MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - A bankruptcy judge Wednesday approved a deal allowing $42 million in insurance proceeds to settle claims brought by the victims of the Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse, FIU said.
The company that built the bridge, Magnum Construction Management, went bankrupt after the collapse. Because of that, the settlement had to be approved through federal bankruptcy court.
'During the court hearing, FIU confirmed that it would give up its right to pursue claims against a $5 million professional liability policy that is part of the settlement plan,' the university said in a statement.
On March 15, 2018, a recently installed pedestrian bridge spanning Southwest Eight Street collapse onto moving traffic below, killing six people and injuring eight others. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Under the settlement, the victims' families agreed to end their legal cases against FIU, the university said.
'FIU made this decision out of respect for the victims of the bridge collapse and their families,' the university said. 'We believe this is the right course of action, because it will allow the victims and their families to maximize their recovery and expedite the process of getting compensation to them.'
Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
Getty The scene of the FIU bridge collapse.
Alexa Duran, an FIU freshman studying political science and Navaro Brown, a bridge worker, are the first two victims named in the collapse of a pedestrian bridge near Florida International University. The bridge collapsed on March 15, 2018 crushing vehicles beneath it in a horrific tragedy that unfolded in Miami.
What is known about the victims?
At least six people were killed, authorities said, including Alexa Duran and Navaro Brown. The other victims were not yet named as of the evening of March 16. Nine people were rescued. Five of those who died were still buried in the rubble, CNN said. Authorities released the information in a March 16 morning news conference, but said they were not yet releasing names.
The FIU student, Alexa Duran, was crushed in the driver’s seat of her vehicle when the bridge collapsed. A friend in the passenger side survived.
Here’s what is know about the victims:
Alexa Duran
FacebookAlexa Duran
Alexa’s father confirmed the devastating news to el Nuevo Herald on Friday, March 16. “My little girl was trapped in the car and couldn’t get out. She died when the bridge collapsed on top of her car,” Orlando Duran said. He was on his way home from London and added, “This is going to be the longest and saddest trip of my life. I don’t want to return.”
Lynnet Gomez and Manny Perez told the Miami Herald that Duran, a freshman FIU student studying political science, was driving her Toyota SUV under the bridge at the time of the collapse.
Richie Humble, who was in the car with Duran, was riding on the passenger’s side. He was able to get out of the vehicle, but he couldn’t get Duran out. He is in neck and leg braces.
“We were parked at a red light and I started to hear the bridge creak, so I look up and I saw the bridge falling on top of us. It fell on the roof of the car and…kind of caved in on my neck and squished me down. But I didn’t really know what was going on at all,” Humble told Today.
Navaro Brown
Navaro Brown, 37, died Thursday, Michael Biesiada, a spokesman for Structural Technologies VSL, told The Miami Herald. His cousin, who lives in Jamaica, wrote on Facebook that Brown was “a hard working humble youth…”
Overall Details
“We have located up to four victims – four deceased,” Miami Dade Fire Chief Dave Downey said in an evening news conference. According to the Miami Herald, one local hospital had “received 10 trauma patients ranging in age from 20 to 50 years old. Two were seriously injured and eight were in stable condition with injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones.”
The FIU bridge collapsing… I’m still in shock pic.twitter.com/ZNqO2z5ch6
— Megan (@meganmfernandez) March 15, 2018
“This is a homicide investigation,” authorities said on March 16 in a news conference. They said of possible criminal charges: “We’re not there yet… we just want to find out what occurred; what caused this collapse to occur.” Authorities said they were trying to provide comfort to the victims’ family members. They said that the could only tell their family members that they think certain victims are under the bridge, but they can’t 100 percent confirm their identities yet, which was why they had not released names.
Downey said firefighters were “trying to bring closure to this incident. We will remain on scene until we remove every victim.” Firefighters used auditory, visual and canine help, and they determined “there were no longer any survivors.”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the day before that authorities responded to find “eight trapped vehicles under the bridge.” They had transported eight victims to the hospital immediately after responding to the scene. However, they weren’t sure if there were more victims inside the debris. Florida International University’s campus is located nearby. It’s not yet clear whether any of the victims are connected to FIU, however. A reunification center was set up at FIU, authorities said.
“The cables that suspend the #Miami bridge had loosened & the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed today,” Sen. Marco Rubio said on Twitter.
Police have confirmed “multiple deaths,” although they have not yet released an exact number.
