Sunshine Skyway Bridge

"Due to the disastrous history of the original Sunshine Skyway, safety was paramount in the design of its replacement. One of the most obvious precautions taken … is the inclusion of 36 large concrete bumpers called s that surround the piers close to the shipping lane which are at the greatest risk from passing ships. Each of these dolphins is designed to withstand the direct impact of an 87,000-ton ship traveling at a speed of 10 ."

"DeYoungs is the first nonfiction book about the iconic Sunshine Skyway Bridge and its abrupt demise at the bow of a 606-foot freighter run afoul in a sudden storm. The bridge was one of the longest structures in the world at the time the two segments of it were built (in 1954 and 1971). In 1954, it was the first bridge in the United States constructed entirely of and steel rods. After it was destroyed, the bridge was reconstructed with a and now claims to be the fifth longest bridge of that design in the world, spanning nearly five miles of water. ... each day, an estimated 52,000 vehicles navigate its five-degree incline to cross from to ."

"— Sean Michael Davis was hauling his life across the Sunshine Skyway bridge that November afternoon, almost two years ago. He was moving to a new home in Palmetto, his box truck stuffed with furniture. He admired the way the sun hit the water and thought about what lay ahead. — He saw her on the second trip: a young woman in her 20s with shoulder-length dirty blond hair and green velour pants. She parked her silver car on the northbound crest. Davis, 41, slowed his truck. — He watched the next 10 seconds unfold from his southbound lane. He tried calling 911 but could not get through to the right dispatcher. — There would be no time for an intervention. — The young woman walked straight to the wall, hiked her leg over the berm and was gone. No hesitation. No intervention. Gone."

"If youre putting that offshore fishing trip on the back burner due to rapidly rising fuel costs, you can still nail the big ones from the . The south side — 8,250 feet long, with 571 parking spaces — is the longest fishing pier in the world. ... s attract marine life. There are 65 of them along the south side and 18 running perpendicular to the north pier. The underwater structures owe their existence to a tragedy: the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse in May 1980, when a freighter crashed into a bridge support during a terrible storm (35 people died). Rubble from the collapsed bridge was placed on the sandy bottom to form the reefs."

"The lists the Sunshine Skyway at no. 3 among the "The Worlds Top Ten Bridges," and residents of Floridas middle-western coast are rightfully proud of the majestic cable-stayed bridge, the fifth-largest such structure on the planet. Its bright yellow cables, set against the azure blue of the bay waters, or pink-and-orange sunsets, make for stunning landscape paintings and art photographs suitable for framing. It has been indeed become an iconic Florida image, these days emblazoned on everything from T-shirts and coffee mugs to expensive limited-edition porcelain collectors plates. In 2012 the put the Sunshine Skyway on a stamp, using a digital illustration by Chicago artist Dan Cosgrove."

"The original bridge was praised as one of the longest over-water spans in the . A second structurally identical span was built to the southwest in 1971 in order to bring the bridge to interstate standards. This meant that two lanes could each be devoted to north-south traffic, as opposed to a single lane each way. This was done both to increase traffic fllow as well as to connect which, in the early 1970s, was in the planning stages to reach across . (The interstate would run from the to the Skyway in 1978.) ... A freighter named the collided with the newer southern span of the bridge on May 9, 1980. Bad weather caused rough seas, and at 7:33 a.m., the ship collided with one of the main span’s support columns. More than 1,300 feet of the steel cantilever structure at the bridge’s apex fell onto the deck of the ship and . About 35 people, 26 of them in a bound for Miami, were killed in the accident. The only survivor’s car landed on the deck of the ship. To this day it remains the second deadliest bridge failure in the United States."