Franklin Avenue over Monon Street

Photos 

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Franklin Ave. Bridge looking west from bridge AKA. Shakespeare Bridge www.bridges-of-los-angeles-county.com View high-res version

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Franklin Ave. Bridge looking south from below http://www.youtube.com/user/bridgesoflosangeles View high-res version

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Construction Plans http://eng.lacity.org/projects/bridge/historical_gallery/index.htm City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineer View high-res version

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Franklin Avenue over Monon Street - 1956 clusc_8_1_00178718a UCLA Library

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Franklin Avenue over Monon Street (1925) View just after construction (00045695) Los Angeles Public Library

The Shakespeare Bridge and the Sacatela Creek 

This bridge, the Franklin Ave Bridge, AKA the Shakespeare Bridge (due to its architecture) does not actually quite cross Monon Ave. Monon actually dead-ends at the base of the bridge. Since Monon does not actual pass under or any other street, the logic of building the bridge is a little obscure. However, there is a history that explains it. There is a natural spring where Monon and Tracy Street meet just west of John Marshall High School. This spring feed the Sacatela Creek. It was this creek that Franklin Bridge (and Sunset Bridge over Myra)crossed. Sometime in the late '20's or early thirties the spring was redirected into an underground storm drain, drying up the creek. The creek bed was then either paved over (Monon Street and Myra Street) or built over (Thomas Starr King Middle School).

Facts 

Overview

Concrete arch bridge over Monon Street on Franklin Avenue in Los Angeles

Location

Los Feliz, California, Los Angeles County, California

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built 1925

Design

Arch

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 80.1 ft.
Total length: 261.2 ft.
Deck width: 21.0 ft.

Recognition

Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places

Also called

Shakespeare Bridge

Approximate latitude, longitude

+34.10556, -118.28000   (decimal degrees)
34°06'20" N, 118°16'48" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

11/381937/3774599 (zone/easting/northing)

USGS topographic map

Hollywood

Inventory numbers

CA 53C-161 (California bridge number)
BH 10978 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection (as of 09/2006)

Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 66.5 (out of 100)

Average daily traffic (as of 2002)

23,800

Categories 

Update Log 

• January 3, 2009: New photo from David Kimbrough
• December 21, 2008: New photo from David Kimbrough
• November 3, 2008: New photo from David Kimbrough
• September 16, 2008: Updated by David Kimbrough
• September 4, 2008: Updated by David Kimbrough
• May 2, 2008: Essay added by David Kimbrough

Sources 

• David Kimbrough - kimbrough-photo [at] charter [dot] net

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