Driving a Truck over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

This is a video of my drive over the Senator Bob Graham Skyway Bridge going north from I-75 near Bradenton to St Petersburg, FL. The view is from inside the cab of a Volvo D13 tractor trailer (18 wheeler). This current bridge opened to traffic in 1987 and the road deck is 191 feet above the 1,200 foot wide shipping channel. The first bridge was a Cantilever bridge that opened on Labor Day in 1954 with a vertical clearance of 150ft over a shipping channel of just 864ft wide. That bridge had a steel grate deck which one could see through to the water below and made a humming sound when vehicles crossed it. Due to the increased traffic, another bridge had to be built beside it so it could accomodate four lanes of traffic for US 19. That new bridge was completed in 1971. Those two bridges served their purpose until that fateful day on May 9, 1980 when, on a stormy day during a blinding rainstorm at 7:38 am, the freighter Summit Venture struck the southbound bridge pier which brought down the main span of the southbound bridge. Thirtyfive people died including several on board a Greyhound Bus going to Miami. There were two survivors Wesley McIntire whose car went off the bridge, was rescued by the Summit Venture, and Richard Hornbuckle who litterally stopped his Buick Skylark 14 inches from the edge of the bridge.

It was decided that a cable stayed bridge was the way to go and they modeled this one after a similar bridge in France so work started just to the east of the old spans in 1984 and the new bridge was completed in Feb 1987 with a grand opening in April 1987. The old bridges were demolished and the approaches (what you see on the west/left side of the bridge was converted into the world's longest drive on/drive off fishing piers.
Some of the new safety features to prevent other ships from hitting the bridge are large circular concrete "Dolphin Islands" surounding the main piers of the cable stayed bridge as well as several other Dolphin Islands protecting the other nearby bridge piers. This was a new technology at the time and had never been used anywhere else at the time. Infact, those islands did their job as a few years after the bridge opened, a freighter did loose power and made a glancing blow against one of the Dolphin Islands as it was coming into Tampa Bay. It was noted that had the Dolphin Islands not been there, it most likealy would have struck one of the cable stayed piers.

The two dedication plaques at the rest area are for the original span and the new replacement brides. The memorial in for the USCGC (United States Coast Guard) ship the USS Blackthorn WLB-391 which sank in Tampa Bay after colliding with the tanker ship MV Capricorn on January 28, 1980

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[woodencoasterfan]

@canktm11 It's really amazing how windy it can get up there. They've had to close the bridge quite a few times during severe thunderstorms because of high winds. I've also been told that the area was excellent for wind and kite surfing. You can see quite a few kite surfers over by Ft Desoto state park at the end of the video.

[NobodyisD2Z]

@TheCozybear65 Explaining my name would take too long. Just accept it and I will accept that you are "TheCozybear65".

[TheCozybear65]

@NobodyisD2Z uh?

[canktm11]

And just a 3 foot high Jersey barrier to prevent you from a 191 foot plunge..i went over it in june 2010 and was amazed at how much we moved around at the top.

[maganaonline]

Cool video... looks like a nice area.

[DjGodaryD86]

seems like an awesome bridge...

[NobodyisD2Z]

I have acrophobia and gephyrophobia. I was fine watching this until about 6:05. Then I noticed I was doing slow, deep breaths. It really helped that the driver stayed in the left lane; I could not see out over the edge. When I got to 7:37 the fear disappeared! Really! I was fine going over the top with the yellow cables to my left. And going down 8:20 and beyond was just fine, no feelings of fear. I liked the visits to the parks on both sides.

[NobodyisD2Z]

I have acrophobia and gephyrophobia. I was fine watching this until about 6:05. Then I noticed I was doing slow, deep breaths. It really helped that the driver stayed in the left lane; I could not see out over the edge. When I got to 7:37 the fear disappeared! Really! I was fine going over the top with the yellow cables to my left. And going down 8:20 and beyond was just fine, no feelings of fear.

[Boa2200]

skip to 5:53 to get to the bridge

[nelliet1950]

Yes, it is a most interesting bridge! A little different perspective than riding across in a car or suv.