“We could only see eight [vehicles] from the exterior of the bridge,” Miami-Dade Fire Chief Dave Downey said. “We are creating holes just so that we can physically see [if there are others].” Authorities said that there might be victims still alive in the pile.
“The focus of the fire department is rescuing people,” authorities said, but they expect that the homicide unit will be investigating.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department personnel and other rescue units work at the scene where a pedestrian bridge collapsed a few days after it was built over southwest 8th street allowing people to bypass the busy street to reach Florida International University on March 15, 2018 in Miami, Florida.
Authorities have not yet released the victims’ names pending identification and notification of next of kin. However, some details are known about the number of victims and where they were when the bridge collapsed. Technical rescue technicians were on the scene, and full cranes were at the scene.
Photo taken about 90 minutes before today's deadly pedestrian bridge collapse shows workers on the bridge's top deck. https://t.co/al1PSRR8V7pic.twitter.com/OV04QudKPM
— ABC News (@ABC) March 16, 2018
Authorities called the first responders heroes, and said the first call came in from a mechanic whose voice cracked as he told officials the bridge had just collapsed. A Miami-Dade police officer, who owns a business directly across the bridge, was the first responder. His wife told officials he worked on a victim for 15 minutes to keep the person alive.
Fiu Bridge Collapse Update
Authorities said in a news conference that “live search dogs” were working “the pile” and they were in “full search and rescue mode.” Just before 2 p.m., the calls came in of the bridge collapse. As units arrived, they observed several vehicles that were involved as a result of the collapse, and they shifted to a search and rescue effort. They asked the public to avoid the area while they searched for victims.
'God bless everyone involved.'
Startling video captured the aftermath of a pedestrian bridge collapse that has left multiple people dead at @FIU in Florida. https://t.co/MiQYWDiEl3pic.twitter.com/5kt8mkPhJ2
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 15, 2018
“We have multiple victims,” they said in a press conference shortly after the tragedy unfolded. “The final number has not been determined yet.” Authorities said their thoughts and prayers went out to the victims of the tragedy.
On March 10, 2018, FIU had posted a now eerie post on Twitter about the bridge. “First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge ‘swings’ into place. ‘FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,’ -President Mark B. Rosenberg,” the tweet said, showing a photo of the bridge under construction.
First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge “swings” into place. “FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” -President Mark B. Rosenberg. https://t.co/x8gPM9A4DG#worldsaheadpic.twitter.com/mPEMeh2zmw
— FIU (@FIU) March 10, 2018
According to NBC News, “the planned walkway connected the FIU campus to the town of Sweetwater.” It was scheduled to open next year and was supposed to be strong enough to withstand even a hurricane, NBC reported. “We are shocked and saddened about the tragic events unfolding at the FIU-Sweetwater pedestrian bridge,” the university said in a statement. “At this time we are still involved in rescue efforts and gathering information.”
This post will be updated with information on each victim as more information becomes known.
Ntsb Fiu Bridge
Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part VIII
Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part VIII
A continuation of our discussion of this failure. Best to read the other threads first to avoid rehashing things already discussed.
Part I
thread815-436595: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part I
Part II
thread815-436699: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part II
Part III
thread815-436802: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part III
Part IV
thread815-436924: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part IV
Part V
thread815-437029: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part V
Part VI
thread815-438451: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part VI
Part VII
thread815-438966: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part VII
Check out Eng-Tips Forum's Policies here:
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
Part I
thread815-436595: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part I
Part II
thread815-436699: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part II
Part III
thread815-436802: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part III
Part IV
thread815-436924: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part IV
Part V
thread815-437029: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part V
Part VI
thread815-438451: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part VI
Part VII
thread815-438966: Miami Pedestrian Bridge, Part VII
Check out Eng-Tips Forum's Policies here:
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
National Transportation Safety Board members inspecting the collapsed pedestrian bridge on March 16 | |
Date | March 15, 2018 |
---|---|
Time | 1:47 p.m. EDT |
Location | University Park and Sweetwater, Florida, U.S. |
Type | Bridge collapse |
Deaths | 6 |
Non-fatal injuries | 8 |
On March 15, 2018, a 175-foot-long (53 m), recently-made section of the FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCitypedestrian bridge collapsed onto the Tamiami Trail (U.S. Route 41), resulting in six deaths, eight injuries, and eight vehicles being crushed underneath.[1][2]
The initial construction on the pedestrian bridge was located in front of the campus of FIU in University Park, a suburb west of Miami, Florida, United States, and was in the process of post-tension rod adjustment when it suddenly failed.[3] The road beneath it had been opened to traffic.
