Light-rail bridge takes part of its inspiration from Route 66

The Gold Line Bridge that goes over Interstate 210 near Arcadia, Calif., is on schedule to be finished sometime in December, according to a news release and several media reports.

The 584-foot Gold Line Bridge, shown in an artist’s rendering above, is the largest single public art transit infrastructure project in California, says Jennifer Wonnacott of the Fiona Hutton & Associates media relations firm.

Wonnacott said:

Anchored by two 25-foot tall concrete baskets that pay tribute to the indigenous peoples of the San Gabriel Valley and the oversize iconic roadside traditions of nearby Route 66, the Gold Line Bridge over the I-210 freeway northeast of Los Angeles, in Arcadia, will be the new Gateway to the San Gabriel Valley when it is completed next month.

The Gold Line Bridge is the first element of the 11.5-mile Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension light-rail project from Pasadena, Calif., to Azusa, Calif. The bridge cost $18.6 million, and is on-time and on-budget.

Artist Andrew Leicester designed the bridge. In an article in the Pasadena Star-News, he said:

“Caltrans wanted a maintenance-free bridge, so gradually there was a simplification of concepts until I finally came up with the final one you see today,” Leicester said. “I looked at Native American basket-making almost from the get-go, but I wanted to include color into the cement and use tiles to create colored patterns on the columns – that was immediately squelched by Caltrans. They worried that tiles would pop off in an earthquake and land on windshields.”

The simpler, monochromatic and more abstract solution – using concrete with added quartz and mica crsytals and mirrored glass for sparkle – worked out better, he said.

“Funnily enough, a lot of people looked at it and said it looks like a space ship – something from `Star Trek’ that’s come down and is crouching astride the freeway,” Leicester said, laughing. “It has a slightly mechanistic look to it.”

More about the bridge and its designer can be found here:

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