Tuesday 22 April 2014

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay

The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a bridge spanning Tampa Bay, Florida, with a cable-stayed main span, and a total length of 21,877 feet (4.1 miles or approximately 6.67 km). It connects St. Petersburg in Pinellas County and Terra Ceia in Manatee County. Construction of the current bridge began in 1982, and the completed bridge was dedicated on February 7, 1987. The new bridge cost $244 million to build, and was opened to traffic on April 20, 1987. It replaced an older bridge constructed in 1954 and partly destroyed in a collision in 1980.
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is constructed of steel and concrete. Steel cables clad in 84 9-inch (229 mm) steel tubes (42 per pylon) along the center line of the bridge support the main span.

The Travel Channel rated the Sunshine Skyway #3 in its special on the "Top 10 Bridges" in the World. The bridge is considered the "flag bridge" of Florida.

Because of its height above the emerald-green Gulf waters, length of continuous travel, location in a warm-weather state, and modern architectural design, it is a popular spot for filming automobile commercials.

Erin ((lttleetoile) sent me this nice postcard (22 April 2014) Swap-bot Direct Swap.

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