An examination carried out by the Federal Highway Administration discovered faults in the design of the bridge, which overestimated the strength of the bridge in the region which failed, and underestimated the load it would be expected to carry.[4]
- 4Collapse
Background[edit]
The FIU Sweetwater UniversityCity pedestrian Bridge, located just west of the intersection of Tamiami Trail (Southwest 8th Street) and Southwest 109th Avenue,[5] was planned to connect the FIU campus to student housing neighborhoods in Sweetwater.[6] It was intended to improve pedestrian safety, as the busy crosswalks at this wide, busy intersection had been identified as a safety hazard and the site of fatal collisions.[7] The $14.2 million project was funded with a $19.4 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the United States Department of Transportation in 2013, along with state agencies.[8] The bridge itself cost $9 million to construct.[9]
The main companies behind the construction project are Munilla Construction Management (MCM), a Miami-based construction management firm, and FIGG Bridge Engineers, a Tallahassee-based firm.[10] Unlike most bridges in Florida, the design for this project was overseen by the university itself, not the Florida Department of Transportation.
Florida International University is known for its expertise in accelerated bridge construction, and has attracted international scholars as PhD students. It is home to the federally-funded Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center, which sponsors industry conferences and seminars.[11][12]
Bridge layout[edit]
Elevation Engineering Drawing of Proposed FIU Sweetwater Pedestrian Bridge
The full 320-foot-long (98 m) pedestrian bridge was to cross both a major roadway and a parallel water canal with two separate spans connected at a faux cable-stay tower. The main roadway-crossing span was 175 ft long, the shorter canal span was to be 99 ft long. An elevator and stairs at the south end added 31 ft, and at the north end, 15 feet, for a total bridge length of 320 feet.[13] At the bridge site, the Tamiami Trail roadway has seven lanes of traffic plus one turn lane.[2] The main span was rolled into place and set on support columns on March 10, five days before the collapse. The canal span, access ramps, and faux cable-stay tower had not yet been built. Pedestrian use was to begin when the whole project was complete. The school was on spring break at the time of collapse.[3] The section of the bridge that collapsed weighed 950 short tons (860 metric tons) and fell onto several vehicles on the roadway below.
Bridge construction and design[edit]
Construction of the bridge began in March 2016 and was scheduled to be completed in December 2018.[9][14] The bridge's main span was assembled adjacent to the highway using accelerated bridge construction (ABC), a technique promoted at the university.[3] It was lifted into place on the morning of March 10, five days before the collapse, during a weekend closure of the highway.[15][16]
FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 25°45′40″N80°22′22″W / 25.7612°N 80.3728°WCoordinates: 25°45′40″N80°22′22″W / 25.7612°N 80.3728°W |
Carries | Pedestrian traffic |
Crosses | Tamiami Trail |
Locale | University Park and Sweetwater, Florida, U.S. |
Characteristics | |
Total length | 320 feet (98 m) |
Longest span | 175 feet (53 m) |
History | |
Engineering design by | FIGG Bridge Engineers |
Constructed by | Munilla Construction Management |
Construction cost | $14.2 million |
Collapsed | March 15, 2018 |
Location in Florida University Park (the United States) |
The new pedestrian bridge was designed to connect the campus to student housing in a dramatic sculptural way, and also to showcase the school's leadership in the ABC method of rapid bridge construction.[17][18]
The bridge was a post-tensioned concrete structure.[17] Concrete structures are generally 10 times heavier than equivalent steel designs.[19] The bridge was made using a new formulation for concrete intended to stay cleaner than standard concrete formulations.[20] In the main bridge span, the concrete floor deck, roof, and diagonal struts each contained post-tensioning cables whose compressive effect on the concrete could be adjusted after the concrete was cured.[17] Adjustments were expected each time the span was moved onto a different foundation with different support points.
