Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the Sunshine Skyway, or simply "the Skyway", is a pair of long beam bridges with a central tall cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, Florida) to Manatee County (Terra Ceia, Florida). The current Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 and is the second bridge of that name on the site. It was designed by the Figg & Muller Engineering Group and built by the American Bridge Company.[10] The bridge is considered the flagship bridge of Florida and serves as a gateway to Tampa Bay.[11] The four-lane bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County and Manatee County. It is a toll bridge, with a toll assessed on two-axle vehicles traveling in either direction at a rate of $1.75 cash or $1.16 with the state's SunPass system.[12]

The original Sunshine Skyway was a two-lane beam bridge with a central truss bridge built directly to the west of the current structure. It was completed in 1954, and a second two-lane span opened in 1971.[13] The original bridge was the site of two major maritime disasters in 1980, the second of which resulted in its partial destruction. The first incident was on the night of January 28, when the United States Coast Guard cutter Blackthorn collided with the tanker Capricorn in the western approach to the bridge, resulting in the sinking of the cutter with the loss of 23 crew members in the worst peacetime disaster in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard. The second incident came on the morning of May 9, 1980, when the freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a support pier near the center of the bridge during a sudden squall, resulting in the catastrophic failure of the southbound roadway and the deaths of 35 people when several vehicles, including a Greyhound bus, plunged into Tampa Bay.[14] Traffic was diverted onto the surviving two-lane span for several years until the replacement Skyway Bridge was completed, at which time the old bridge was partially demolished and converted into two[15] long fishing piers.

Subject ID: 187874

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The Sunshine Skyway Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the Sunshine Skyway, or simply "the Skyway", is a pair of long beam bridges with a central tall cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, Florida) to Manatee County (Terra Ceia, Florida). The current Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 and is the second bridge of that name on the site. It was designed by the Figg & Muller Engineering Group and built by the American Bridge Company.[10] The bridge is considered the flagship bridge of Florida and serves as a gateway to Tampa Bay.[11] The four-lane bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County and Manatee County. It is a toll bridge, with a toll assessed on two-axle vehicles traveling in either direction at a rate of $1.75 cash or $1.16 with the state's SunPass system.[12]

The original Sunshine Skyway was a two-lane beam bridge with a central truss bridge built directly to the west of the current structure. It was completed in 1954, and a second two-lane span opened in 1971.[13] The original bridge was the site of two major maritime disasters in 1980, the second of which resulted in its partial destruction. The first incident was on the night of January 28, when the United States Coast Guard cutter Blackthorn collided with the tanker Capricorn in the western approach to the bridge, resulting in the sinking of the cutter with the loss of 23 crew members in the worst peacetime disaster in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard. The second incident came on the morning of May 9, 1980, when the freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a support pier near the center of the bridge during a sudden squall, resulting in the catastrophic failure of the southbound roadway and the deaths of 35 people when several vehicles, including a Greyhound bus, plunged into Tampa Bay.[14] Traffic was diverted onto the surviving two-lane span for several years until the replacement Skyway Bridge was completed, at which time the old bridge was partially demolished and converted into two[15] long fishing piers.

Subject ID: 187874

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