Tarshis

Adam Tarshis The Original Bridge was destroyed in 1980 when a freight boat MV Summit Venture crashed into one of its main supports during a big storm. This sent the main portion of the bridge into the water.media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=sunshine+skyway+bridge&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.576045,83.935547&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sunshine+Skyway+Bridge,+Terra+Ceia,+Manatee,+Florida+34250&t=h&z=13&layer=c&cbll=27.584079,-82.615071&panoid=jBtlS0MuQEcR0nf-vit-Gg&cbp=12,311.26,,0,-11.68&ll=27.605139,-82.64417&output=svembed" width="425" height="350"
 * 1) Sunshine Skyway Bridge
 * 2) The Sunshine Skyway Bridge was started in 1982 and opened to the public on April 20, 1987. It is located in Tampa, Florida and crosses the Tampa Bay. It was made to make the commute across the bay shorter so people do not have to drive around.
 * 3) The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a continuous pre-stressed concrete cable-stayed bridge. It is made of mostly steel and concrete. It has 21 steel cables clad with 9 inch steel tubes along the center of the bridge to help support the structure.
 * 4) The bridge cost 244 million dollars
 * 5) What were some of the special challenges that the bridge engineers faced? How did they overcome these challenges?
 * 6) It took construction workers 5 years to build
 * 7) The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is 29,040 feet or 5.5 miles long. It has 4 vehicle lanes, 2 in each direction and is 94 feet wide. At the center of the bridge, it is 431 feet high
 * 8) The Sunshine Skyway bridge was rated #3 in the Travel Channels "Top 10 Bridges" in the world.