The full bridge project was styled to look like a cable-stayed bridge, with a pylon tower and high cables for dramatic effect. But functionally and structurally it was actually a truss bridge, with the spans being fully self-supporting.[17][21][22] The bridge spans used a novel concrete truss design invented for this project, a 're-invented I-beam concept'. Concrete truss bridges are rarely constructed, and few exist.[23] The vertical web of the beam was a series of triangulated concrete diagonal struts along the centerline, and the diagonal angles of the struts varied across the bridge so they would align with pipes from the center pylon, in the eventual faux cable-stayed appearance.[24]
A specification change from FDOT late in the planning phase required relocating both piers of the main span 11 feet (3 meters) north to allow for a future light rail right-of-way near the canal, causing some changes in construction.[25]
The concrete walkway deck was to act as the horizontal bottom flange of a wide I-beam, and the concrete roof canopy was to function as the horizontal top flange of the I-beam.[17] The walkway was thus nearer to ground level than in a standard design where the walkway is placed on top of the structural support system.[17] This reduced the number of steps to climb. The deck carries the entire weight of the bridge span, as a tension load.
![Today Today](/uploads/1/2/3/7/123726014/970897759.jpg)
The canopy carries the structure's main compressive loads. The diagonal struts carry either compression or tension forces, depending on their angle and position. The struts contain post-tensioning rods that connect the flanges, and are adjusted as needed.[26] VSL was the company contracted for the post tensioning of the new bridge. Post-tensioning of a diagonal member may be one of the reasons for the structural failure of the FIU bridge. Concrete is much more prone to crack than steel in trusses.[27] Certain cracks could compromise the cable/rod anchorings, making failure inevitable when the post-tensioning operation began.[28]
The bridge was meant to last more than 100 years, and to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, according to a statement by the university.[29]
Collapse[edit]
Schematic of the bridge. Green: collapsed parts, Blue: not installed at the time of the collapse. The diagonal beam that was undergoing post-tension cable/rod adjustment at the time of the collapse is highlighted in red.
Reports of cracking[edit]
Two days before the collapse, on March 13, the third day after lifting of the main span, the project's lead engineer discovered cracks at the north end of the span (the end that later broke). He reported this by voicemail to a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) employee. He thought this was not an immediate safety issue, merely something that would need to be repaired later.[30] The FDOT recipient was away for several days and did not hear this message until the day after the collapse.[31][32]
At 9 a.m. on March 15, a university employee heard a loud 'whip cracking' sound while under the bridge span, waiting for a red traffic light.[33] At the same time, the design-build team met for about two hours at the construction site to discuss the cracks discovered on March 13. Representatives from both FIU and the FDOT were present. The FIGG lead engineer's conclusions were that the structural integrity of the bridge was not compromised and that there were no safety concerns raised by the presence of the crack.[34] FIGG also insisted that no crack repairs should be carried out until the stabilizing of the node and pylon diaphragm with post-tensioning was completed.[35]
The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos A. Giménez, said that workers conducted a stress test on the morning of March 15.[36]
Collapse[edit]
At 1:47 p.m. on March 15, the north end of the installed bridge span sagged deeply as the first diagonal fractured, folded, and immediately dropped the heavy full span onto the roadway below. A surveillance video shows the collapse sequence took only a few video frames.[37]
United States Senator and FIU adjunct professor Marco Rubiotweeted that engineers were tightening loosened cables on March 15:[36] Workers were adding more tension to the steel rod (tendon) inside a concrete diagonal strut at the north end.[31] The National Transportation Safety Board, who are investigating the collapse, stated that crews were applying 'post-tensioning force' on the bridge before the collapse.[38]
The tensioning rod that was being tightened at the time of the collapse, with a hydraulic tensioning machine (blue) still attached to its end, extends from the canopy in the upper left of this image.
As the post-tensioning operation by the VSL company was being carried out on bridge diagonal member support #11, the bottom joint (which contains the anchor nut for the post-tensioning rod) apparently failed explosively, causing the bridge to collapse. Currently, it remains unknown why the joint may have failed, although post-tensioning remains a likely contributor.[39]
The span that collapsed weighed 950 short tons (861 tonnes).[40]
Deaths[edit]
The event killed six people: one construction worker and five people sitting in cars at a stoplight below.[41]
At the time of the collapse, the roadway was open and multiple cars were stopped at a traffic light under the span.[42][43] A driver who survived the collapse reported that small rocks fell onto her car just before the front of her car was crushed.[44] A worker saved himself when he heard cracking and locked his safety harness just before the collapse.[45] Eight cars were crushed.[46] Six people were killed and eight others were injured.[1][47][46] Five of the victims were killed immediately when the bridge fell; one died at the hospital. An employee of VSL, Navaro Brown, 37, worked for the company contracted to apply post-tensioning and died in the collapse. Two other employees of the company were hospitalized. The other deceased victims of the tragedy were Alberto Arias, 53, Brandon Brownfield, 39, FIU student Alexa Duran, 18, Rolando Fraga, 60, and Oswaldo Gonzalez, 57.[48][49][50]
Subsequent events[edit]
Southwest 8th Street between Southwest 107th and 117th Avenues was closed until March 24 while the debris was cleared.[51]
A team of 15 people from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began their investigation on the morning of March 16.[52] On March 19, 2018 the first civil lawsuit was filed against Figg Bridge Engineers, MCM, Bolton Perez & Associates, the project's consulting engineer, Louis Berger, and Network Engineering Services for reckless negligence.[53]
Inquiry[edit]
Members of the NTSB's Go Team for the investigation boarding an FAA plane to travel to Miami.
