About

“Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct” 

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #164, declared 10/20/76.

Over Riverside Drive, Golden State Freeway and the Los Angeles River (between Ettrick Street & Glenfeliz Blvd.). One of 12 bridges crossing the Los Angeles River, it connects Atwater to Los Feliz and Silver Lake where the Walt Disney Studios once stood.  Built in 1927, it was designated “Victory Memorial Bridge” in honor of World War I Veterans.

The bridge was built by the City’s bridges and structures engineer Merrill Butler who “guided the construction of nine extraordinarily graceful concrete-arch bridges over the Los Angeles River between 1923 and 1933.”  (Source: LA TImes Archives – 10/8/2000)

The Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct project was conceived by A. J. Barnes and, due to his efforts, this project was included in the Bridge Bond Election in 1925. The Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct is constructed of a series of reinforced concrete arches with a total length of 1,370 feet and a roadway width of 56 feet. It was designed and constructed, under contract with Lange and Bergstrom, by the City of Los Angeles at a cost of $1,090,683.72. The construction was completed and accepted by the City on 02/25/29 and since that date, the bridge has been maintained by the City.

Did You Know?  A bridge carrying the monorail track which crosses above Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure is a nod to the Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct. The façade bridge replicates the real one’s distant octagonal towers along with accents from lampposts as it may have looked when it was first constructed in the 1920s. (Source: wanderdisney.com)

Historic Bronze Lampposts:  More than 20 vintage decorative light posts were stolen off the bridge in 2021. (Source: LATimes – 1/5/2022)