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I'm guessing FIU's engineering program is about to take a hit.

NDallasRuss

NDallasRuss

Veteran Seminole Insider
Dec 5, 2002
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New pedestrian bridge collapses at Florida International University, injuring several

"A new pedestrian bridge at Florida International University collapsed Thursday afternoon, injuring multiple people, according to police.

There are multiple injuries but several agencies are responding and the situation is evolving, according to Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department. The bridge connects the university campus to the city of Sweetwater, west of Miami, and crosses over a state highway."

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...d3f6c6c&wpisrc=al_news__alert-national&wpmk=1
 
“FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “We are filled with pride and satisfaction at seeing this engineering feat come to life and connect our campus to the surrounding community where thousands of our students live.”

“This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method,” said chair of FIU’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Department and director of FIU’s ABC-UTC Atorod Azizinamini, who is one of the world’s leading experts on Accelerated Bridge Construction. “Building the major element of the bridge – its main span superstructure – outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone.”

“The FIU-Sweetwater bridge will serve many purposes including being a visually distinctive gateway to our city,” said City of Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez. “This bridge is symbolic of the growth our city is experiencing and our partnership with FIU.”
 
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seminole97 said:
“FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “We are filled with pride and satisfaction at seeing this engineering feat come to life and connect our campus to the surrounding community where thousands of our students live.”

“This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method,” said chair of FIU’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Department and director of FIU’s ABC-UTC Atorod Azizinamini, who is one of the world’s leading experts on Accelerated Bridge Construction. “Building the major element of the bridge – its main span superstructure – outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone.”

“The FIU-Sweetwater bridge will serve many purposes including being a visually distinctive gateway to our city,” said City of Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez. “This bridge is symbolic of the growth our city is experiencing and our partnership with FIU.”
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Accelerated Bridge Construction?!?........maybe should at least wait for the concrete to set up.
 
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The real concern for me is why that bridge collapsed. It's built by the same group that designed and built the bridge at Cascade's Park. Is there a design flaw Tallahassee needs to be concerned with as well?
 
Figg is a very reputable bridge engineering firm, but my gut instinct says they missed something on their calcs. That span is tremendously long to be simply supported without the future cables in place. Likely either post-tensioning failed or they didn't properly account for shear at the column connection. This is the stuff that keeps structural engineers up at night.

This will likely result a changes in engineering industry.
 
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dmm5157 said:
Figg is a very reputable bridge engineering firm, but my gut instinct says they missed something on their calcs. That span is tremendously long to be simply supported without the future cables in place. Likely either post-tensioning failed or they didn't properly account for shear at the column connection. This is the stuff that keeps structural engineers up at night.

This will likely result a changes in engineering industry.
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I've never spanned a post-tension slab that far. Would scare me.
 
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dmm5157 said:
Figg is a very reputable bridge engineering firm, but my gut instinct says they missed something on their calcs. That span is tremendously long to be simply supported without the future cables in place. Likely either post-tensioning failed or they didn't properly account for shear at the column connection. This is the stuff that keeps structural engineers up at night.

This will likely result a changes in engineering industry.
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Yep. My firm does CMT work too and I wonder about the materials being bad too. Very odd to see the pictures (it looked like massive span) and design pics with the support cables and not wonder why those were not put on ASAP.
 
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noleclone2 said:
Yep. My firm does CMT work too and I wonder about the materials being bad too. Very odd to see the pictures (it looked like massive span) and design pics with the support cables and not wonder why those were not put on ASAP.
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If the materials were bad, that would've shown in testing prior to setting the span. You can bet there were a ton of cylinders taken.
 
The bridge span was only completed Saturday. They actually built the span elsewhere and then brought it to the site, closing roads for 3 days to complete the job. It was only open to limited foot traffic. I think about the same thing happening to me every time I am stuck under one of those damn bridges.
 
