Howard Frankland Bridge to be demolished this month
By Lily Belcher
July 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM EDT
The oldest portion of the bridge will be torn down as express lanes on the new bridge are scheduled to open next year.
It’s been three months since the new Howard Frankland Bridge opened, and it will soon be time to say goodbye to the old one.
Demolition of the northbound/eastbound section of the Howard Frankland Bridge, built in 1960, is scheduled to begin in mid-July and take about eight months — weather permitting.
“This demo operation is going to be heavily impacted if we see another storm like we saw last year, which would affect those dates,” said David Alonso, the Florida Department of Transportation project manager.
He added that traffic will not be impacted because the portion of the bridge built in 1990 will reopen around the same time.
ALSO READ: The new Howard Frankland Bridge is now open
That portion of the bridge had been closed for renovations to bring it up to code and there are no plans to demolish it since it is not beyond its service life like the 1960 one was.
“It’s kind of a unique situation where we have the opportunity to work on a bridge that’s an existing bridge without impacting traffic,” Alonso said.
FDOT spokesperson Kayla Mejia said the oldest section of the bridge was vulnerable to wave damage and they didn't want debris to damage the new bridge during a storm. She added that the corrosion of the bridge would also have increased future maintenance costs.
Demolition will start in the middle of the bridge and work toward the end points.
“They’ll start cutting it up piece by piece and placing it on barges,” Alonso said.
All debris will be cleaned up and Alonso said the goal would be to keep any pieces of the structure from falling into Old Tampa Bay.
“We’ll verify that nothing was left behind and everything was done per specifications,” he said.
And there is still work to be finished on the new Howard Frankland Bridge.
Four express lanes and a pedestrian path will open in early 2026. The toll on the express lanes will be the same as the current gateway system, Alonso said.
Demolition of the northbound/eastbound section of the Howard Frankland Bridge, built in 1960, is scheduled to begin in mid-July and take about eight months — weather permitting.
“This demo operation is going to be heavily impacted if we see another storm like we saw last year, which would affect those dates,” said David Alonso, the Florida Department of Transportation project manager.
He added that traffic will not be impacted because the portion of the bridge built in 1990 will reopen around the same time.
ALSO READ: The new Howard Frankland Bridge is now open
That portion of the bridge had been closed for renovations to bring it up to code and there are no plans to demolish it since it is not beyond its service life like the 1960 one was.
“It’s kind of a unique situation where we have the opportunity to work on a bridge that’s an existing bridge without impacting traffic,” Alonso said.
FDOT spokesperson Kayla Mejia said the oldest section of the bridge was vulnerable to wave damage and they didn't want debris to damage the new bridge during a storm. She added that the corrosion of the bridge would also have increased future maintenance costs.
Demolition will start in the middle of the bridge and work toward the end points.
“They’ll start cutting it up piece by piece and placing it on barges,” Alonso said.
All debris will be cleaned up and Alonso said the goal would be to keep any pieces of the structure from falling into Old Tampa Bay.
“We’ll verify that nothing was left behind and everything was done per specifications,” he said.
And there is still work to be finished on the new Howard Frankland Bridge.
Four express lanes and a pedestrian path will open in early 2026. The toll on the express lanes will be the same as the current gateway system, Alonso said.