Platt Street Bridge

The Platt Street Bridge went under the knife this week, so I went out last weekend and took a series of photographs.  The bridge crosses the Hillsborough River into downtown.  This may be too many photos for all but die-hard bridge enthusiasts, but I love the historic bridges downtown.  The statement from the Hillsborough County Public Works Department says, “When the work is completed, the bridge will be restored to its original functionality and historical appearance.”  I don’t doubt the intent regarding historical appearance, but you never know, so I feel that we can’t have too many pre-construction photographs.

100 North Tampa viewed through Platt Street Bridge latticework

The Platt Street Bridge is a bascule bridge, which is a particular type of drawbridge.  Wikipedia has a nice description of bascule bridges.  This bridge opened in 1926 and is considered one of six historic bridges in Tampa; there is a summary of the bridges at the end of this article. (This omits the Brorein Street Bridge, presumably because it opened in 1959 and is not considered historic?)

One of the bridge’s prominent features is the school logos on and near the bridge.  The University of Tampa is nearby and rowing (crew) events are held on this stretch of the Hillsborough River.  Competing schools sometimes leave their mark behind.

The bridge still has tender houses – the towers on either side of the bridge – but they are no longer occupied.

More photos of the bridge next week.

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