[2] It is the tallest and longest railroad span in the city of Los Angeles, and most likely the oldest such structure still in use.

[3] The bridge crosses the lower part of the Arroyo Seco, a watershed canyon from the San Gabriel Mountains.

The 1889 bridge, designed by Santa Fe's chief structural engineer Fred T. Perris, replaced the original 1885 wooden trestle bridge built by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad.

In the late 1990s, the bridge was retrofitted to accommodate Gold Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, which opened on July 26, 2003.

Advocated by the Highland Park Heritage Trust and Charles J. Fisher, the bridge was declared City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No.