Friendship Trail Bridge

Gandy Bridge is the southernmost bridge spanning Old Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa, Florida. The original 1924 span was dismantled in 1975. The second bridge, constructed in 1956 was used for vehicular traffic until 1997, when it was converted to recreational use by non-motorized traffic. It became known as the Friendship Trail Bridge and was demolished in 2016, after closing in 2008 due to hazardous conditions and several failed efforts to preserve the span. The third (1975) and fourth (1997) spans of the Gandy Bridge are currently being used for vehicle traffic.

Almost three miles long, the Gandy Bridge is one of three bridges connecting the mainland of Hillsborough County and Pinellas County; the others being the Howard Frankland Bridge and the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

Second Gandy Bridge

By 1947, state Sen. Raymond Sheldon described the bridge as "outmoded, 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 in 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.

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 superstructure. 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 superstructure 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. That project was cancelled due to the new developments.

December 17 brought further 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 saw no way to meet the staggering costs, leaving the trail likely closed for good.

December 20, 2008 a report done by Kisinger Campo & Associates and SDR Engineering Consultants showed that the bridge could potentially collapse due to the amount of decay on the structure. Immediately after the report was released, Hillsborough and Pinellas County officials decided to close the entire bridge permanently. The report suggested the following:

• $4.1 million to retrofit both ends of the bridge only
• $13 million to demolish the bridge only
• $30 million to retrofit the entire structure
• $81.1 million to demolish and rebuild the bridge

In May 2009, the initial estimates were revised:

• $10 million to retrofit both ends of the bridge only
• $13 million to demolish the bridge only
• $15 million to retrofit the entire structure
• $19 million to demolish and rebuild fishing piers

After a series of meetings in May, June, and July 2009, the Friendship Trail bridge oversight committee voted to explore the $15 million option to retrofit the entire bridge, which would add about 10 years to its lifespan, with supporters hoping that it would be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A peer review done by E.C. Driver and Associates disagreed on the repair estimate claiming it would take $48 million to repair the bridge.

Also in July 2009, the animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) offered to contribute funds to help save the Friendship Trail. However, the group asked for fishing to be banned throughout the entire span.

In April 2010, both Hillsborough and Pinellas County Commissions voted to demolish the entire structure. The commissions are still proposing ways to commence demolition and a timetable has not yet been set.

In March 2011, citizens came together to save the bridge again, proposing a public/private partnership to fund repairs.

In April 2011, Hillsborough County Commission voted to delay the demolition in order to give a group of citizens 30 days to come up with a viable plan to repair and re-open the bridge

On June 27, 2012, the Hillsborough County Commission voted to allow the group more time to evaluate their options for the bridge. It would also allow the commission to decide on a plan to possibly present a referendum to voters in November to hike the property tax to fund park improvements.

Despite the various community efforts to save the bridge, none were able to fully materialize. As of September, 2015, the span was gradually being demolished, with guardrails and lighting being removed. Afterwards, the span cut away in sections and hauled off site for recycling. Demolition work was completed as of July, 2016.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Gandy Bridge" and modified on 23 July 2019 under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.