Update: 6-10 reported killed. At least 6 injured in Florida International University bridge collap

[Victoria33]

There was no middle tower support for this long concrete bridge...no wonder it collapsed.

@mystery-ak
@txradioguy
@Suppressed

What is wild is, Documentary Producer/Director son is in this country right now with a film crew making a documentary about US engineering failures - yes, really.  I expect to get a call or email that he is taking the crew to Florida.   

[Bigun]

Was this pedestrian bridge project being done by the university or the Florida Department of Transportation?

[AllThatJazzZ]

The silliest posts were those claiming this was evidence of the infrastructure crisis.  This was new construction!

Those nuts aren't going to let anything like facts get in the way of their idiotic rants. Even if they did know the facts, they don't possess the faculties to do any deductive reasoning. Their TDS/CDS* prevents them from doing so.

*Trump/Conservative Derangement Syndrome

[RoosGirl]

Since the bridge wasn't fully constructed I would be hesitant to say it was engineering design that caused the failure. 

[RoosGirl]

Was this pedestrian bridge project being done by the university or the Florida Department of Transportation?

The article read that it was a University project through a private engineering firm, FIGG Engineering I believe was the name.  I'm betting that the road that it was to cross is a FDOT maintained road and if that is the case then FDOT would have reviewed the plans and design.

[AllThatJazzZ]

What is wild is, Documentary Producer/Director son is in this country right now with a film crew making a documentary about US engineering failures - yes, really.  I expect to get a call or email that he is taking the crew to Florida.

@Victoria33

Good grief! What are the odds?

[mystery-ak]

The rendering shows a middle support.

Fox News said it wasn't in place

[Bigun]

The article read that it was a University project through a private engineering firm, FIGG Engineering I believe was the name.  I'm betting that the road that it was to cross is a FDOT maintained road and if that is the case then FDOT would have reviewed the plans and design.

Except for the fact that since it was a University involved they can't!  At least not in Texas!

If you decide to build yourself a new single  family home here that project will be inspected by people qualified to do those inspections at every phase starting with the plans on paper right through completion.  If your local university decides to build a brand new dorm that will house hundreds of your children down the street NOTHING will be inspected by anyone qualified to do so ever!

I know because I have 22.5 years of personal experience at dealing with exactly this type of thing.

[Suppressed]

The article read that it was a University project through a private engineering firm, FIGG Engineering I believe was the name.  I'm betting that the road that it was to cross is a FDOT maintained road and if that is the case then FDOT would have reviewed the plans and design.

It was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Design was by Figg Bridge Design.  It was reportedly an "innovative" accelerated bridge construction design:

FIU, which has an “accelerated bridge construction” program in its engineering school, promoted the project’s innovative approach. A 175-foot section of the overall 320-foot long bridge was fabricated by the side of the Trail while support columns were erected in place. The 950-ton span was lifted off the ground by a mechanical transporter, swung into position across the Trail, then lowered into place over the support columns. That reduced to a minimum the time the trail had to be closed to traffic, and minimized risks to workers and people in the vicinity, FIU said.

They reportedly had problems in the past, in Virginia:

The FIU project isn't the first major bridge built by Figg to collapse in recent years. A Figg-assembled span in Virginia fell apart in June 2012 while under construction. Workers were installing a 90-ton concrete portion of the South Norfolk Jordan Bridge when it dropped 40 feet onto railroad tracks below, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

Four workers suffered minor injuries, but state regulators later said it was pure luck that no one was killed.

"They were fortunate that the injuries were not more serious," Jay Withrow, director of the legal support division for the Department of Labor and Industry, told the Virginian-Pilot.

Figg was fined $28,000 by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, which found the company had violated several safety rules. It had failed to gain written consent from a manufacturer before modifying a girder used in construction. The company was also cited for not doing daily, weekly, and monthly inspections of the girder; not providing adequate training for using the equipment; and not having certain safety procedures in place for its maintenance and repair, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

Munilla Construction Management (MCM) are/were the builders....and they were reportedly sued two weeks ago over a collapse of a makeshift bridge at the Fort Lauderdale airport.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/fiu-bridge-collapse-construction-firms-accused-of-unsafe-practices-10176596

Munilla was accused in Miami-Dade Civil Court March 5 of severely injuring a TSA employee at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport because of shoddy work. According to the lawsuit, Munilla — which has a major contract to expand the airport — built a "makeshift bridge" through an area where airport workers must walk to reach restrooms.

Jose Perez, a TSA worker, was walking on the bridge October 20, 2016, when it "broke under [his] weight" and sent him falling to the ground.

"They built this makeshift bridge in the area where all the employees work, and it was poorly done. He fell and hurt himself really badly," says Tesha Allison, a lawyer representing Perez. "He had multiple broken bones and damage to his spine... They did shoddy work."

Earlier stories listed a quality control firm, but I don't see it in the Miami Herald story.  I think FIU administration reported testing had occurred in the morning, prior to the collapse.

[RoosGirl]

Except for the fact that since it was a University involved they can't!  At least not in Texas!

If you decide to build yourself a new single  family home here that project will be inspected by people qualified to do those inspections at every phase starting with the plans on paper right through completion.  If your local university decides to build a brand new dorm that will house hundreds of your children down the street NOTHING will be inspected by anyone qualified to do so ever!

I know because I have 22.5 years of personal experience at dealing with exactly this of of thing.

I suspect that's correct only if the project is wholly on University property.

[Victoria33]

@Victoria33
Good grief! What are the odds?

