The title uses the plural for "bridges" because originally there was a cantilever bridge built in 1954. A second cantilever bridge was built in 1969 to increase the number of lanes from two to four to meet Interstate standards for I-275. But it was not opened until 1971 "for reinforcing of the south main pier, which had cracked due to insufficient supporting pile depth."
(Update: RoadTraffic-Technology article 59,000 vehicles/day The 1,200' main span of the new cable-stay bridge has a clearance of 193'. The old cantilever bridge had a main span of 864' with a clearance of 150'.)
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| History's Mirror posted In 1972, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg, Florida, was a major transportation link spanning Tampa Bay. The original bridge, a steel cantilever design, was first opened in 1954, and by 1971, a second parallel span had been added to accommodate increasing traffic. This created a four-lane structure carrying U.S. Route 19 between St. Petersburg and Terra Ceia. The bridge was known for its steep incline, central hump, and gray steel framework, which allowed large ships to pass underneath. It was an essential connection for travelers heading to Bradenton and Sarasota but was also considered a challenging drive due to its height and exposure to wind. By the early 1970s, the bridge had become a well-recognized landmark in Florida, playing a key role in regional commerce and tourism. However, despite its importance, the structure had limitations, and its exposed design made it vulnerable. In 1980, tragedy struck when a freighter, the MV Summit Venture, collided with a support pier, causing a section of the bridge to collapse and resulting in the deaths of 35 people. This disaster led to the construction of the modern cable-stayed bridge that stands today. |
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| Florida Historical Society posted 9/6 Today in Florida History from the Florida Historical Society! 1954 – Governor Charley Johns presided over the opening of the two-lane Sunshine Skyway toll bridge spanning Tampa Bay on this date. This bridge was Florida’s highest when it opened. On May 9, 1980, a phosphate carrier toppled the main span of this bridge, causing thirty-five people to plunge into the bay. A new bridge was constructed between 1982 and 1986 to replace it. The vertical clearance of the newest bridge is 175 feet and it spans more than 1200 feet of water. Anthony Boyd: The photo shows the original 2 lane Bridge, but doesn't mention that, before the Summit Venture took it out, they had added a second bridge in 1967, and the original was converted to the northbound traffic lanes only, with the new second span being for southbound traffic. Jerry Benton: Anthony Boyd second span added in 1971. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted "1955 Main Bridge Span Of Sunshine Skyway Over Lower Tampa Bay Florida" (HipPostcard) |
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| By ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc?carrots→ - I (←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc?carrots→) created this work entirely by myself., Public Domain, Link |
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| Jasves Ketsc posted 1959 sunshine skyway bridge. |
MiamiSprings Memories posted a video of the demolition of the old bridges with the following comment. Note that some of the scenes in the beginning of the video are in slow motion.
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge Demolition - 1993. Removal of the parallel spans and causeways of the Florida Department of Transportation's Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay between Bradenton and St. Petersburg was the largest, most complex bridge demolition contract ever issued by the State. The collisions of oceangoing vessels with the old channel piers prompted construction of a new cable suspension bridge with a much wider channel. The southbound span (opened in 1971) of the original bridge was destroyed at 7:33 a.m. on May 9, 1980, when the freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a pier (support column) during a blinding thunderstorm, sending over 1200 feet (366m) of the bridge plummeting into Tampa Bay. The collision caused six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus to fall 150 feet (46 m) into the water, killing 35 people.
