Skip to main content

Florida Friday; the Great 2012 Florida Trip Part 1 the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

By
Throughout my entire life I've had interactions with the state of Florida.  I had family around the Pensacola and Tampa areas, our family took trips down to the state from the Mid-West to theme parks in the 1980s/90s, and of course there was racing as well.  Back in late 2012 the economy was still hurting in Arizona and I was getting ready to make the move to Florida.  Before I moved to Florida, I took a long trip to the southern half of the state to get a lay of the land which is what this blog is about.  I have a ton of stuff sitting in albums from 2012 to 2016 which I figure would make for a decent Friday topic, or "Florida Friday."

Upon arriving in Florida I wanted to go out and see some of the sites that I wanted to always check out on the road.  The first was the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay which carries US 19/I-275.


The current Skyway Bridge is a 4.14 mile cable stayed design which opened in 1987.  The new Skyway Bridge is 430 feet tall in the center span with a 180 foot clearance for ships to pass through.





The original Skyway Bridge opened in 1954 which extended US 19 across Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg to US 41 in Memphis.   The original Skyway Bridge was a two-lane cantilever design which was expanded upon when a second span opened directly west of it in 1971 to upgrade it Interstate standards.  By 1973 I-275 was multiplexed over the original Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.  In 1980 a freighter hit the 1971 bridge which was serving southbound US 19/I-275 traffic which resulted in 35 people being killed when the structure fell into the waters of Tampa Bay.  By 1993 six years after the new Skyway Bridge was completed the 1954 and 1971 spans were partially demolished.  Parts of the 1954 and 1971 spans of the old Skyway Bridge are now part of the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers on both ends of Tampa Bay.

I stopped at the southern piers to check out the 1954 and 1971 bridge structures which is where I took my photos of the new span from.







Despite the Skyway Bridge being a toll road there is plenty of reassurance shields about reminding you that you are on US 19/I-275.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

By
The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 99 through Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch

By
This summer I had a look into the alignment history of US Route 99 through the Tulare County communities of Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch.  While this slab below might seem like much it is one of the few remaining reminders of how US Route 99 was during the 1920s in Tulare County. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Part 1; the history of US Route 99 in Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch Tipton and Tulare were both founded in 1872 as sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The Southern Pacific Railroad laid the groundwork for development of southern San Joaquin Valley.  Previous to the Southern Pacific Railroad travel via wagon or foot in Central California tended to avoid San Joaquin Valley in favor of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  The Stockton Los Ange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 101 and California State Route 41 through Paso Robles

By
Paso Robles is a city located on the Salinas River of San Luis Obispo County, California.  As originally configured the surface alignments of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 converged in downtown Paso Robles.  US Route 101 originally was aligned through Paso Robles via Spring Street.  California State Route 41 entered the City of Paso Robles via Union Road and 13th Street where it intersected US Route 101 at Spring Street.  US Route 101 and California State Route 41 departed Paso Robles southbound via a multiplex which split near Templeton.   Pictured above is the cover of the September/October 1957 California Highways & Public Works which features construction of the Paso Robles Bypass.  Pictured below is the 1935 Division of Highways Map of San Luis Obispo County which depicts US Route 101 and California State Route 41 intersecting in downtown Paso Robles.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 i...
Post a Comment
Read more