The Cass Street Bridge, 500 feet in length and built in 1926 at a cost of $400,000, was added as a river crossing to relieve some traffic on the Lafayette, later named, Kennedy Street Bridge. It connected Tampa’s main downtown with West Tampa. It is closed for 8-months for structural repairs and should reopen in October. (After state inspection it was found to be “structurally deficient.”) The railroad bridge, which is shown in the open position, sits beside the Cass Street Bridge; it was constructed in 1915. The bridge allowed railcars to travel south from Tampa’s downtown area, across the Hillsborough River, to Port Tampa. The street and bridge were named for General Lewis Cass. As interesting as a railroad bridge may be, the man who the street was named for is far more interesting if you love history. Until I took this shot I had no idea who Cass was. Born in 1782, during our struggle for independence from England, Cass served as a military officer, governor of the Michigan territory, United States Senator representing the state of Michigan, Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, and Ambassador to France. My guess is the street was named for him because of his post as secretary of war and the Indian Removal policy that was a major issue at that time. He ran for president on the Democrat party ticket in 1848, but lost the election to Zachary Taylor. From 1857 until 1860, when Abraham Lincoln won the presidency, he served as Secretary of State under President James Buchanan. He died in 1866.
The bridge, named for such an accomplished politician and statesman, has acquired a brilliant, unusual and un-statesmanlike patina. I think much of the color and decoration has been added over the years by our illustrious university and college crew teams who row up and down this stretch of the river in their skulls. I featured the Laurel Street Bridge on June 23 that showcased some of their wild and extremely colorful and creative crew art. The Laurel Street and Cass Street Bridges, and this railroad bridge, are all listed as Historic Bridges of the United States.
This bridge is called the ACL Bridge because it was built to carry the trains of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad. For bridge engineering fans out there, it is a “truss bascule” design; as we less educated should know, that refers to the large, weighted portion raised up on the right side (that looks to be a very large canvas and amazing work of modern art.) These giant weights act as a counterweight to the bridge span and continuously balance it as it is raised to allow boats to go through. (Bascule is French for seesaw and balance.) According to the bridge design sites, this is the most common type of movable bridge. The Laurel Street Bridge, just up the river from Cass Street, is also a bascule design.
If any of you are movie fans, and are real good at your trivia, the 2004 movie “The Punisher” was filmed in Tampa. It starred John Travolta, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Roy Scheider and Thomas Jane as the Punisher. Part of the car chase scenes were filmed on the Cass Street Bridge.
As construction of the new Tampa Museum of Art nears completion, it’s fitting that a modern masterpiece – the sides of the counterweights for the bridge - might be within a few yards of the blank exhibit walls of the new museum. I wonder if they have contemplated featuring them in a show. It could be quite a blockbuster. (Or at least it would certainly be talked about.)
The Laurel Street Bridge in Tampa was constructed in 1926 and is a “pony truss bascule style that pivots” from one side of the river's bank. This extremely colorful old concrete building, which houses the mechanical works, lies under and on the west side of the span. (If there are any bridge engineers out there you are welcome to chime in with a more accurate explanation of how it works.) Suffice it to say the bridge is over 80 years old and has seen everything in its day from sailing vessels hauling goods for unloading onto Tampa’s docks to today’s million dollar pleasure craft gliding under its steel span. Of course the traffic on top has been just as interesting and indicative of the vast changes we have seen in automotive design and technology since the first Model A crossed over the river. But through all the years the Laurel Street Bridge has withstood every test we could throw at it, including nature’s wrath of storms, flooding, the constant sun and deterioration caused by pollution in the air and water. The fact that it's still standing is a testament to its design, construction and constant maintenance. I realize I am not showing the entire bridge because the most fascinating parts of all of the bridges that cross the Hillsborough River in Tampa’s downtown are the works of art on the sides and foundations left behind by our friends on college and university (even a few high school) rowing teams. The art may have started to appear as early as the 1940s when the University of Tampa, which fronts the Hillsborough River, began its first crew team. The university crews began arriving back then and are here from January to March each year. Teams come to train from Princeton, Yale, Rutgers, Dartmouth and other colleges. And if you look, they have left reminders that they were here. Year after year. So it isn’t a recent rash of vandalism or overly-enthusiastic graffiti artists come to life. As you study the designs and messages, and before you dismiss these spray-painted and brushed-on tags as graffiti, just know that even the new Tampa Bay History Center (which I featured in yesterday’s post at Tampa Florida Photo) has taken more than casual notice of this artistic explosion on our river’s bridges. On its third floor is a wall-size exhibit featuring one of the bridges and the art left behind by the nation’s rowing teams. Many crew teams come to Tampa to train on our river and channels during the winter months when it is very cold up north. It must be a favorite place for the teams who use the facilities on the riverfront. (It's even hot and sunny at Christmas!) The men’s and women’s teams work very hard to perfect their technique and also find time to enjoy Tampa, Ybor City and our nearby Gulf beaches (if they can escape their coaches that long.) But, apparently one activity they will always find time for is leaving evidence that they were here. These talented kids, great athletes all, have to be fast, creative and in some case, nimble daredevils to hang and suspend from bridges and seawalls to get their design and message just right. It must be visible to every other school’s team that rows by after they leave. Whether it’s called urban art, school insignia or just plain graffiti, it is an important part of who we are as a city and some part of us should be proud that students from many of our nation’s top colleges and universities want to be remembered for having crewed in Tampa. I’m all for celebrating that achievement with them. (Plus, their artwork will always make for great photography.)