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| safe_image for May 9, 1980 – Skyway Bridge disaster |
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| Skyway Bridge Disaster Documentary posted On May 9, 1980, the unthinkable happened on Florida’s most iconic bridge. During a violent storm, the freighter Summit Venture struck a support column of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, causing a large section of the bridge to collapse into Tampa Bay. In a matter of seconds, cars, trucks, and a Greyhound bus plunged into the darkness below. Thirty-five lives were lost in one of the most tragic transportation disasters in Florida history. But from tragedy came resilience. The disaster forever changed bridge engineering, maritime navigation safety, and emergency response procedures across the United States. It also united the Tampa Bay community in grief, courage, and determination to rebuild stronger than before. Today, the new Sunshine Skyway Bridge stands not only as an engineering marvel, but as a memorial to those who lost their lives and to the heroes who responded that day. As producers of the Skyway Bridge Disaster documentary, we remain committed to preserving the history, honoring the victims, and sharing the remarkable stories of survival, bravery, and recovery that emerged from one of Florida’s darkest days. We invite you to remember the lives affected, reflect on the lessons learned, and appreciate the enduring spirit of the Tampa Bay community. “Remembering the lives, the heroes, and the legacy.” Brian J O'Keefe: if lessons from this incident were 'learned', the bridge in Baltimore would have had extensive 'protections' added around its support pilings to prevent the contact that knocked IT down .... from the NTSB report on the Skyway: From NTSB ABSTRACT Contributing to the loss of life and to the extensive damage was the lack of a structural pier protection system which could have absorbed some of the impact force or redirected the vessel. INVESTIGATION Bridge Protection Information There are several methods of structurally protecting bridge piers from ramming by vessels. They include fender systems, ranging from simple wooden fenders to elaborate reinforced concrete structures; reinforced piers; dolphins, ranging from groups of typical wooden piles to large stone or concrete-filled circular caissons; fender-net "ship catchers," consisting 'of buoys, anchor lines, and anchor piles; and artificial protective islands and cofferdams built around the piers. Several bridges with pier protection systems have survived collisions similar to the ramming of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge without major damage to piers or superstructure. Other bridges without pier protection systems have not survived such collisions. I ANALYSIS Structural Pier Protection The mass and design of bridge piers and pier protection systems and the configuration, weight, and speed of ships has a direct effect on the damage which may result from a collision. The bulwark and the forecastle of the SUMMIT VENTURE struck the pier column before the lower bow struck the pier crashwall. If the pier crashwall had been larger, or if a pier protection system had been installed at that location, the initial impact would have occurred near the waterline. Because the pier crashwall is anchored through the pier footer directly into the bay bottom and is larger and stronger than the columns, it is possible that sufficient energy might have been absorbed to reduce the vessel's forward motion and perhaps to redirect the vessel before the bulwark and forecastle struck the column. While the pier still could have been damaged, only the vessel's mast would have struck the bridge span if the vessel had been redirected to starboard, and the vessel could have passed under the bridge span if it had been redirected to port. Then, the damage to the bridge span might have been minimized. Because the Coast Guard and FHWA have no requirements or standards for structural pier protection, the bridge owner must determine what, if any, protection will be provided. However, the Government of France requires that all bridges over navigable waterways be protected against ship impact. The Safety Board believes that the Coast Guard and the FHWA should coordinate their efforts in providing for the safety of the general public by determining the specific existing and proposed bridges which are in need of additional protection from ship collisions and issue standards for the design, performance, and location of structural bridge pier protection systems. |
Flashback South Florida - Memories and Memorabilia posted 12 photos with the comment:
SUNSHINE SKYWAY BRIDGE Disaster!! FLASHBACK 46 Years Today 5-9-1980 in Tampa/Saint Petersburg!! Who Else Will Never Forget When The Freighter "Summit Venture" Got Lost in Fog/Wind and Rammed the Southbound Span of the Bridge Collapsing a 1200 Foot Span?!? This Sent 8 Cars and a Greyhound Bus Plunging 150 Feet into the Water, Killing 35 People in Total!! It Took 7 Years, Until 1987 to Rebuild and Reopen the Bridge. RIP!! 💖😪💔🤔
Donald Smith: The dude who was driving that car crawled up to safety than crawled back down to car to get his briefcase...God was definitely on his side that morning ...he crawled to safety twice....
