seismically retrofitted in 1995.

Vancouver's Bridges: Oak Street Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.