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5:00am | As the Port of Long Beach looks to replace that crumbling piece of infrastructure known as the Desmond Gerald Bridge, we have a unique opportunity to create an architectural icon celebrating our port’s position as gateway to the Pacific. Like the current bridge, the new bridge will connect Interstate 710 to the Terminal Island port complex, thus being crucial to moving goods. The forty-year old bridge spans the length of a football field and has a clearance of over 150 feet. A source of growing concern, its deterioration has accelerated to the point that large chunks of concrete regularly fall from its roadway to the water below. The large net now slung under the bridge is literally a “band-aid,” temporary solution; a permanent solution is necessary.

This replacement bridge will be one-third higher than the current bridge, allowing a new generation of taller container ships to access the inner harbor area of the port. It will also be wider, featuring six lanes (plus shoulders) in contrast to the current four lanes. Crucially, however, the new bridge will be an improvement on the old not just in terms of function, but in terms of form as well: the utilitarian arched truss design of the current structure will give way to a slightly more elegant “cable-stayed” design. Renderings show a rather plain span linked by evenly spaced cables to a pair of tapering pylons. The design is, to be blunt, generic: it could be located anywhere from South Korea to the Mississippi. While undoubtedly an improvement, the new design lacks the dynamism and elegance appropriate for what will be the tallest bridge in Southern California.

We should treat this new bridge not just as a chance to “replace” something worn out, but as a rare opportunity to create a work of architecture both functional and graceful, a piece of infrastructure that can simultaneously stand as sculpture. We should create engineering that inspires.

In general, bridges are ideal for such visionary architecture. From the Gothic towers of the Brooklyn Bridge to the soaring arches of the Golden Gate Bridge, inspired designs have resulted in engineering achievements that are also international icons. Indeed, the American Society of Civil Engineers has declared the Golden Gate Bridge one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, alongside other grand achievements like the Panama Canal and the Empire State Building. The span attracts approximately nine million visitors a year above and beyond those using the bridge for their daily commuting.

Nearly a decade ago, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration used a graceful 500-year-old “pressed-bow” design by Leonardo da Vinci for new pedestrian bridge. According to Vebjørn Sand, the Norwegian public artist who led the effort to develop the ancient design, “Leonardo surmised correctly that the classic keystone arch could be stretched narrow and substantially widened without losing integrity by using a flared foothold, or pier, and the terrain to anchor each end of the span.” This pedestrian bridge, built of wood and granite, turned da Vinci’s vision of a poetic relationship between engineering and aesthetics into a reality for the first time.

Da Vinci’s contemporary, Santiago Calatrava, has reached international prominence as a sculptor who happens to be an engineer. His designs have been built around the world, from Lisbon to Milwaukee, and include a diverse portfolio of skyscrapers, bridges, obelisks, and train terminals. Calatrava is famous for his ability to design elegant works of art that are functional at the same time. Like the Golden Gate Bridge, many of Calatrava’s creations have become economic engines beyond what their functional purposes might suggest: they become both tourist attractions and symbols of the communities they serve.

Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge in Redding, California is a more dynamic version of the “cable-stay” structure proposed for the new bridge at the Port of Long Beach. The elegant design for the Sundial Bridge generated some controversy at the outset, competing as it did with a more traditional (and cheaper) alternative for a pedestrian bridge to span the Sacramento River in Redding. Calatrava’s design prevailed, and the higher price tag for the design was funded through a collaboration between the Federal Highway Administration, the Redding Redevelopment Agency, the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, and the McConnell Foundation. Completed in 2004, the bridge became an instant landmark, attracting visitors and media attention from across the nation. According to the Napa Valley Arts Council, the Sundial Bridge generated over 12,000 local hotel stays within two months of its opening. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette even declared the Sundial Bridge one of California’s Seven Wonders, alongside famous structures like Hearst Castle and the Golden Gate Bridge.

As the Port of Long Beach prepares to invest over two billion dollars in port-related infrastructure, there has been little discussion as to how these massive projects will visually impact the surrounding community. The new Desmond Gerald Bridge will be the tallest structure within nearly a twenty-mile radius: the Port has a responsibility to the region to ensure the new space is visually compelling. Given that the bridge site lies within a Redevelopment Project Area and that it is public infrastructure, there should be a responsibility for part of the bridge’s budget to be dedicated to public art. Why not make the bridge itself the work of art? Why not create the largest piece of public art in Southern California? This is a critical time to move beyond a utilitarian perspective and imagine this new bridge as something more than just “infrastructure.” For the sake of our city, let us imagine it as an artist’s sculpture; let us create a bridge that inspires.

You have an opportunity to share your thoughts about the proposed new bridge at a Port of Long Beach-sponsored public presentation at 6:00pm on Wednesday, February 24, at Silverado Park (1545 W. 31st Street).

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