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| Photo by Apelbaum, CC BY-SA 3.0 via AutomotiveHistory The current bridge (top) and the old bridges. The piers of the current bridge are protected by structural dolphins. The collapsed bridge is under demolition. The new bridge, which opened in 1987, has a shipping channel 50% larger than the old channel. The old bridges were demolished in 1990. |
The picture below catches the transition from old to new. The approach trestle for the old bridge was retrained as a fishing pier. And the debris from the demolition of the truss spans was put along the fishing pier to create artificial reefs. The pier must be very popular because I read objections to a proposal to remove a couple of the piers spans because they were too old. The objection said people are practically standing on each other now to get a fishing spot. What will it be like if there is even less room?
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| State Archives of Florida/Florida Memory from OnlyInYourState |
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| Dennis Chasse posted Sunshine Skyway Bridge Tampa Bay, Florida |
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| Lisa Turner Till posted Sunshine Skyway Bridge. |
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| Beauty of America posted The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a bridge spanking Tampa Bay, Florida with a cable - stayed main span, and a total length of 4.1 miles. It connects st. Petersburg in Pinellas County, Florida and Terra ceia in Manatee county, Florida, passing through Hillsborough County, Florida waters. |
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| Pete Migli commented on the above post |
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| Scott Clark commented on the above post It looks even bigger from the water! |
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Highway Engineering Discoveries posted Florida Jack Kipp: Sunshine State Skyway, connecting St. Petersburg with southwest Florida. |
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| Highway Engineering Discoveries posted Sunshine Skyway Bridge |
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| Highway Engineering Discoveries posted Sunshine Skyway Bridge |
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| Highway Engineering Discoveries posted Sunshine sky bridge Florida USA |
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| Highway Engineering Discoveries posted The coolest and scariest bride in Florida USA |
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| Lisa Turner Till posted Sunshine Skyway |
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| Lisa Turner Till posted Sunshine Skyway Bridge St Petersburg, FL |
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| Lisa Turner Till posted The (original) Sunshine Skyway Bridge. |
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| Ricardo Balouta commented on the above post That's the new skyway bridge. This is the former. |
The replacement cable-stayed bridge has a shipping channel width of 1200 feet (122m). "The piers of the main span and the approaches for 1⁄4 mile (400 m) in either direction are surrounded by large concrete barriers, called "dolphins", that can protect the bridge piers from collisions by ships larger than the Summit Venture like tankers, container ships, and cruise ships." [Wikipedia] The bridge needs to be closed to traffic during high winds.
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| People of Florida posted [The comments agree that this bridge is scary, but the older bridge was even more scary.] |
A major problem with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is corrosion of the steel in the precast concrete segmental columns on the high level approaches. Because the segments are hollow, workers were able to enter the bridge superstructure in 2003 and 2004 to reinforce the corroded sections of the bridge, ensuring its future safety. Another problem arose around 2005–06 when several news bureaus reported paint discolorations on the bridge's cables. These paint splotches and patches were a result of touch-ups that were performed over the years but began to show through over recent years. In 2008, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) began an overhaul including repainting the cables in their entirety (instead of touching up) and rehabilitating the lighting system at the summit of the bridge. [Wikipedia]The clearance is 190 feet above the water, 50% higher than the old bridges. [PBS, Study] But cruise ships have grown higher than that. [Wikipedia] Most specifications of Post Panamax ships are for what will fit in a lock, not under a bridge. However, the clearance of the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge is 225 feet, and I believe it is the bridge that is too low to allow the Post Panamax ships to access New York and New Jersey port facilities. Another data point is the St. Lawrence Seaway, which was built in 1959, has a clearance of 116.5 feet.
The low level trestles are made with 256 spans built with pre-stressed girders. The high level approach spans are made with 584 post-tensioned segmental box girder segments totaling 180 spans for a total length of 5,000ft on either side of the man spans. [RoadTraffic-Technology]
I have found several references that indicate the 94-foot wide deck is suspended by 42 continuous stay cables sheathed in 9in diameter steel pipes. And most references point out that it is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. I also came across a lot of information about suicides, but I choose to ignore that topic. However, I can't find any statistics on the towers. Since the towers are the most important feature of a cable stay bridge, I find the lack of information on them to be quite frustrating. Finally, I found: "The twin cable towers are 432 feet tall." [FloridaAlmanac]
Finding information on the piers was even harder. The figure below does not specify the depth of the steel casing, but if the drawing is to scale, it is about 50-feet tall with about two-thirds under the sea bed.
