The Michael Maltzan Architecture (MMA)-designed Sixth Street Viaduct project in Los Angeles, a new $488 million span considered the largest bridge project in the city's history, is taking longer to complete than originally expected. 

Although the bridge has been under construction for over three years, work on the forthcoming serial concrete arch spans that make up the massive project has slowed down in recent months. Curbed reports that a recent project update from the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering (BOE) expects the bridge project to be completed in March 2022, roughly 20 months later than previously estimated. 

In a statement explaining the reasoning behind the delay, BOE, writes, "The project has experienced construction challenges in the installation of temporary shoring and falsework to support the bridge while under construction, the development of computer-generated steel reinforcement placement drawings, and the layout and installation of forms, steel, and concrete."  

As with any major civic and urban infrastructure project, these types of delays are to be expected, of course; The bridge was originally scheduled to open in 2019.

The project is being developed with MMA working as the design architect, HNTB as chief engineer and executive architect, Hargreaves Associates as landscape architect, and AC Martin as urban planning consultant. When the project eventually opens, it will host a series of public outdoor spaces around and below the bridge that will connect to the bridge via a series of pedestrian pathways.