Dauphin Island Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Dauphin Island Bridge, formally the Gordon Persons Bridge, carries a 3 miles (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 forty-sixth governor of Alabama.
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 feet (122 m) span on a precast concrete segmental bridge.
On January 7, 2008, Lam Luong tossed four children, including three of his own, to their deaths off of the bridge. In March 2009, a jury in Mobile County convicted him of capital murder for the act. He was sentenced to death on April 30, 2009.
Alabama State Route 193
State Route 193 or SR-193 is a long route that serves as the primary travel route into Dauphin Island through southern Mobile County. South of its intersection with Laurendine Road, SR-193 is known as Dauphin Island Parkway, with the northern half of Dauphin Island Parkway routed along State...
from mainland Mobile County, Alabama
Mobile County, Alabama
Mobile County[p] is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of a tribe of Indians, the Maubila tribe . As of 2011, its population was 415,704. Its county seat is Mobile, Alabama...
across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway located along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is a navigable inland waterway running approximately 1700 kilometers from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas.The waterway provides a channel with a controlling...
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
Mississippi Sound
The Mississippi Sound is a sound along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It runs east-west along the southern coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, from Waveland, Mississippi, to the Dauphin Island Bridge, a distance of about 145 kilometers...
on the west from Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...
on the east. It was named in honor of Seth Gordon Persons
Gordon Persons
Seth Gordon Persons was an American Democratic politician who was the 43rd Governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955. He was born and died in Montgomery, Alabama. The Dauphin Island Bridge south of Mobile is formally named for him.Persons was an alumnus of Auburn University.-External links:*...
, the forty-sixth governor of Alabama.
History
The original bridge opened on July 2, 1955. It was destroyed by Hurricane FredericHurricane Frederic
Hurricane Frederic was the sixth tropical cyclone, third hurricane and second major hurricane of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season. Frederic was the costliest hurricane to ever hit the U.S. Gulf Coast at that particular time...
in 1979 and was replaced by a fixed precast concrete
Precast concrete
By producing precast concrete in a controlled environment , the precast concrete is afforded the opportunity to properly cure and be closely monitored by plant employees. Utilizing a Precast Concrete system offers many potential advantages over site casting of concrete...
segmental bridge
Segmental bridge
As its name implies, a segmental bridge is a bridge built in short sections , i.e., one piece at a time, as opposed to traditional methods that build a bridge in very large sections...
in 1982. The central main span was the first use of a 400 feet (122 m) span on a precast concrete segmental bridge.
On January 7, 2008, Lam Luong tossed four children, including three of his own, to their deaths off of the bridge. In March 2009, a jury in Mobile County convicted him of capital murder for the act. He was sentenced to death on April 30, 2009.