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AllNoles said:
That was my initial thought. But doing construction litigation for a few years showed me how many times stuff got missed because everyone thought others were doing it. Those calcs need to be tested and retested and checked and double checked.
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Betcha itll be done now.. Making a list and checking it more than twice.

Horrible tragedy.
 
kc78 said:
The real concern for me is why that bridge collapsed. It's built by the same group that designed and built the bridge at Cascade's Park. Is there a design flaw Tallahassee needs to be concerned with as well?
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Well I’m definitely not going to be going out of my way to drive on South Monroe. Not that I typically do anyways.
 
The news reported that “support cables” were loose and were being tightened when the accident occurred. Amazing they didn’t think of stopping traffic when the work was going on
 
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Fijimn said:
The news reported that “support cables” were loose and were being tightened when the accident occurred. Amazing they didn’t think of stopping traffic when the work was going on
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Whaaaa? Show them the money. Who knows insurance/negligance law? Does working on the bridge to complete installation after opening it count as something that is insurable? Insurance will look for any reason to NOT pay up no? I wouldnt think that would count as routine maintenance if it was still being installed.
 
funksouljon said:
Whaaaa? Show them the money. Who knows insurance/negligance law? Does working on the bridge to complete installation after opening it count as something that is insurable? Insurance will look for any reason to NOT pay up no? I wouldnt think that would count as routine maintenance if it was still being installed.
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Oh I have no doubt that they had some form of insurance as the site was being constructed. But I also have no doubt that the insurance coverage is NOWHERE near enough to cover 8+ fatalities and a bunch of hospitalisations. Usually it’s just coverage for a handful of people. So I’m sure FIU and/or the city is going to be on the hook for well over double or triple the amount as the insurance company. So they’re screwed...
 
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Here's an article about "Accelerated Bridge Construction" (ABS) and FIU's role as a leader in the emerging trend:

https://jalopnik.com/the-collapsed-florida-pedestrian-bridge-might-have-been-1823837398

"FIU knows this method better than most institutions, having been home to the Accelerated Bridge Construction-University Transportation Center since 2010. That center has received millions in federal funding to “provide the transportation industry with the tools needed to effectively and economically utilize the principles of ABC to enhance mobility and safety, and produce safe, environmentally friendly, long-lasting bridges,” according to the AP.

And the university itself was overseeing construction of the $14.2 million, 950-ton bridge, which was intended to be safe passage for pedestrians crossing a busy six-lane road in Miami. According to the Miami Herald, there was at least one red-flag in the run-up:

Because it has its own building department, the school was also in charge of approving plans, permits and inspections for the bridge. Although the structure spans a state highway, the Florida Department of Transportation was only tangentially involved, the agency said in statement issued Thursday.

FDOT did raise one potential red flag: Under its agreement with the state, FIU was supposed to hire a “pre-qualified” engineering firm to conduct an independent design check — meaning a firm previously approved by the state. FIU used a large international firm, Louis Berger, that was not pre-approved, according to FDOT.

The concrete bridge’s design was supposed to be visually distinctive, but with that aesthetic consideration came a cost; one engineer told the Herald that bridge was some 10 times heavier than if it was made with steel bridge, a much more common material for pedestrian bridges."

There's video of the collapse embedded in the article.
 
This is a message that I got in my email:

"Engineer on Florida bridge project called state two days before deadly collapse to report crack

The Florida Department of Transportation on Friday night released the transcript of a call from an engineer with FIGG Bridge Engineers that the agency got Tuesday. “Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that’s been observed on the north end of the span.” The message was left on a land line and not retrieved until Friday."
 
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NDallasRuss said:
This is a message that I got in my email:

"Engineer on Florida bridge project called state two days before deadly collapse to report crack

The Florida Department of Transportation on Friday night released the transcript of a call from an engineer with FIGG Bridge Engineers that the agency got Tuesday. “Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that’s been observed on the north end of the span.” The message was left on a land line and not retrieved until Friday."
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Damn.
 
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