点评:I remember when the only way to transit Tampa Bay was to take a ferry boat from St. Petersburg to Bradenton or drive around the bay via Tampa. And I recall the eerie feeling of the sight of the collapsed bridge in the moonlight. Today, the four-lane Sunshine Skyway Bridge spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg and Pinellas County to Bradenton and Manatee County. Opened in 1987, it is a gorgeous architectural structure that offers a panoramic view of Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Considered the flagship bridge of Florida and the gateway to Tampa Bay, it is the second bridge on the site. The original bridge, completed in 1954, located directly west of the current structure, was involved in the catastrophic collapse of the southbound roadway and the deaths of 35 people on May 9, 1980, when a freighter collided with a support pier near the center of the bridge during a squall. Traffic was diverted onto the surviving two-lane span for several years until the new Sunshine Skyway was completed. The old bridge was partially demolished and converted into two long fishing piers. The current bridge, whose channel beneath the main span allows access to one of the busiest shipping lanes in the United States, is 4.14 miles long and handles over 70,000 cars daily.
翻译:我还记得,过去想要穿越坦帕湾,只能乘坐渡轮从圣彼得堡前往布拉登顿,或者经由坦帕绕行海湾。我也记得在月光下看到桥梁坍塌时的那种阴森恐怖之感。如今,四车道的阳光天际大桥横跨下坦帕湾,将圣彼得堡和皮内拉斯县与布拉登顿及马纳蒂县相连。这座桥建于1987年,是一座造型优美的建筑杰作,从这里可以饱览坦帕湾及墨西哥湾的壮丽景色。这座桥被视为佛罗里达州的标志性桥梁以及坦帕湾的门户,它也是该位置上第二座建造的桥梁。第一座桥于1954年落成,位于现桥的正西方。1980年5月9日,一场暴风雨中一艘货轮撞上了桥中央附近的支撑桥墩,导致原桥的南向车道发生灾难性坍塌,造成35人丧生。在新的阳光高架桥建成之前,数年间交通流量都被疏导至仅存的那座双车道桥上。原桥随后被部分拆除,改造成两个长长的钓鱼码头。现在的这座桥,其主桥段下方的航道可直通美国最繁忙的航运通道之一;该桥全长4.14英里,每天承载着超过7万辆汽车的通行。