Demolition work began late Friday on the Sixth Street bridge, marking the end of the road for a historic landmark and the beginning of a 40-hour freeway closure for drivers.
Officials said the work should be completed ahead of schedule at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Heavy construction equipment was deployed late Friday, bringing a symphony of jack-hammering and the sound of crumbling concrete to the site east of downtown Los Angeles. The bridge deck was demolished by Saturday morning and the work appeared to be on schedule, said Gary Lee Moore, city engineer.
Three columns that support the bridge are next up for removal.
A portion of the 101 Freeway near downtown is closed for the tear-down, which sent large chunks of the bridge tumbling onto the freeway Saturday morning. After closing the freeway at about 10 p.m., crews spread a 2-foot layer of soil on the freeway to protect it from the concrete.
The closure, aka #101SlowJam, was scheduled to end Sunday at 2 p.m., but officials said Saturday that things were moving quicker than that.
One arch from the old bridge, built in 1932 and considered an important engineering achievement at the time, will be preserved during demolition and used in a community space that will be built underneath the bridge.
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Demolition work is expected to last about nine months and be followed by a $449 million project to build a replacement bridge. The new bridge is anticipated to be completed by 2019 at the earliest. The design of the new bridge includes references to the current bridge, including 10 pairs of arches.
The bridge, which joins Boyle Heights with downtown Los Angeles, is being replaced due to deterioration caused by a chemical reaction in the concrete.
The longest of 14 historic bridges that provide passage over the Los Angeles River, the Sixth Street Viaduct became an iconic part of Los Angeles and made several appearances in film and TV shoots.
The bridge has been featured in the films "Terminator 2" and "Grease," TV shows "Lost" and "The Amazing Race" and music videos by Madonna, Kid Rock and Kanye West.
Restoration efforts never entirely fixed the chemical reaction problem and a 2004 seismic study determined the bridge has a "high vulnerability to failure" is a major earthquake. Officials said last year that the bridge would be demolished due to its erosion and the likelihood it could collapse during an earthquake. A new bridge is expected to replace Sixth Street bridge when it debuts in 2018.
The bridge closure and project will mean detours for drivers. The closure will affect the 10 to 101 Freeways transition, up to the 5, 10, and 101 Freeways interchange just south of downtown Los Angeles.
The Bureau of Engineering released several detour routes and a map to help drivers during the temporary freeway closure.
