Dauphin Island Bridge

Bridge in Dauphin Island, Alabama
30°17′32″N 88°07′48″W / 30.2921°N 88.1300°W / 30.2921; -88.1300Carries2 lanes of SR 193CrossesGulf Intracoastal WaterwayLocaleDauphin Island, AlabamaOther name(s)Dauphin Island BridgeCharacteristicsTotal length17,814 feet (5,430 m)[1]Longest span400 feet (122 m)[1]Clearance below83 feet (25 m)HistoryOpened1982LocationMap
On the way to Dauphin Island crossing the Dauphin Island Bridge.

The Dauphin Island Bridge, formally the Gordon Persons Bridge, carries a 3-mile (4.8 km), two-lane section of Alabama State Route 193 from mainland Mobile County, Alabama across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to Dauphin Island. The natural channel followed by the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at this location is Pass Aux Herons. The bridge separates the Mississippi Sound on the west from Mobile Bay on the east. It was named in honor of Seth Gordon Persons, the 46th governor of Alabama.

History

The original bridge opened on July 2, 1955.[2] It was destroyed by Hurricane Frederic in 1979 and was replaced by a fixed precast concrete segmental bridge in 1982. The central main span was the first use of a 400-foot (122 m) span on a precast concrete segmental bridge.[1]

On January 7, 2008, Vietnamese immigrant Lam Luong tossed his four children, to their deaths off of the bridge. In March 2009, a jury in Mobile County convicted him of capital murder for the act.[3] He was sentenced to death on April 30, 2009.[4] His death sentence was reduced to life without parole on October 15, 2018, as it was ruled he was intellectually impaired and had an IQ too low for execution.[5]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gordon Persons Bridge.
  1. ^ a b c "Dauphin Island Bridge". "Figg Engineering Group". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  2. ^ "Press Register story". "AL.com website". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  3. ^ "Jury convicts Alabama dad of throwing 4 kids off bridge — CNN.com". CNN. March 20, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  4. ^ "Man who threw kids off bridge gets death". NBC News. April 30, 2009.
  5. ^ Moseley, Brandon (October 16, 2018). "Death sentence for man who threw his four children off Dauphin Island Bridge death reduced to life". Alabama Political Reporter.

External links

  • Jeff Coolidge
  • Figg Engineering
  • Dauphin Island celebrates 50 history changing years
  • Google map of bridge
  • Nautical chart of bridge area

30°17′32″N 88°07′48″W / 30.2921°N 88.1300°W / 30.2921; -88.1300