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Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is thedisaster, the northbound span carried
world's longest cable-stayed concreteone lane in either direction until the
bridge, with a length of 29,040 feetcurrent bridge opened. The main span of
(exactly 5.5 miles or approximately 8.85the northbound bridge was demolished in
km). It is part of I-275 (SR 93) and US1992 and the approaches for both old
19 (SR 55), connecting St. Petersburg inspans were made into the Skyway Fishing
Pinellas County, Florida and Palmetto inPier State Park. These approaches sit 1
Manatee County, Florida, passing through2 mile (0.8 km) to the south and west of
Hillsborough County waters. Constructionthe current bridge.
of the current bridge began in 1982, andGraham's idea for the design of the
the completed bridge was dedicated oncurrent bridge won out over other
January 11, 1987. The new bridge costproposals, including a tunnel (deemed
$244 million to build, and was opened toimpractical due to Florida's high water
traffic on April 20, 1987.table) and a simple reconstruction of
It is constructed of steel and concrete.the broken section of the old bridge
Its longest span is 1200 feet (366 m),that would not have improved shipping
which is 193 feet (58.8 m) over theconditions. The new bridge's main span
water. Twenty-one steel cables clad inis 50% wider than the old bridge. The
nine-inch steel tubes along the centerpiers of the main span and the
line of the bridge support theapproaches for 1/4 mile (0.4 km) in
structure. It was designed by the Figg &either direction are surrounded by large
Muller Engineering Group, and built byconcrete barriers called "dolphins" that
the American Bridge Company.can protect the bridge piers from
In November 2005, an act of Floridacollisions with freighters larger than
Legislature officially named the currentthe Summit Venture.
bridge the Bob Graham Sunshine SkywayBridge suicides
Bridge, after the Governor of FloridaAccording to compilations from various
who presided over its design and most ofmedia reports, at least 96 people have
its construction. According to sources,committed suicide by jumping from the
he was inspired to suggest the currentcenter span into the waters of Tampa Bay
design by a visit to France, where hesince the opening of the new bridge in
saw a similar cable-stayed bridge. [1]1987 and many more have tried. Another
The original bridge was dedicated to51 people ended their lives from the old
state engineer William E Dean, as notedSunshine Skyway from 1954-1987. Several
on a plaque displayed at the south restother missing persons are suspected of
area of the bridge.having jumped from the bridge, but their
The Travel Channel rated the Sunshinedeaths could not be confirmed as no body
Skyway #3 in its special on the "Top 10was recovered.
Bridges" in the World. The bridge isIn response to the bridge's popularity
considered the "flag bridge" of Florida.as method of demise for the depressed,
The present bridge replaces a steelthe State of Florida installed six
cantilever bridge of the same name. Thecrisis hotline phones along the center
original two-lane bridge was completedspan in 1999, and began 24-hour patrols.
in 1954, with a similar structure builtAs of 2003, the call center received 18
parallel to it in 1969 to make it acalls from potential jumpers, all of
four-lane bridge and bring it towhom survived, according to a St.
Interstate standards. The southboundPetersburg Times report. However, the
span (the one built in 1969) wastotal number of jumpers has not
destroyed on May 9, 1980, when thesignificantly declined since the
freighter SS Summit Venture collidedintroduction of these safeguards.
with a pier during a storm, sending overOn April 27, 1997, a group of daredevils
1200 feet (366m) of the bridgedid a "pendulum swing" off the bridge,
plummeting into Tampa Bay. The collisionwhere they were to go back and forth on
caused several automobiles and aa rope attached to the cast-off point,
Greyhound bus to fall 150 feet (46 m),eventually ending up directly below
killing 35 people.where they had started. This failed when
One man, Wesley MacIntire, survived thethe rope snapped, plunging them 60
fall when his pickup truck landed on themeters into the water, leading to broken
deck of the Summit Venture beforebones and neck injuries. [6]
falling into the bay. He sued theTrivia
company that owned the ship, and settledIn the last scene of the crime film The
for $175,000 in 1984. [4] He alwaysPunisher, the hero of the movie stands
regretted being the only one to surviveon the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The movie
the fall, and died in 1989.was set in the Tampa Bay area.
The pilot of the ship, John Lerro, wasThe original opening credits to the 1988
cleared of wrongdoing by both a stateSuperboy TV series showed the hero
grand jury and a Coast Guardflying over the damaged span and then
investigation. Although Lerro resumedturning to view the new bridge under
his shipping duties soon afterward, heconstruction.
was forced to retire months later by theOne of the major problems with the
onset of multiple sclerosis, which heSunshine Skyway Bridge is corrosion of
died from in 2002.the steel in the precast concrete
The old bridge replaced a ferry fromsegments. Because the segments are
Point Pinellas to Piney Point. US 19 washollow, workers were able to enter the
extended from St. Petersburg to itsbridge superstructure in 2003 and 2004
current end north of Palmetto when theto reinforce the corroded sections of
bridge opened. After the Summit Venturethe bridge, ensuring its future safety



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