Photos: Through a forgotten bridge engineer, a vision of Los Angeles

The First Street bridge, which connects downtown Los Angeles with Boyle Heights, was built in 1928 and displays plaques in memory of Henry G. Parker, an engineer who designed several bridges before his untimely death. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Aug. 7, 2013 4:45 PM PT

Through a forgotten bridge engineer, a vision of Los Angeles

A pedestrian walks across the First Street bridge in Los Angeles, built in 1928. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Debris underneath the First Street bridge in Los Angeles (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A cyclist makes his way across the Cesar Chavez Bridge in Los Angeles, designed by Merrill Butler and completed in 1926. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Graffiti covers the base of the Cesar Chavez Bridge in Los Angeles. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Column and lights on the Cesar Chavez Bridge in Los Angeles. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A foreign auto salvage company sits beneath the Cesar Chavez Bridge. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The Cesar Chavez Bridge in Los Angeles was designed in the 1920s and still stands in all its splendor today. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A Gold Line train passes under the North Broadway bridge in Los Angeles. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Henry G. Parker’s Buena Vista bridge, now more popularly known as the North Broadway bridge, stands above concertina wire. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)