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Miami Herald: FIU pedestrian bridge collapses, people trapped underneath(Update: Final Report on the accident released)
- Thread starter Hecht
- Start date
they probably were told a small scale span like this wouldn't need it. could be a reason, and this was the fault of it's construction/materials used and now how it was put together.
I think on large scale bridges the towers are built first, cables a ran across the span and the deck is finally built from one side to the other.
That center pillar is what is already there and seemingly failed just supporting half of the design.
wasn't anywhere near the final product. looks like that middle pillar(lower) wasn't even installed yet.
Just heard on CNN there's at least one confirmed death, but likely more might follow.
What a senseless mess.
What a senseless mess.
Friends daughter captured video from her dorm, you just hear this car horn going and you know....that's someone pinned up against it. Depressingly frightening.
that is possible and there's also giving jobs to the lowest bidder no matter what. That's a dangerous proposition as well.
Yeah, if you look at the first picture in this article it looks like the left support wasn't sized to support the load of the span without the suspension structure so it snapped. Without those cables there is a massive amount of torque (moment) on that support due to the weight of the bridge.
Holy shit, I go to FIU and was just by there this morning before it fell...
Trying to get in contact with a friend of mine, she drives through there every day around the time that it fell, I hope she's okay.
My heart goes out to everyone affected by this.
Edit: She's okay, thank goodness.
Trying to get in contact with a friend of mine, she drives through there every day around the time that it fell, I hope she's okay.
My heart goes out to everyone affected by this.
Edit: She's okay, thank goodness.
Last edited:
It's definitely not fair to say "they shouldn't have done x or y" without knowing the specifics. Generally with this type of disaster the crucial mistake is buried in the details.
There are other time lapse videos as well - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvZVuN-CHnE
But yeah. No support mast or cables.
Yeah, the steel member (now horizontal in collapsed state but should be vertical ordinarily) looks like it just popped out of the main pier as though the connection wasn't designed for any rotational stiffness.
I work as a Structural Engineer and something like this happening is always a worry in the back of the mind. Horrifying stuff this.
I was literally driving by there today before this happened. Thankfully all my friends at FIU are safe, but how terribly sad. I've been out of touch with the school and what's going on since graduating, and had no idea why they're building that bridge there anyway. I know there are the apartments by there but people used to cross the street all the time. Poor choice to put this up without it being completed 100% on such a busy intersection.
I'm not a structural engineer, but even with what I do know that bridge looked way too flimsy.
They should have had some temporary support until they installed the suspension. Even if it hadn't collapsed without it, the strain could have caused enough damage to shorten the lifespan.
If the president made a decision somewhere along the way that would clearly/directly lead to the bridge being unsafe, then of course he should be held responsible. Not for saying that the bridge contributed to student safety. That's the whole reason it was built, and if he was reasonably assured that it was constructed properly, it's a fine thing for him to say.
Plenty of heads are going to roll once the investigation has been completed, but this isn't reason for anything.
There's tweets saying there was a stress test at time of collapse... I don't believe that they would try a stress test with pedestrians/cars underneath. If they did, then got another problem with whoever is making the bridge.
that might have been the next step, maybe even as early as this weekend.
it's really sad to see people lose their lives over the need to have work done fast enough as to not disrupt traffic for a long period of time. dumb risk, close the road for a longer period and make it safe.
Man this is awful.
reminds me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse
114 died with 216 due to structural issues. They actually they teach about this shit in most engineering classes as a case of someone making decision to change the design. Which MIGHT be the case it wasnt the engineers fault and it may the contractors fault. This is going to be a HUGE issue.
Especially when running construction projects if the contractors didnt follow design OR the may have possibly not been alerted to certain design changes etc.
It really either could be any phase of when they designed it, to when they got materials or if contractors didnt follow design, made shortcuts with materials etc.
This is so fucked up and its extremely sad people still dont learn from that tragedy I mentioned above. It was the worst accident in the US until 9/11 happened but I dont think many people know about it.
