Foot Bridge Collapse Being Blamed on Design Flaws in Miami, Florida
MIAMI, FL- Usatoday.com writes that the footbridge that came down killing six people in Miami in March of 2018 was poorly designed. The pedestrian bridge was meant to connect the Florida International University to the nearby city of Sweetwater. The bridge was still being built when the structure collapsed onto the roadway below where it crushed eight vehicles, killing six and injuring ten other people.*
The cause of the collapse has been the subject of an investigation that is still underway. Reports indicate that the calculation errors made by the engineers who designed the bridge were not caught by a peer review. The company that designed the structure made serious and ultimately fatal mistakes by severely underestimating the demands that would be placed on the bridge. Additionally, the company carrying out work on the bridge ignored the significance of cracks that began to form in the structure prior to the collapse. A report created by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration came out last June and stated that at least one worker had informed the engineers of the cracking issue before the deadly incident took place.
The finished bridge would have been a complicated structure spanning 289 feet from one end to the other and rising to 109 feet in the air.
The Florida International University was overseeing the bridge construction, which was being carried out with a method called “accelerated bridge construction.” This method is supported by the university. FIU’s president had commented on the project just days before the accident, saying that the university is “about building bridges and student safety.” It does not appear that the method used was the reason for the bridge coming down.
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Source:https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/22/design-error-blamed-florida-international-university-pedestrian-bridge-collapse/2449316001/