@AllThatJazzZ

Son lives in London and has had his film crew in the states since last Saturday.  He filmed a bridge collapse in northeastern US a day or two ago (that collapse happened years ago) and sent me a picture of that one.  I haven't had communication with him since this Florida one happened.  He is supposed to be in Dallas next Tuesday and we will see him then (unless he changes his plans and goes to Florida).

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Several reportedly killed

Another example of competency problems in our society. People building this had state licenses for contracting, for engineering etc. The city/jurisdiction has inspectors.

Yet this happens? This shit happens in Zimbabwe and Russia, not in the USA.

Here's the article on its installation.  https://news.fiu.edu/2018/03/first-of-its-kind-pedestrian-bridge-swings-into-place/120385

Note this tidbit.  Seems it was endorsed by the Feds.

“This bridge is the result of great support from our congressional delegation and the U.S. Department of Transportation,” said FIU Senior Vice President and CFO Kenneth Jessell.

[Bigun]

I suspect that's correct only if the project is wholly on University property.

Perhaps that's true but I will assure you that state agencies do quite a bit of tap dancing to avoid each other's toes. IF you get my drift.

[RoosGirl]

Perhaps that's true but I will assure you that state agencies do quite a bit of tap dancing to avoid each other's toes. IF you get my drift.

Yes, that is true, but my experience has been that the agencies still do the same thorough reviews that they would with any other project.

[Bigun]

Yes, that is true, but my experience has been that the agencies still do the same thorough reviews that they would with any other project.

I worked on MANY projects over the years at my state university and am still waiting to see the first inspection of anything done on any of them by someone qualified to do that inspection.

The eletrical foreman and I happened to be in a brand new building early one morning discussing this kind of thing.  During the course of that conversation he motioned for me to follow him out a side door of the building and I did.  Three feet outside that door was a ditch with the two inch water main to the building in it and strapped to that PVC pipe was the building ground.   We looked at each other, shook our heads, and walked away knowing that it was useless to mention it ot anyone. Just noted it as one more thing to be corrected with monies out of our local maintence budget once the building was accepted.

I can tell you stories like that all day and all night.

[RoosGirl]

To add, it doesn't matter if the agencies do the most thorough review in the world.  They have no liability if there is something wrong with the design.  The responsibility rests completely on the shoulders of the engineer that signed and sealed the plans and calcs.

My guess, and that's all anyone can do at this point, is that this bridge collapse isn't a problem with the design per se, but either a problem with the engineer not clearly giving instruction for installation and/or the contractor not following those instructions.

[Bigun]

To add, it doesn't matter if the agencies do the most thorough review in the world.  They have no liability if there is something wrong with the design.  The responsibility rests completely on the shoulders of the engineer that signed and sealed the plans and calcs.

My guess, and that's all anyone can do at this point, is that this bridge collapse isn't a problem with the design per se, but either a problem with the engineer not clearly giving instruction for installation and/or the contractor not following those instructions.

Or corners were cut on rebar, concrete, and any number of other things or both.

[RoosGirl]

I worked on MANY projects over the years at my state university and am still waiting to see the first inspection of anything done on any of them by someone qualified to do that inspection.

The eletrical foreman and I happened to be in a brand new building early one morning discussing this kind of thing.  During the course of that conversation he motioned for me to follow him out a side door of the building and I did.  Three feet outside that door was a ditch with the two inch water main to the building in it and strapped to that PVC pipe was the building ground.   We looked at each other, shook our heads, and walked away knowing that it was useless to mention it ot anyone. Just noted it as one more thing to be corrected with monies out of our local maintence budget once the building was accepted.

I can tell you stories like that all day and all night.

I'm talking about review of the plans and design prior to construction.  You're talking about inspection during construction.  I can only tell you that the two projects I worked on for University of Central Florida and the one school I worked on for Orange County Public Schools, that the (civil) engineer of record was required to make periodic site observation (we are not allowed to call it inspection) for correct installation.

[RoosGirl]

Or corners were cut on rebar, concrete, and any number of other things or both.

Yeah, it could be those things too.  But I'm going by Myst's info that the center support was not installed.  I've read through several articles and can't find that information, but that is what I was basing my guess on; the center support not being installed.

[Bigun]

I'm talking about review of the plans and design prior to construction.  You're talking about inspection during construction.  I can only tell you that the two projects I worked on for University of Central Florida and the one school I worked on for Orange County Public Schools, that the (civil) engineer of record was required to make periodic site observation (we are not allowed to call it inspection) for correct installation.

Yeah!  I've witnessed any number of those visits, back slapping sessions, or whatever one wishes to call them.

[RoosGirl]

Yeah!  I've witnessed any number of those visits, back slapping sessions, or whatever one wishes to call them.

Sorry to hear that Texas allows that kind of nonsense.

[Bigun]

Yeah, it could be those things too.  But I'm going by Myst's info that the center support was not installed.  I've read through several articles and can't find that information, but that is what I was basing my guess on; the center support not being installed.

I don't know what happened. Probably a combination of some are all of what's been mentioned and more.  I'm basically just taking this opportunity to vent about the reason I no longer have hair!

[Frank Cannon]

Are school kids going to play hookie from school to protest for the outlawing of bridges? They kill people don'tcha know.

[thackney]

Can anyone explain why they didn't do this work with the road closed instead of during a workday with flowing traffic? Idiots.

The span was put in place with the road closed last weekend.

Complete construction is more than a year.  The road cannot be closed that long.

[mountaineer]

Are school kids going to play hookie from school to protest for the outlawing of bridges? They kill people don'tcha know.

At the very least, raise the minimum age to walk on it.