Gandy Bridge

Gandy Bridge
Coordinates	27°53′10″N 82°33′30″W
Carries	U.S. Route 92
Crosses	Old Tampa Bay
Locale	St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida
Maintained by	Florida Department of Transportation
ID number	100300 (eastbound) 100585 (westbound)
Characteristics
Total length	14,859 feet (4,529 m) (eastbound) 13,886 feet (4,226 m) (westbound)
Width	40.4 feet (12.3 m) (eastbound) 39.7 feet (12.1 m) (westbound)
Clearance below	43.0 feet (13.1 m)
History
Opened	1924 (demolished) 1956 (abandoned) 1975 (eastbound) 1997 (westbound)
Statistics
Daily traffic	35,000

The Gandy Bridge spans Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg, Florida, USA to Tampa, Florida. It is one of three bridges connecting Hillsborough County and Pinellas County, the others being the Howard Frankland Bridge and the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

Original Gandy Bridge

The original span of the Gandy Bridge

In 1910 H. Walter Fuller was a director of three companies owned by F. A. Davis. George S. Gandy, Sr was the president of all three companies. Fuller prepared a map containing a proposed bridge that would cross Upper Tampa Bay following the route of Ninth Street North. Gandy became interested in the proposed bridge and partnered with Fuller, incorporating three companies towards design and construction of the bridge. Survey crews decided to change the route from Ninth Street to Fourth Street. In 1918, World War I required that all projects exceeding $250,000 required a certificate of necessity from the War Industries Board headed by Bernard Baruch. The project was not approved and financing was canceled. Gandy bought out Fuller's interests and continued alone.

In 1922 Gandy hired promoter Eugene M. Elliott to attract new investment. Gandy sold enough stock to finance the bridge, which cost $1,932,000. Construction began in September 1922 and the bridge was completed for a formal opening on November 20, 1924. The steel and concrete bridge spanned a distance of two and a half miles, making it the longest automobile toll bridge in the world at that time. Its double steel bascule drawbridge had a clearance span of 75 feet (23 m) and operated electrically. The original toll to cross the bridge was $.75 for an automobile and driver and $.10 for additional passengers. The bridge stopped collecting tolls on April 27, 1944 after it was seized by the government of Franklin D. Roosevelt. On December 23, 1945, a federal jury awarded The Gandy Company $2,383,642 in compensation for the property, plus $100,000 in interest.

The bridge reduced the distance between Tampa and St. Petersburg from 43 to 19 miles (31 km). Its location enabled travel by auto along the route of the world's first scheduled airline flight, which operated between Tampa and Saint Petersburg for six months in 1914.

The Gandy Bridge opened on November 20, 1924Sixteen visiting state governors and several foreign dignitaries attended the opening ceremony. During George Gandy's speech, he stated; "The bridge is built!"

The bridge was dismantled in 1975 immediately after completion of a third span. Efforts to preserve the bridge for recreational purposes were not supported by the Pinellas County Commission, who felt the idea was too expensive, too dangerous, and unnecessary.

Second Gandy Bridge

A second span was added in 1956

By 1947 Senator Raymond Sheldon described the bridge as as "out moded, too narrow and a traffic bottleneck." In 1956 a second slightly higher, fixed span was added to the Gandy Bridge to serve westbound traffic. The first span would then serve eastbound traffic until 1975. The second bridge remained in use until February 1997.

Friendship Trail Bridge

Years before, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) deemed the bridge structurally deficient to vehicular traffic unless costly repairs were made. FDOT initially planned to demolish the middle section of the bridge (including the hump) and leave the remaining fishing pier segments intact. The demolished segments would have then been used for an artificial reef. When residents and community groups of both Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties lobbied together against FDOT and the governments of the two counties to save the 1956 bridge, FDOT dropped its demolition plan. After two years of hearings and funding issues, the 1956 bridge reopened to pedestrian and bicycle traffic on December 11, 1999 as the Friendship Trail Bridge.

The 1956 span was opened to pedestrian and recreational use from 1999 until 2008.

On November 6, 2008, the Friendship Trail was shut down "indefinitely" (though the ends remained open) after a state inspection determined that there were significant structural problems with the bridge's pylons. The bridge had been decaying for years, eventually forcing the closure of the span to vehicular traffic. However, the inspection yielded that the corrosion of the pylons had worsened and that the overall condition of the bridge was no longer suitable to keep it open due to safety issues. Only a couple months before, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge's fishing piers were deemed to the same fate (A recent inspection there had forced the closure of the eastern span on both the northern and southern piers). There was also a repair plan in place for the bridge that would have repaired the pylons at a cost of $4.2 million dollars. That project has since been put on hold due to the new developments.

