How Long Are Tampa Bay’s Bridges?

How long are Tampa Bay bridges?

The length of Sunshine Skyway Bridge is 6.

7km and it is built over Tampa Bay, Florida.

I have seen long bridges in the United States and

Bridges made my list.

In this article, I will discuss the

Bridges.

How long are Tampa Bay bridges?

The

is 6.

7km.

  The Sunshine Skyway Bridge was built in 1987

.

Eugene Figg and Jean Muelle designed it.

The prestressed-concrete span is 360 meters (1,200 feet) long and has four lanes.

The bridge is a part of the I-275 (SR 93) and US 19 (SR 55) roads.

The bridge serves about 52,000 vehicles.

Concrete and steel are used in building almost every part of the bridge.

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The

opened to traffic in 1987.

The bridge was exceptionally constructed.

If you are not height phobic, you will have spectacular views from on top of this bridge.

You should not mind the “sunny” name because you will be afraid to cross the bridge if you know its history.

Sometime in 1980, during a blinding thunderstorm the freighter MV Summit Venture had a collision with a support column and the bridge collapsed.

This accident plunged six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus into the water 150 feet (46 m) below and 35 lives were lost.

In addition, since 1987, when the new bridge was built, about 207 people have taken their lives on this bridge by jumping from the center span of the bridge into the Tampa Bay waters below.

Before this time, it is on record that 51 people had taken their lives on the old bridge before it collapsed.

  Presently, 6 suicide toll-free hotlines are displayed on the bridge as a precautionary measure and something that will always remind you of this post.

Is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge closed?

Sunshine Skyway Bridge is always shut down when there are severe thunderstorms, high winds, and hurricanes because of high wind advisories.

Look for an alternative route any day the weather is windy, foggy, or stormy.

The bridge has a steep grade.

You will feel like being on an endless ramp, dropping from a dizzying height after reaching the summit.

The disorienting vertigo is supported by the parallel lines of slanted bright yellow cables.

You can still feel off the bridge even if you are a seasoned bridge crosser.

Cable-stayed concrete was used in constructing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

The

.

It runs across the mouth of the Tampa Bay, beginning from St.

Petersburg and stopping at Bradenton, all in Florida.

The bridge is rated as the longest cable-stayed concrete bridge in the world.

This bridge is an architectural masterpiece.

Its spectacular look compliments the beautiful landscape and

.

Its construction costs about $250 million.

About 60,000 vehicles use this

daily.

Skyway Bridge Disaster

Before the Sunshine Skyway Bridge was built in 1954, a

to the other had to make a 50-mile trip around the bay.

With the opening of the Bee Line Ferry in 1926, the distance was shortened from 50 miles to 22 miles.

The time spent on the journey was reduced from three to one hour.

If you were to go by sea, ferry waiting time alone is between three to four hours.

Judging from the viewpoint of time, a little time is saved.

In 1954 the first Sunshine Skyway Bridge was opened to traffic.

It was among other things aimed at reducing the time it takes to cross the bay, and avoiding the congestion always experienced on the Bee Line Ferry.

The first Sunshine Skyway Bridge was made up of two-lane steel cantilever bridges with the same name.

The kind of bridge called cantilever bridge is the type that has a structure firmly anchored into the ground on its two sides.

One or two beams support it in the middle, from under the structure.

The first bridge cost about $22 million.

It had a vertical clearance of about 150 feet between the water and the roadway.

The Bridge Expansion

There was a new government regulation in the late 1960s for interstate highway systems.

The regulation demands that four lanes should be present on a bridge.

Secondly, the traffic growth made it necessary to construct the second bridge.

The second bridge was built between 1967 and 1971 at about $25 million.

It serves all southbound traffics, while the former bridge served the northbound traffic, across the bay.

For nine years, the first Sunshine Skyway Bridge gave good service as an important connection across the bay until the accident that necessitated its reconstruction.

In January 1980, an American Coast Guard vessel named Cutter Blackthorn had a collision with a tanker called the Capricorn under the first Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

The Cutter Blackthorn sank, and 23 members died in the accident.

The second accident happened on May 9, 1980.

This was when a cargo ship named Summit Venture crashed into one of the support columns of the bridge as a result of a serious thunderstorm that caused poor visibility.

Abound 1,200 feet of the bridge collapsed into the water below and 35 people who were on top of the bridge, about to cross, lost their lives.

Most of these people that died were traveling on Greyhound buses.

The collapse of that

has recorded in history.

The lesson we got from the accident is that a newer and safer means of crossing over Tampa Bay was needed.

FAQs

How long is the bridge from Tampa to Clearwater?

Sunshine Skyway

(15.

9 km).

It runs from eastern Clearwater through the Rocky Point island of Tampa city and terminates at the mainland of western Tampa.

How long is the Causeway bridge in Tampa?

The Causeway bridge is 21 mi.

72 ft.

How long is the 275 bridge over Tampa Bay?

The bridge is 4.

1 miles long, and at the end of the bridge, the I-275 stretches to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge southern toll plaza.

There is another toll plaza in the north for people traveling southward.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge is about 4.

1 miles long (6.

6 km).

It spans Tampa Bay.

The northern end of the bridge is the beginning of I-275