![Engtips Engtips](/uploads/1/2/3/7/123726014/105804558.jpg)
On March 15, 2018 the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched a Go-team to investigate the bridge collapse. The accident number assigned is HWY18MH009.[54] On March 16, 2018 the NTSB Investigators held their first press conference to discuss the inquiry into the bridge collapse. Noteworthy points from the meeting included a statement that the inquiry was in the very early stages, that cracks in the bridge superstructure did not necessarily make the bridge unsafe, that on-site investigations would take about a week, that preserving perishable evidence was crucial, and that bridge workers were applying a 'post-tensioning force' on the bridge before the failure.[55] Also on March 16, 2018 the FDOT released a letter to the public with information about the bridge collapse:
According to standard procedures, FDOT issued a permit at the request of FIU's design build team to close SW 8th Street during the installation of the FIU pedestrian bridge on Saturday, March 10. While FDOT has issued, following a request from the FIU design build team, a blanket permit allowing for two-lane closures effective from January through April, at no time, from installation until the collapse of the bridge, did FDOT receive a request to close the entire road. The department was also not made aware by the FIU design build team of any scheduled 'stress testing' of the bridge following installation and has no knowledge or confirmation from FIU's design build team of 'stress testing' occurring since installation. Per standard safety procedure, FDOT would issue a permit for partial or full road closure if deemed necessary and requested by the FIU design build team or FIU contracted construction inspector for structural testing.
Additional, in the interest of full transparency, FDOT is today releasing the transcript of a voicemail left on a landline on Tuesday, March 13, by W. Denney Pate, FIGG's lead engineer responsible for the FIU pedestrian bridge project. The transcription is below .. :
'Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. 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 pylon end of that span we moved this weekend. Um, so, uh, we've taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and something's going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that. At any rate, I wanted to chat with you about that because I suspect at some point that's gonna get to your desk. So, uh, at any rate, call me back when you can. Thank you. Bye.'
This voicemail was left on a landline and not heard by an FDOT employee until Friday, March 16 as the employee was out of the office on assignment.
On Wednesday, March 14, Alfredo Reyna, the Assistant LAP Coordinator and an FDOT consultant, received a phone call from Rafeal Urdaneta, a Bolton Perez & Associates employee, notifying him of a midday meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 15 with W. Denney Pate and other members of the FIU design build team that are responsible for the project. FDOT is routinely included in meetings during LAP project construction. Reyna attended the meeting which occurred shortly before the bridge failure and collapse and was not notified of any life-safety issues, need for additional road closures or requests for any other assistance from FDOT.
