Travis Pastrana looks to be coming to the Keys for another one of his amazing stunts. A lot of his feats are posted on the Nitro Circus Youtube with 1.5 million followers. Does he get hurt? Oh yeah. One time his spine dislocated from his pelvis, which is most often fatal. And really just sounds painful. So what’s he doing coming to the Keys? According to Keysweekly, Travis Pastrana wants to jump “over the open span of the Boot Key Harbor Bridge in a heavily customized car while a helicopter hovers in the gap below.” Sounds fun.
So far, the city council is on board. The drawbridge hasn’t been used in years, since around 2008, and the bridge is pinned in the “up” position and closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. One problem that seems to be holding up the stunt is insurance. What if something goes wrong and part of the bridge collapses into the water, blocking boat access. There is a LOT of boating in the area that would be disrupted if a bridge collapse blocked access to the harbor. When the city reached out, their insurance company declined to even give them a dollar number. In an assessment, Travis’s team found that the stunt was unlikely to cause any damage to the bridge: “The dead load of the bridge itself, in comparison to the car, it’s peanuts,” he said. “We’re putting on 3,000 pounds, so you’re talking 1% of the load. If that bridge is standing there now, us adding 1% isn’t going to make or break this thing.”
Here’s an aerial view of the Boot Key Harbor Area. You can see the span in the upper left.
There’s still some tests, permitting, and insurance that needs to get done. The production company has offered a $30,000 donation to be used for youth programs. The hope is to do the stunt as soon as next month.
Keysweekly has the full story