December 17 brought further doom and gloom for the trail when preliminary estimates to retrofit the bridge added up to about $30 million. Furthermore, the projected costs would only provide a temporary solution to the structure that would only last about ten years. With the state and the nation in recession, county governments see no way to meet the staggering costs, leaving the trail likely closed for good.

December 20 was the "final nail in the coffin" for the Friendship Trail. A report done by Kisinger Campo & Associates and SDR Engineering Consultants shows that the bridge could potentially collapse due to the amount of decay on the structure. [1]. Immediately after the report was released, Hillsborough and Pinellas County officials decided to shut the entire bridge down permanently [2]. Nothing will be able to be done to the structure until funds are raised. The report suggests the following:

• $4.1 Million to retrofit both ends of the bridge ONLY.
• $30 Million to retrofit the entire structure.
• $12 Million to demolish the bridge ONLY.
• 81.1 Million to demolish and rebuild the bridge.

Third and fourth Gandy Bridges

File:100 1685.jpg

Traveling across the 1975 (eastbound) bridge with the 1997 (westbound) bridge to the left.

A third span was opened to traffic on October 20, 1975 and was originally without street lighting. This replaced the original span which was immediately dismanted.

On December 21, 1996, another parallel span was built in between the two existing spans to replace the aging 1956 bridge. The new bridge was initially opened to eastbound traffic while the 1975 bridge was closed to allow FDOT to install street lighting and conduct other bridge work. Westbound traffic at that time continued to utilize the 1956 bridge. The 1996 bridge was converted to westbound traffic in February 1997.

Differences between the spans

The differences between the three bridges are obvious to observers. The 1956 bridge has a very steep hump and no emergency shoulders (which caused horrendous traffic hazards prior to its closing). The 1975 bridge has a more gradual hump than the oldest bridge and wider shoulders. The pillars supporting the hump are of a different design but the remaining architectural elements between the two bridges (bridge rails, etc) are very similar. The 1996 bridge is the one that differs the most from the older bridges. Its height is nine feet higher than its counterparts and has a very gradual hump. The design and architecture of the 1996 bridge is similar to the Clearwater Pass Bridge replacement, which was completed in 1994.

Mishap history

Several barges have unfortunately struck one of the spans of the Gandy Bridge throughout the years.

December 12, 1970: A barge hits the drawbridge when it doesn't open in time, cracking several pilings

February 6, 1981: The barge Liquilassie, towed by the tug Tusker, swings wide on a starboard turn and strikes Gandy Bridge, damaging a support column.

August 31, 1985: Two barges break their moorings and, powered by waves from Hurricane Elena, crash into the southernmost span of the bridge.

March 31, 1988: The shrimp boat Madonna T. Tillman sinks after striking the center of the bridge while being towed by another shrimp boat.

March 31, 2006: The 285-foot-long steel barge Apache, towed by the tug Crosby Skipper, swings wide on a turn and slams into a concrete support column. Chunks of reinforced concrete dropped onto the barge's deck, and cracks rippled through the 48-foot-long beam.

For more details see Barge impacts Gandy St Petersburg Times - 3/31/2006.

External links

• Friendship Trail Bridge
• Structural Engineering Report for the Friendship Trail Bridge Retrieved 12/22/2008.
• Plan for old Gandy Bridge challenged St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 12/17/1996.
• Activists get more time to save old Gandy span St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 2/5/1997.
• Group sues to stop Gandy Bridge demolition St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 2/28/1997.
• St. Petersburg backs delay of Gandy span's demolition St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 3/28/1997.
• Gandy Bridge lovers to trot out their support St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 5/16/1997.
• Tampa report: Converting old Gandy expensive St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 6/13/1997.
• Trail to the test // Hillsborogh-Pinellas panel hopes to spare Gandy Bridge St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 6/17/1997.
• Gandy gets second approval St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 6/19/1997.
• Gandy Bridge group plans picnic St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 4/2/1998.
• Both sides of bay hail Gandy Friendship Trail St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 3/1/1999.
• Gandy Bridge supporters plan to link hands across bay St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 11/12/1999.
• Old Gandy Bridge will soon get a new role, new name St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 12/2/1999.
• Group hopes banners defray trail costs St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 12/6/1999.
• Park above the waves will open Saturday St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 12/10/1999.
• BAY-AREA LANDMARKS // Freshly preserved St. Pete Times - Retrieved 9/10/2007, Published 12/12/1999.