I work in this industry, but from a technical perspective and I wholly wonder if they had some system in place to track who did what because if not. Man all parties maybe fucked and for good measure for how this was constructed.
reminds me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse
114 died with 216 due to structural issues. They actually they teach about this shit in most engineering classes as a case of someone making decision to change the design. Which MIGHT be the case it wasnt the engineers fault and it may the contractors fault. This is going to be a HUGE issue.
Especially when running construction projects if the contractors didnt follow design OR the may have possibly not been alerted to certain design changes etc.
It really either could be any phase of when they designed it, to when they got materials or if contractors didnt follow design, made shortcuts with materials etc.
This is so fucked up and its extremely sad people still dont learn from that tragedy I mentioned above. It was the worst accident in the US until 9/11 happened but I dont think many people know about it.
I work in this industry, but from a technical perspective and I wholly wonder if they had some system in place to track who did what because if not. Man all parties maybe fucked and for good measure for how this was constructed.
If anything there may have been gauges on the structure to measure movement/strain but to be actively undergoing a stress test would be very unusual with traffic below. The deck of a cable stayed bridge is not designed to carry load in the temporary case without intermediate support.
Wow, holy shit. I went to FIU and I drove across that exact area millions of times while growing up in Miami. Absolutely tragic and terrifying.
Holy shit...
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/974349290524037120/photo/1
Looks like one side just snapped and collapsed causing bridge to fall.
Small world MCM is tied to Paul Manafort.
https://www.bisnow.com/south-florid...m-miami-munilla-construction-management-78613
https://www.bisnow.com/south-florid...m-miami-munilla-construction-management-78613
Goddamn what a horror story that was.
"One victim's right leg was trapped under an I-beam and had to be amputated by a surgeon, a task which was completed with a chainsaw."
yeah Paul got his start with manafort construction in fucking CT. smh. Im sorry everyone for manafort. so pretty crazy hes connected here.
- It was designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
- Its durability was supposed to exceed 100 years.
- It's the first bridge in the world to be constructed entirely of self-cleaning concrete: It's made of titanium dioxide which, when exposed to sunlight, captures pollutant particles from the air and cleans its own concrete surfaces.
- It was installed in just a few hours just five days ago, although its construction wasn't finished.
I'm glad that my family and friends are safe but I still feel sick for the victims of this. Driving around Miami there are constantly projects going on around the roadways and I hope that the State govt is going to exert more oversight in their safety now.
Yeah this was the worst structure collapse until 9-11 happened. Its is the premier case study in engineering, construction management.
Wow.
A photo of Manafort, Jiehe, and Jorge and Fernando Munilla, along with other dealmakers, was posted on the website of Brad Zackson, a real estate player who reportedly brought the men together. Zackson was a protégé of Fred Trump, Donald's father, who had once been in charge of renting out The Trump Organization's properties in Queens. Zackson was arrested in 1981 for allegedly attempting to shoot a club bouncer. He took a plea deal and served almost five years in prison. Zackson went on to found his own brokerage and investment firm, called Dynamic Group.
WOW... Paul Manafort and a protege of Fred Trump!
Better shot of that pillar. Looks like pillar is rooted well. Something else gave up.
https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/974354306232209409
Awful!
That shot would make me think the support for the overhead/covering of the bridge (not the walkway part) broke/collapsed and took the rest with it (but that's just a guess...could be anything). Just looks like a weak point.
Wonder what the plan was for this. It's easy to say/see that it doesn't have the proper supports in place. But surely they wouldn't have left it like this if they didn't think it could support itself in that condition. Hope there are answers to be had and something to be learned from this.
Welcome to the end of your business (and possibly a few others).
Don't see how there weren't any fatalities seeing those cars flattened in some of those pictures. It would be a miracle.
The proposal video shows up as a suggestion, it's just weird to watch in hindsight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y_71L35CvM