| Hernando DeSoto Bridge | |
| Coordinates: | 27.5035°N -82.5631°W |
| Carries: | 4 lanes of |
| Crosses: | Manatee River |
| Locale: | Palmetto and Bradenton, Florida |
| Official Name: | Hernando DeSoto Bridge |
| Other Name: | DeSoto Bridge |
| Named For: | Hernando de Soto |
| Owner: | FDOT |
| Maint: | FDOT |
| Id: | 130053 |
| Design: | Girder |
| Material: | Concrete, steel |
| Length: | 2334.40NaN0 |
| Width: | 620NaN0 |
| Mainspan: | 1050NaN0 |
| Number Spans: | 33 |
| Load: | 651NaN1 |
| Clearance Below: | 400NaN0 |
| Lanes: | 4 |
| Traffic: | 66,500 (2018)[1] |
| Toll: | None |
The Hernando Desoto Bridge is a bridge carrying U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) and US 301 over the Manatee River between Palmetto and Bradenton, Florida. The Desoto Bridge is 40feet tall and carries four lanes. It is one of two bridges connecting Bradenton and Palmetto.[2] The other is the Green Bridge located approximately NaNmile downstream.
The Desoto Bridge was built in 1957 in an effort to realign US 41 and US 301 through Bradenton and Palmetto. Prior to 1957, those routes crossed the Manatee River a short distance downstream on the original Green Bridge (part of which has become a fishing pier after the Green Bridge was replaced in 1986).[3] [4]
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is evaluating several options on replacing the bridge to increase its traffic capacity.[5] More than one-third of vehicles crossing the bridge is pass-through traffic, drivers who do not have the cities of Bradenton or Palmetto as a point of origin or destination.