place

Skyway Fishing Pier State Park

1994 establishments in FloridaFlorida state park stubsHillsborough County, Florida geography stubsParks in Hillsborough County, FloridaParks in Manatee County, Florida
Piers in FloridaProtected areas established in 1994State parks of FloridaTourist attractions in the Tampa Bay areaUse mdy dates from August 2023
Skyway West (North) Fishing Pier SP 12
Skyway West (North) Fishing Pier SP 12

Skyway Fishing Pier State Park is a Florida State Park located on the north and south sides of the mouth of Tampa Bay. When the original cantilevered Sunshine Skyway Bridge, carrying I-275 (US 19), partially collapsed in 1980, due to the collision of a freighter on one of its pilings, it was replaced by the current bridges. The approaches to the old bridge, however, were left in place and converted into the longest fishing pier in the world.The most common activity on the pier is fishing. Common catches include snook, tarpon, grouper, black sea bass, Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, cobia, sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper, grunts, sharks, Goliath Grouper, Lane Snapper, flounder, and many more. Other pier activities include site seeing and photography. Before the bridge are good flats to fish at, kite board, kayak, and wind surf. Snacks, drinks, bait, and fishing supplies can be purchased on the pier, which has a fee for admission. The park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Skyway Fishing Pier State Park (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Skyway Fishing Pier State Park
Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Saint Petersburg

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Skyway Fishing Pier State ParkContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 27.678055555556 ° E -82.678055555556 °
placeShow on map

Address

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Sunshine Skyway Bridge
33715 Saint Petersburg
Florida, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Skyway West (North) Fishing Pier SP 12
Skyway West (North) Fishing Pier SP 12
Share experience

Nearby Places

Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or the Sunshine Skyway, consists of a pair of long beam bridges with a central cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg, Florida, to Terra Ceia. The current Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 and is the second bridge of that name on the site. It was designed by the Figg & Muller Engineering Group and built by the American Bridge Company. The bridge is considered the flagship bridge of Florida and serves as a gateway to Tampa Bay. The four-lane bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County and Manatee County. It is a toll road, with a $1.75 toll assessed on two-axle vehicles traveling in either direction and collected via cash or the state's SunPass system as a reduced toll of $1.16.The original Sunshine Skyway was a two-lane beam bridge with a central truss bridge built directly to the west of the current structure. It was completed in 1954, and a second span was added in 1971.The original Skyway was the site of two major maritime disasters over a four-month period, the second of which resulted in the bridge's partial destruction and eventual replacement. On the night of January 28, 1980, the United States Coast Guard cutter Blackthorn collided with the tanker Capricorn just west of the bridge, resulting in the sinking of the cutter with the loss of 23 crew members in the worst peacetime disaster in the history of the US Coast Guard. On the morning of May 9, 1980, the freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a support pier near the center of the bridge during a sudden squall, resulting in the catastrophic failure of the southbound roadway and the deaths of 35 people when several vehicles (including a Greyhound Bus) plunged into Tampa Bay. Within a few years, the damaged span was partially demolished, the surviving span was partially demolished and converted into a long fishing pier, and the modern Sunshine Skyway was built. The current bridge incorporates numerous safety features designed to protect the structure from ship collisions, as it spans one of the busiest shipping lanes in the United States.