The crumbling Sixth Street Viaduct in downtown Los Angeles was closed Wednesday morning as engineers made preparations for the demolition of a portion of the iconic bridge.
Major demolition work was set to begin next week, which will also require a 40-hour closure of the 101 Freeway scheduled to being 10 p.m. on Feb. 5, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The freeway will be closed from the 10 Freeway near Union Station to the 5 Freeway interchange south of downtown during the demolition, the newspaper reported earlier this month.
The work will also require the onramp to the 101 Freeway from the westbound lanes of the 60 Freeway to be shut down.
Tuesday night, hundreds of people and cars gathered on the bridge to celebrate it’s 84-year history.
“We’re having our last cruise. This is a very historical bridge. Lot of movies, lot of commercials. I love it,” Albert Morales said.
One person was arrested at the gathering for failing to obey orders, LAPD Officer Mike Lopez said.
Officials decided to destroy and rebuild the bridge because it was slowly crumbling due to a rare chemical reaction, the Times reported.
The new bridge was slated to open in 2019.