PLEASE BE PATIENT WHILE MY IMAGES LOAD,,
| In 1990 HARDAWAY CONSTRUCTORS of Tampa , Florida
and CONTROLLED DEMOLITION of Baltimore, Maryland teamed up to do the
largest bridge demolition in Florida's history. I am proud that I had the
opportunity to be a member of that team. I have quite a few great photo's
taken during the project as well as some photo's from the ST.PETERSBURG TIMES
and THE TAMPA TRIBUNE archives.
But first, let me give you a little history about the SUNSHINE SKYWAY BRIDGE. |
 ST.PETERSBURG TIMES ARCHIVES , 1954 |
The first SUNSHINE SKYWAY bridge span opened in 1954, the 15 mile long crossing ran from St. Petersburg to Bradenton and had lengthy approach causeways on both sides, leading to a steep cantilever-truss crossing above the Tampa Bay ship channel. The vertical clearance for the channel was approximately 150 feet above the water and approximately 750 feet in width |
 ST.PETERSBURG TIMES ARCHIVES , 1971 |
Increasing traffic across the two-lane span spurred the construction of a second parellel span which was completed in 1971, giving the bridges two lanes in each direction. Between the completion of the new span in 1971 and that fateful morning in May of 1980, several other "bad omens" occurred in the immediate area, all of which were mainly attributed to the weather. The worst of these was the collision of the freighter CAPRICORN and the Coast Guard cutter USS BLACKTHORN which happened just west of the bridge in the channel. Twenty-three crew members aboard the BLACKTHORN were killed . On four other occaisions freighters or barges came into contact with the bridge resulting in minor damages. |  THE SOUTHBOUND SPAN REMAINING CANTILEVER SECTION AS IT HANGS OVER THE SHIPPING CHANNEL 1261 FEET OF MISSING BRIDGE  THE DECK OF THE SUMMIT VENTURE COVERED WITH DEBRIS FROM THE COLLAPSED SPAN | COLLISION DAYOn that fateful morning of May 9th,1980 at 07:38 , during a violent rain squall producing high winds and almost zero visibility the empty phosphate freighter SUMMIT VENTURE piloted by Captain John Lerro slammed into the #2 South pier ( over 700 feet from the center of the channel ) of the southbound (1970) span , it knocked 1261 feet of center span, cantilever , approach and roadway into Tampa Bay. Thirty-five people , most of them on board a Greyhound bus bound for Miami plunged 150 feet to their deaths in what is now one of the worst bridge disasters in history. Rescue crews and divers were immediately dispatched to the scene, but of the victims who made the fall there was only one survivor , whose truck had luckily landed on the deck of the SUMMIT VENTUREAfter the fatal accident, traffic was rerouted onto the two-lane northbound span, until the planning and completion of the new SUNSHINE BRIDGE which opened in April of 1987. |
 Richard Horbuckle's LUCK WAS WITH HIM ON THAT DAY - HIS VEHICLE STOPPED JUST 14 INCHES FROM THE EDGE |  HARDAWAY CONSTRUCTORS ASSISTED IN THE RESCUE ATTEMPTS AND BEGAN IMMEDIATE CLEANUP TO CLEAR THE CHANNEL |
THE NEW SUNSHINE SKYWAY BRIDGE
 NEW SKYWAY WITH OLD BRIDGE IN THE BACKGROUND 1990 |
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The new "cable-stay" bridge is a truely beautiful structure, at a cost of 245 million dollars it has a main span of 1200 feet and a vertical clearance of 193 feet. It is equipped with a bridge protection system involving 36 large concrete bumpers called dolphins that are built to withstand an impact from any errant ships in the vicinity of the bridges piers. Unlike most "cable-stay" bridges the new bridge uses a single plane of cables and the deck, made of prestressed concrete segments serves as structure as well as being the roadway surface. At night strategically placed lights add an additional touch of beauty. | ||||
| In 1990 the State
of Florida Department of Transportation contracted with Hardaway Constructors
to demolish the old bridge, it's usefullness was past and it had become an eyesore as well as a navigational hazard. |
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| Hardaway was contracted to remove the center spans,approaches and any roadway that was near the shipping channel down to an elevation below the natural bottom of the channel and bay. Most of the concrete rubble, deck sections, pilings and girders would be strategically placed along the remaining bridge as reefs for the planned fishing pier. |
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| I have divided up my images into three groups. The first order of business
when we began the demolition was removal of the existing "center span"
then after a whole lot of trimming away at the cantilevers we began prepping
the superstructure for explosives, finally our work paid off and we got to see
some fireworks, little did we know , but that is when the real work really began. Below are links to three other pages ( four if you count this one ), I've labeled them as follows Center Span is when we lowered the existing center span, an engineering marvel to say the least. Pre-Load is when we pre-cut the superstructure and loaded the shape charges, I've got some birds-eye views of the top of the bridge that are pretty awesome. Shots is a collection of pics from when we shot the cantilever section and when we shot some of the larger piers. You'll also notice the REMOTE CONTROL, that will take you many places, some of the links are my other pages and some are not,check them out but be sure to come back soon , ENJOY... Thanks, dave. |
ALL OF THESE PAGES CONTAIN IMAGES, PLEASE BE PATIENT WHILE THEY LOAD
| HISTORY | CENTER SPAN | PRE-LOAD | SHOTS |
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