The Dauphin Island Bridge, formally the Gordon Persons Bridge, carries a 5-kilometer (3 mi), two-lane section of Alabama state highway 193 from the mainland south of Mobile, across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and down to Dauphin Island. The bridge separates the Mississippi Sound on the west from Mobile Bay on the east. Seth Gordon Persons (February 5, 1902–May 29, 1965) was an American Democratic politician who was the Governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955. ... Official language(s) English Capital Largest city Montgomery Birmingham Area Ranked 30th - Total 52,423 sq. ... Motto: Nickname: The Azalea City Map Political Statistics Founded 1702 Incorporated 1814 Mobile County Mayor Sam Jones Geographic Statistics Area - Total - Land - Water 412. ... Categories: Stub ... Dauphin Island is a barrier island on the western edge of Mobile Bay. ... The Mississippi Sound is a shallow body of water along the Gulf Coast of the United States. ... Mobile Bay - Landsat photo Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. ...
The original bridge, opened on 02 July1955,[1] was a lift bridge. It was damaged by Hurricane Frederic in 1979,[2] and was replaced by a fixed precast concretesegmental bridge in July 1982.[3] For mariners, the horizontal clearance at the channel span is 106 meters (350 ft); the vertical clearance is 25 meters (83 ft).[4] July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A lift bridge over the Erie Canal at Lockport. ... Hurricane Frederic in 1979 was the one of the costliest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. Gulf Coast. ... Precast concrete is an ancient type of construction material made with concrete cast in a reusable mold or form and cured in a controlled environment, then transported to the construction site and lifted into place. ... As its name implies, a segmental bridge is a bridge built in short sections (called segments), i. ...
The natural channel followed by the Intracoastal Waterway at this location is Pass Aux Herons, pronounced locally as "pass her own."
DauphinIsland had remained isolated, and except for the yearly Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, tourism on Mobile County's Gulf beaches had contributed little to Mobile's economy.
DauphinIsland is fourteen miles long, with an eastern portion heavily wooded, wider and more elevated than the wind- and water-swept western portion.
The opening of the bridge began what the Birmingham News described in 1955 as "the multi-million-dollar vacation paradise wonderland program." The bridge to the island was a financial success, and the state eliminated the toll in 1963.
Frederic came ashore on September 13 with winds reaching 130 mph (210 km/h) at DauphinIslandBridge, near the mouth of Mobile Bay.
DauphinIsland, for example, got $32 million to rebuild the bridge destroyed by Frederic, in spite of warnings from FEMA that it would encourage development.
The prediction was accurate: an island that suffered $7 million in property damage due to Frederic was host to over a quarter billion dollars in property by 2000.
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