| Will -- Today was a historic day in Los Angeles. Mayor Villaraigosa joined Councilmember Jose Huizar and City Engineer Gary Lee Moore to announce that the architecture firm HNTB is the winner of the international design competition for the design of the Sixth Street Viaduct (Bridge). “The new Sixth Street Bridge will be a world-class, iconic piece of Los Angeles infrastructure because of this international design competition and the community’s involvement every step of the way,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “Los Angeles is where the world creates and innovates, and the selection of HNTB as the winning team reaffirms our ability to cultivate and attract the best and brightest in architecture, design, and engineering right here in Los Angeles.”  In April, Mayor Villaraigosa and Councilmember Huizar announced an international design competition for the design of the replacement of the 80-year-old Sixth Street Viaduct. Over the past four years, Councilmember Huizar worked with the Bureau of Engineering to ensure that substantial community outreach and input took place before last November’s City Council vote to replace the viaduct as the safest and most cost-effective alternative. “When I instructed the Bureau of Engineering to bring the best of the best to the City of Los Angeles to design the new Sixth Street bridge, they certainly delivered,” said Councilmember José Huizar. “This bridge by HNTB honors the history of the original while boldly looking towards the future with major river, pedestrian, multi-modal and community gathering features. Our new bridge will not only bring people from Point A to Point B, but to Point C – the bridge itself. It will be a shining-star destination spot worthy of the City of Angels.” The final three design proposals by AECOM, HNTB, and Parsons Brinckerhoff were shared at public presentations during September. The winning design was chosen by a panel made of members from the Bureau of Engineering and Caltrans, with unanimous support from the Design Aesthetic Advisory Committee (DAAC). The DAAC consists of professionals in the engineering, architecture, and urban planning professions, as well as residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, local business representatives, and river advocates. HNTB’s proposed design includes canted cable supported arches, providing an iconic "stress ribbon" for the whole length of the viaduct. The design also includes access points for the community at the base of the arches and community gathering space on either side of the river, as well as direct access to the river. "The HNTB Sixth Street Viaduct conceptual design - a ribbon of arches - melds current structural technology with an aesthetic vision that embraces the entire 3,500 foot length,” said City Engineer Gary Lee Moore. “It will be an infrastructure element that I anticipate will become an icon for Los Angeles.” The viaduct is being replaced due to serious safety concerns. Elements of the current bridge have cracked and deteriorated over the past 80 years due to an internal chemical reaction called Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR) and it is subject to failure during a major earthquake.
View the presentation slides, poster boards, and animated renderings from the winning design firm, HNTB below. (Click on the images below to view):
HNTB's Presentation Slides 
HNTB's Poster Boards
HNTB's Animated Rendering 
For more information on the project, please visit: http://sixthstreetviaductreplacement.org
We look forward to building together, Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project
| 
This is the first major architectural landmark - private or public - for Los Angeles in the 21st Century.
ReplyDelete