*** Welcome to piglix ***

Dames Point Bridge

Dames Point Bridge
Dames Point Bridge at Night - 17 June 2013.jpg
The Dames Point Bridge, seen from a nearby dock in 2013.
Coordinates 30°23′09″N 81°33′27″W / 30.3858°N 81.5574°W / 30.3858; -81.5574Coordinates: 30°23′09″N 81°33′27″W / 30.3858°N 81.5574°W / 30.3858; -81.5574
Carries I-295
(six general purpose lanes)
Crosses St. Johns River
Locale Jacksonville, Florida
Official name Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge
Maintained by Florida Department of Transportation
ID number 720518
Characteristics
Design Continuous prestressed concrete cable-stayed bridge
Total length 10646 feet (3244.9 m)
Width 106 feet (32.2 m)
Longest span 1300 feet (396.2 m)
Clearance above 39.7 feet (12.11 m)
Clearance below 175 feet (53.34 m)
History
Construction begin 1985
Opened March 10, 1989; 27 years ago (1989-03-10)
Statistics
Daily traffic 66,000 (2012)

The Dames Point Bridge (officially the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge) is a cable-stayed bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida on the Interstate 295 East Beltway. Construction began in 1985 and was completed in 1989. The main span is 1,300 feet (396.2 m), and is 175 feet (53.3 m) high. The bridge was designed by HNTB Corporation and RS&H, Inc. The Massman Construction Company built the bridge.

The bridge's cables are arranged on multiple vertical planes in a slight modification to the harp (parallel) stay arrangement. Main span cables are paired to anchor into the tower in a vertical plane while side span cables pair up to anchor in a horizontal plane such that four cables anchor in each tower at approximately the same elevation.

Until the 2003 completion of the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick, Georgia the Dames Point Bridge was the only bridge in the United States to feature the harp stay arrangement.

It remains is one of the largest cable-stayed bridges built in the United States having 21 miles (34 km) of cable.

The Dames Point Bridge, seen from northbound I-295

Northbound on the Dames Point Bridge.

The Dames Point Bridge

The Dames Point Bridge in 2005

The Dames Point Bridge at Night - 2013

On May 15, 1989, while inspectors were checking the bridge for cracks and fissures, the boom arm holding a bucket snapped, leaving the bucket tilted on its side and the workers at risk of plummeting hundreds of feet to the river below. Rescuers rappelled down the side of the bridge to the workers and successfully brought all of them to safety. The story of this rescue effort was aired on Rescue 911 on September 12 of the same year.


...
Wikipedia

...