The Sunshine Skyway Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the Sunshine Skyway, or simply "the Skyway", is a pair of long beam bridges with a central tall cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect Pinellas County to Manatee County. The current Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 and is the second bridge of that name on the site. It was designed by the Figg & Muller Engineering Group and built by the American Bridge Company. The bridge is considered the flagship bridge of Florida and serves as a gateway to Tampa Bay. The four-lane bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County and Manatee County. It is a toll bridge, with a toll assessed on two-axle vehicles traveling in either direction at a rate of $1.75 cash or $1.16 with the state's SunPass system.
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
A postcard depicting the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge
A vehicle stopped just short of the collapsed portion of the bridge, May 9, 1980
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers, from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines. This is in contrast to the modern suspension bridge, where the cables supporting the deck are suspended vertically from the main cable, anchored at both ends of the bridge and running between the towers. The cable-stayed bridge is optimal for spans longer than cantilever bridges and shorter than suspension bridges. This is the range within which cantilever bridges would rapidly grow heavier, and suspension bridge cabling would be more costly.
The Russky Bridge in Vladivostok has a central span of 1104 metres. It is the world's longest cable-stayed bridge.
Øresund Bridge from Malmö to Copenhagen in Sweden and Denmark
Chain-stayed bridge by the Renaissance polymath Fausto Veranzio, from 1595/1616. Prior to industrial manufacture of heavy wire rope (steel cable), suspended or stayed bridges were firstly constructed with linked rods (chain).
Abdoun Bridge, Amman, Jordan, example of an extradosed bridge