Located South of St. Petersburg the Sunshine Skyway Bridge spans Tampa Bay and connects Pinellas and Manatee counties. The bridge was modeled after the Brotonne Bridge over the Seine River in France and is Florida’s first suspension bridge. It is 4.1 miles long and the roadway soars 183 feet above Tampa Bay.
It is the third in the lineage of bridges which have connected St. Petersburg and Bradenton. The old bridge has been dismantled and its approaches have been converted into the state’s longest fishing piers.
The new bridge’s cables, resembling an inverted fan, are painted yellow and illuminated at night.