The responsibility to identify and address life-safety issues and properly communicate them is the sole responsibility of the FIU design build team. At no point during any of the communications above did FIGG or any member of the FIU design build team ever communicate a life-safety issue. Again, FIGG and the FIU design build team never alerted FDOT of any life-safety issue regarding the FIU pedestrian bridge prior to collapse. (bold in original)
The tragic failure and collapse of the pedestrian bridge at FIU is the subject of an active and ongoing investigation led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as well as local and state law enforcement investigations. As FDOT assists in these investigations, we will continue our internal review and release all pertinent information as quickly as possible while ensuring its accuracy.[56]
On March 21, 2018 the NTSB sent out a press release detailing the items from the collapse that required further examination at the Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center, in McLean, Virginia. They also confirmed workers were adjusting rod tension when the collapse occurred.[57]
On May 23, 2018 the NTSB released a preliminary report titled 'Highway: Collapse of Pedestrian Bridge Under Construction Miami, Florida (HWY18MH009)' which summarized the accident. They said they are evaluating the emergence of cracks in the region of diagonal members 2 (south end of the bridge) and 11 (north end of bridge), and the propagation of cracks in the region of diagonal member 11. Pictures of the cracks from February 24 (before the walkway had been moved into place) were also given.[2]
Consulting engineers, Bolton-Perez and Associates, had taken several pictures of severe cracks in diagonal member 11 and adjacent to vertical member 12 which had appeared when the bridge was moved into place on March 10.[46][58]
The Turner-Fairbanks Highway Research Center, at the request of the NTSB, tested samples of steel and concrete from the collapsed bridge, and found that they met the project requirements. The NTSB similarly asked the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to examine the design of the bridge. The FHWA examination discovered that the bridge designers had overestimated the strength of one section of the bridge - at the point where the diagonal member 11 and vertical member 12 met the bridge deck - and underestimated the load that that same section would carry.[4]
In June 2019, OSHA released its final report on the FIU bridge collapse [59] and concluded FIGG bridge engineers failed to recognize collapse was imminent when they inspected the bridge hours earlier. They also concluded the bridge had structural design deficiencies, severe cracks were wrongly ignored by the Engineer of Record and warranted street closure, and contract bridge design experts violated basic FDOT construction requirements.
Legal action[edit]
On March 21, 2018 U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asked the department's inspector general to probe whether a federally funded UniversityCity pedestrian bridge complied with all rules.[60] A subsequent internal memorandum from the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, dated March 22, 2018 expressed concerns the project complied with Federal specifications, and that the objective of an audit will be to assess whether the Florida International University pedestrian bridge met Federal and DOT requirements for the TIGER application, approval, and grant agreement processes[61]
On March 28, 2018 the Miami Herald reported they were denied access to FIU documents related to the bridge construction, citing federal regulations that prevent release of non-public information related to the bridge construction and design project when an NTSB investigation is in progress. A lawyer for Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press indicated more information should be released under the Florida Sunshine Law, due to intense public interest in the collapse.[62] On May 2, 2018, the Miami Herald filed a lawsuit against FDOT in Florida's Leon County Circuit Court to compel the FDOT to release emails, meeting minutes and other records relating to the bridge's design and construction.[63] On May 3, 2018, a lawyer for the NTSB wrote a letter to Judge Cooper of the 2nd Judicial Circuit of Florida in Tallahassee, FL urging the court to deny a ruling that would favor the Miami Herald plaintiff, for the release of any bridge information generated after a February 19, 2018 cutoff date.[64]
On May 7, 2018 the Miami Herald reported they had received a copy of a memo with photographs from FIU dated February 28, 2018 that had been sent to the Munilla Construction Management company, the bridge project's builder. The memo, which has since been rescinded back from Public view, purportedly urged the bridge engineer to respond to their concerns about significant cracks in the concrete joint at connection between the No. 11 truss and the bridge deck.[65]
On June 4, 2018 Judge Cooper declined to dismiss the Miami Herald case (which had requested more public information) and asked that the NTSB first be given the option of joining the lawsuit either as an amicus (friend of the court) or as a defendant.[66]
On June 15, 2018 U.S. Attorney Christopher P. Canova sent a letter to Judge Cooper to request that any rulings in the pending case be delayed until the federal government is able to determine if it should file a statement of interest.[67]
Sep 14, 2014 - Like Demon Souls and DS1, but i never had this kind of problem. He can see 7-10 Summon Signs and me just 1 or 2? Jetzt wollte mein Kollege mit mir spielen und haben beide neuen Char gemacht, wir haben beide den. Dark souls 2 coop spielen.