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| GAO RCED-85-32 |
According to Florida's contract specifications, each pile was to be poured in 2 hours so that there was not a "cold joint" --- concrete poured on top of concrete that had already set. But 18 pours took more than 2 hours and some took as much as 4 hours. Further study indicated the specification was rather silly and 4-hours was fine because it took at least 6 hours for the concrete to set. And they took a core sample of a long-pour pile and determined the strength was as good as the 2-hour pour piles. [GAO RCED-85-32 p. 17 (p. 29 in the .pdf)] The piles do not go to bedrock. I quote from the report:
FDOT'S DECISION TO PLACE THE PILES DEEPER
During construction of the south main pier, the contractor h d difficulty obtaining core borings from the bottom of the shafts. The shafts were drilled to specified depths in the sea bed, core borings taken, and then the concrete piles were poured into the shafts. (See fig. 3 on p. 18 showing the foundation shafts.) The core borings were used to determine the composition of the soil at the tip of the shafts and verify prior geotechnical work. The contractor was unsuccessful in obtaining core borings krorn the first two shafts of the south main pier. FDOT officials directed the contractor to modify the core boring equipment. The shaft drilling and concrete pouring continued while the equipment was being modified. On the 15th shaft, the contractor, with modified equipment, obtained a boring that indicated the subsoil was not as expected. However, the boring had been infiltrated withwater and broken up when removed from the core boring equipment. FDOT requested the assistance of its geotechnical consultant who observed two more drillings and then recommended drilling the remaining 27 shafts 6 to 7 feet deeper than originally planned. FDOT adopted the recommendation as a conservative measure based on safety.
Core samples were taken on the remaining 27 shafts which confirmed the qeotechnical survey results. According to the consultant, drilling the shafts deeper, which places the piles deeper, actual.ly increased the safety factor of the piers. FHWA regional officials agreed and explained that much of the piles' support capability comes from the side friction of the shaft walls adhering to the concrete pile. Placing the piles deeper exposed more of the concrete pile surface to the shaft walls, thus obtaining greater side friction. FHWA concurred with FDOT's decision and has approved the main support piers as meeting construction standards. [GAO RCED-85-32 pp. 17,19 (pp. 29,31 in the .pdf)]
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| Joe Sweed posted From Anna Maria looking northeast at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Larry Thornton Building the new Anna Maria City Pier placing precast concrete pile cap sections with a 140 Ton 3900 on a barge. |
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| Satellite |
roadwaywiz posted six photos with the comment:
Probably the most iconic landmark to be in the path of #HurricaneMilton is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which carries Interstate 275/US Route 19 across the mouth of Tampa Bay between Bradenton/Manatee County and St. Petersburg/Pinellas County. This cable-stayed bridge opened in 1987 and has been one of the most recognizable bridges in the United States for nearly 40 years.Florida officials closed the bridge to all traffic at about 11:30 AM ET today as evacuations and preparations begin to wind down in the Tampa Bay region. Bridges of this magnitude are designed for the extreme conditions anticipated later tonight and tomorrow and Florida officials anticipate reopening the crossing to emergency vehicles as soon as conditions permit.(Photos from 2015-2024)
roadwaywiz shared
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| Abandoned Spaces posted 0:36 video Florida’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge Collapse Was One of the Worst Disasters in Tampa Bay History. [Some comments say it was fog instead of a storm while other comments say there was a storm. The old bridge is now a fishing pier.] |
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| Mark Gereb posted Sunshine skyway bridge in st. Petersburg florida. |
10 photos of both bridges
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