MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Florida International University’s (FIU) massive new pedestrian bridge collapsed Thursday afternoon killing several people.The 950-ton bridge, located at 109th Ave and 8th Street, collapsed on a number of cars. Florida Highway Patrol confirms several people are dead due to the collapse. They also said several cars have been crushed. At least one person was taken as a trauma alert to the hospital, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. — miami.cbslocal.com
The collapsed bridge had recently been erected this past Saturday and was constructed "using an innovative approach to bridge construction", which was meant to alleviate traffic and reduce risk. The recent positioning of the bridge was the largest pedestrian bridge move by Self-Propelled Modular Transportation in U.S. history.
FIU issued a statement to about the deadly incident saying, “We are shocked and saddened about the tragic events unfolding at the FIU-Sweetwater pedestrian bridge. At this time we are still involved in the rescue efforts and gathering information. We are working closely with authorities and first responders on the scene. We will share updates as we have them.”
1 Comment
the ntsb report on this deplorable accident came out this week. essentially it's a basic flaw by the design engineers who miscalculated loads.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1070226
the peer reviewer was not qualified to review this scale of project and failed to check the calculations, though other independent found the oversight obvious and glaring. the site engineer observed the cracks of the failing structure and without further inspection declared them no problem. he then instructed the construction team to tighten up the tensioning to close the cracks, which directly caused the collapse.
it's worth searching for more details because the entire concept of this bridge was utterly stupid: a fake cable stayed span supported by an irregular concrete truss, contorted to line up with the nonstructural cables!
also worth noting the engineers at fault designed many major bridges across america. hope someone is going to go back and check those...
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