On June 27, 2018 the Travelers Indemnity Company and The Phoenix Insurance Company submitted an 18-page complaint for declaratory relief in U.S. District Court for Florida Southern District, Miami Division. The lawsuit filing seeks to avoid financial liability to the claimants and included the following statement: 'There is no coverage under Travelers' and Phoenix's policies issued to Figg for any damages caused by the joint venture and/or partnership between Figg and MCM, as such joint venture and/or partnership was never disclosed to Travelers and Phoenix and does not qualify as an insured under either of the Policies issued to Figg.'[68]
On July 26, 2018 the case before Circuit Judge John Cooper was still waiting for Canova's office to file a notice about participating. The case was reassigned to Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll from Judge Cooper.[69]
On July 30, 2018 the NTSB filed a statement of intent supporting the state's motion to dismiss the case. On the following day, Judge Carroll asked all parties to prepare for a ruling later in the week, as he weighed Federal and State law arguments.[70]
On August 21, 2018 Leon County Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll ruled the FDOT 'shall produce to The Herald the requested records, but that production shall be limited to records from February 20th to March 15th (prior to the collapse)'.[71] However, two days later and just as the FDOT was about to release documents, the Florida State ruling was temporarily blocked by U.S. District Court Judge William Stafford on a request from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida (on behalf of the NTSB, who is seeking to move the case to a Federal Court).[72] On October 5, Federal Judge Stafford made a final ruling to block the requested documents.[73]
The following is from a September 18, 2018 OSHA News Release - Region 4: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Friday, September 14, cited multiple contractors for safety violations after one employee suffered fatal injuries and five other employees sustained serious injuries when a pedestrian bridge at the Florida International University campus in Miami collapsed. The five companies collectively received seven violations, totaling $86,658 in proposed penalties. OSHA cited Figg Bridge Engineers Inc., a civil and structural engineering company; Network Engineering Services Inc. (doing business as Bolton Perez & Assoc.), a construction engineering and inspection firm; Structural Technologies LLC (doing business as Structural Technologies/VSL), specializing in post-tensioning in bridges and buildings; Munilla Construction Management LLC, a bridge and building construction company; and The Structural Group of South Florida Inc., a contractor specializing in concrete formwork.[74]
A total of 18 civil lawsuits were filed against 25 businesses connected to the failed FIU bridge project. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey is overseeing the on-going case.[75]
On March 1, 2019 Munilla Construction Management, the main Miami-based contractor behind the pedestrian bridge construction, announced a restructuring and recapitalization of the Company through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition plan of reorganization. [76] The company reached a settlement deal with the victims and their families on May 2, 2019 that would pay up to $42 million.[77]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abShapiro, Emily; Doom, Justin (March 16, 2018). 'Bridge collapse death toll likely to rise as investigators sift through rubble'. ABC News. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
- ^ abc'Preliminary Report- Highway: Collapse of Pedestrian Bridge Under Construction Miami, Florida (HWY18MH009)'. NTSB. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
- ^ abcViglucci, Andres; Madan, Monique O.; Hanks, Douglas; Chang, Daniel (March 15, 2018). 'At least 4 dead in catastrophic FIU pedestrian bridge collapse; 9 rescued from rubble'. Miami Herald. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
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External links[edit]
- NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt briefs media on the Miami, FL bridge collapse investigation, March 16, 2018, NTSB
- Computer animation showing the assembly of the FIU pedestrian bridge, MCM - Munilla Construction Management
- Rendering of FIU Pedestrian Bridge, MCM - Munilla Construction Management
- Time-lapse of the FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge construction, Florida International University
- An initial rendering of the bridge. Actual location is an opposite side of Southwest 109th Avenue, Florida International University
- Accelerated Bridge Construction, University Transportation Center, Florida International University
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Florida_International_University_pedestrian_bridge_collapse&oldid=902944152'
I don't have my code books any more, when I was doing this it was 20 years ago and in a different profession. My bridge is still standing, but it was a lot less risky than that one.LRFD puts a 1.2-1.6 multiplier on loads (and at time less than 1 for cases where you're relying on it for balance), and resistances are in the .8-.9 range.
I never did a whole lot with the Factor of Safety era codes, but they were generally in the same range once you multiply out all the factors. (As you'd expect, the newer codes tended to hit about the same design point, with some deviations.)
There are two main things to keep in mind here:
* A factor of safety is for normal variability in loads and normal variability in material/connection strengths. It doesn't cover you for blunders.
* The loads that are calculated are the extreme loads on the system, not the normal loads. 1.4 DL + 1.6 LL + 1.2 WL is often the design envelope, and that's.. a lot. Add a huge factor of safety on that and you're into physically impossible cases. Like, people are being crushed to death if you get more than 300psf of human load over a significant area, but the typical Live Load is in the range of 100psf. (Now books on a reference library moving shelf system? That's 300psf)
From what I've seen of this bridge, there was no live load at the time, so it's unlikely that it was overloaded as designed. If I was doing failure analysis, I'd be looking at a combination of factors, and the ones I'd start with are the shop drawings vs. the engineer's plans and the quality of the concrete materials, placement, and curing.