Separated At Birth? Meet the Sixth Street Viaduct’s Mission Impossible Cousin
Dubai’s Meydan Bridge, left, and LA’s Sixth Street Viaduct, right. (Elia Locardi and HNTB)
We could’t help noticing that LA’s new Sixth Street Viaduct, which is being designed by a team led by HNTB, bears a striking resemblance to Dubai’s Meydan Bridge, the royal VIP entrance to the Meydan racetrack where the prestigious Dubai World Cup is held annually. The bridge was featured in the recent film, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, but sits empty for most of the year. Of course there are differences between the two: Meydan’s arches are made of steel, not concrete, it’s not cable-stayed, and its upper arches don’t touch the ground, but they’re still very close in all their wavy glory.
Judge for yourself below.
HNTB’s Sixth Street Viaduct in Los Angeles:
VS
The Meydan Bridge in Dubai.
5 Responses to “Separated At Birth? Meet the Sixth Street Viaduct’s Mission Impossible Cousin”
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This bridge already exists in Brazil , google Oliveira Bridge.
Sorry I meant google Juscelino Kubitschek bridge. it’s in brazil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juscelino_Kubitschek_bridge
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery …. or HNTB’s designers are brain-dead… or this fascination with the unique and iconic has led us to ‘blobitecture’ = form without meaning
HNTB’s design is much more elegant than Dubai bridge, although much of it’s elegance is wasted on fallow and industrial space. The intersection with the LA river has potential but is shown off axis and incidental.
The Dubai waves appear to be decorative:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54704191@N05/5076167696/in/photostream/
While the 6th st. waves are actually doing something to hold up the viaduct.