NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Demolition Begins on Damaged Bridge
Demolition work began on the Old Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which was damaged in May, 1980, when a barge crashed into part of the southbound span and sent 35 motorists to their deaths in Tampa Bay. The removal of four miles of the bridge’s two spans, including 12 million pounds of steel and 64 concrete piers, could be the largest bridge demolition project in the country and one of the few of its size in the world. The state Department of Transportation’s $8.1-million project is to take 18 months. A replacement bridge connecting St. Petersburg to Manatee County was built in the mid-1980s.
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