The Skyway Bridge

Existence
 Location
 Appears In

• The Sad Skyway Bridge | Joe Winko

**The Skyway Bridge** is a large golden-cable bridge on the west coast of Florida which is part of Interstate 75. It is a major landmark for the city of Tampa but it also has a dark story behind it. It is mentioned numerous times by Joe Winko as "a huge scary bridge that a bunch of people died on when someone crashed a ship into it 30 years ago." Although more people have died from the bridge by committed suicide by jumping off the center span.

## **The Skyway Bridge Disaster**

The Skyway Bridge Disaster of 1980 is briefly mentioned a few times by Joe Winko in his videos. At first he claimed that the old Skyway bridge was destroyed when a cruise ship crashed into it killing roughly 30 people. However, later on, Joe Winko stated that it was actually a cargo ship that crashed into the old Skyway Bridge which destroyed half of the bridge. What was left of the old Skyway Bridge was later demolished in 1993 a few years after construction of the new Skyway Bridge was completed in 1987.

## **Souls of the Skyway Bridge**

Joe Winko later explained that he always got an 'eerie feeling' as he was driven over the Skyway Bridge. He also claimed that he only been over the Skyway bridge a 'handful' of times (roughly 5-6 times since he's lived in Florida.) After learning about the 1980 Skyway Bridge disaster, Joe Winko originally thought that no one died on the new Skyway Bridge because the old one had already been demolished. Sadly this wasn't true.

Later on, Joe Winko discovered a website listing hundreds of people who have committed suicide by jumping to their deaths on the Skyway Bridge. Joe Winko was shocked by this because he claimed that to him, the bridge did not seem high enough for someone to die by jumping off of it.

In a 2018 episode of Joe Winko Talk, Joe Winko did a video of himself explaining a few of the people who have jumped off the Skyway Bridge to honor their memory. Joe Winko also visited the grave of Julia Marie Tyson, a young woman who jumped off the Skyway Bridge back in March 2005.

## **What Happens to a person who jumps off the Skyway Bridge**

As explained on the Skyway Bridge website and the video Joe Winko recorded at the Skyway Bridge, the Skyway Bridge is roughly 200 - 215 feet high. When someone jumps off the Skyway Bridge, their body will fall at a velocity of 80 miles per hour and the force of them hitting the water is powerful enough to shatter bones and rupture organs. Joe Winko states that he always imagined the death of someone jumping off the Skyway Bridge as Candace's death from the 2011 super natural slasher film, *Final Destination* 5.

It is described as a horrible way to die, although there is a slight possibility that a person who jumps off the Skyway Bridge may be knocked unconscious or even survive the fall with serious injuries. A vast majority of all people who jump off the Skyway Bridge do die. In some cases it may even take days for their body to be found or it may never be found at all, as in the case of Daniil Rostvinsky.

## **The Ghost on The Skyway Bridge**

In his videos about the Skyway Bridge, Joe Winko explained that it is believed that a ghost of one of the people who jumped off the Skyway Bridge haunts it. Whiteness claim that the ghost is a young female hitchhiker who walks the Skyway Bridge. When they stop to give her a ride, she will get in the car with them, but as they approach the center span of the bridge, she suddenly disappears.

Almost everyone who had jumped off the Skyway Bridge got on the bridge by themselves by driving their cars to the center span of the bridge shortly before jumping off. The cars of the people who jumped off the Skyway Bridge are always found on the bridge after the person had jumped. However, based on the facts, Joe Winko believes that the ghost on the Skyway Bridge is 16 year old Donna Marie Klein who jumped off the Skyway Bridge in 1993.

## **Facts About The Skyway Bridge**

* The Skyway Bridge is roughly 200 - 215 feet high above the water of Tampa Bay.
* Construction of the Skyway Bridge started in year 1982 and was completed in 1987.
* The Skyway Bridge connects Pinellas County to the north and Manatee County to the south but for some reason the center span of the bridge is considered Hillsborough County.
* The Bridge is 5 miles long.
* Due to the fact that the bridge is part of Interstate 75 pedestrians are not allowed on the bridge.
* The Bridge is a toll road that cost $1.50 to go across.
* This has not yet been mentioned by Joe Winko but it's believed that there are plans for the state to demolish the bridge again to build a higher one, but this has not been confirmed.
* Much like The Waverly Hills Sanitarium, The Skyway Bridge also has it's own zip-code. The exact number of it's zip-code is not known by Joe Winko, nor the reason why it actually has it's own zip code in the first place.