[News] FIU bridge collapse

[Isgrimnur]

Miami Herald

A pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed Thursday, just days after crews had dropped an elevated 950-ton span in place in a project that was intended to give Florida International University students a safe route across the busy roadway.

The bridge gave way suddenly while the traffic light for motorists on Tamiami Trail was red, so that the concrete span fell on top of a row of stopped vehicles.

A woman stopped at the light who was heading westbound said the structure fell without warning. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said it was immediately clear to her that several people were dead.
...
The collapse was clearly a major failure of a project not expected to be completed until early 2019. There was no immediate explanation for what might have triggered the collapse, which occurred shortly before 2 p.m.
...
Touted as an “instant bridge,” the 950-ton pedestrian walkway was installed in a single morning at Southwest 109th Avenue on Saturday, intended eventually to link Florida International University’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus directly to the small suburban city of Sweetwater, where the university estimates 4,000 of its students live.
...
There were as yet no stairs or ramps to the bridge, which was not open. Opening was scheduled for early next year.

[Octavious]

I saw some pictures of that. Anyone in a car under that had no chance of surviving. You can see at least one car that is totally pancaked. Horrible. Someone really screwed the pooch in either designing or setting that thing up.

[gameoverman]

That reduced to a minimum the time the trail had to be closed to traffic, and minimized risks to workers and people in the vicinity, FIU said.

I'm not sure I'd consider bridge building one of those tasks where getting it done fast should be the priority.

[pr0ner]

I saw some pictures of that. Anyone in a car under that had no chance of surviving. You can see at least one car that is totally pancaked. Horrible. Someone really screwed the pooch in either designing or setting that thing up.

Also:

[Octavious]

Stop the world I want off.

[Skinypupy]

WTF does that have to do with...anything?

[pr0ner]

I'd see it as more evidence of the shadiness of that construction company, but I understand why you would say "WTF".

[Isgrimnur]

USA Today

Authorities say a 950-ton pedestrian bridge that collapsed onto a six-lane highway killing at least six people had undergone a "stress test" hours before and the cables were being tightened when it pancaked onto traffic below.

After hours of searching for possible survivors amid tons of rubble, Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said Friday that the operation "has turned from a rescue to a recovery operation.”

At least six people were killed in the accident Thursday afternoon. Four were found dead at the scene, and at least nine others were injured and taken to a hospital.
...
Renderings showed a tall, off-center tower with supporting cables attached to the walkway. When the bridge fell, the main tower had not yet been put in place, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.

The project was a collaboration between MCM Construction, a Miami-based contractor, and FIGG Bridge Design, based in Tallahassee. FIGG is responsible for the iconic Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay.

[Paingod]

USA Today

it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.

The incident isn't funny, but the level of failure here made me think back to Dogma, when Jay is driving and he's asked what gear he's in while going 90 down the highway. His response "Gear?" ... I can so see him saying "Supports?" ... given the spontaneous collapse without warning, I'm going to wager supports were not in place.

I hope lots of someones pay a hefty and painful penalty that ensures they never build again.

[Sepiche]

I've only seen a few good aerial shots that show the whole bridge, but from the way the wreckage is situated to one side, it seems like it failed on that one side first.

In the shot below you can also see the support pillar on the side with all the wreckage looks to have snapped off at the base... I'm wondering if that was the point of failure as I can't thing of how it could have snapped so cleanly like that after it started to collapse.

Amateur guess, but I wonder if it snapped there, the roof structure pancaked down onto the walkway, and then the bridge portion just dropped. It's that or the bridge portion itself on that side just fell and pulled everything else down on top of it. Something definitely happened on that left side though.

[Scuzz]

Probably failure of a concrete truss during testing. They were testing the bridge when it collapsed.

[Paingod]

Probably failure of a concrete truss during testing. They were testing the bridge when it collapsed.

Never run tests on a production server. Never do a fire drill during open heart surgery. Never test a bridge's strength with people below it.

[gameoverman]

It's amazing to me that anyone would think allowing people to drive under a bridge is a good idea if that bridge isn't finished yet. Routine maintenance such as painting it, sure, do that without closing off traffic. But any kind of testing, any kind of construction of additional support...that's the kind of stuff that implies a partial or total collapse is possible unless something is done. You wouldn't be doing that sort of thing, such as tightening cables, unless there is a problem. If there's a problem then you need to keep the public a safe distance away.

Or you could just do a rush job and not bother with safety protocols. What could go wrong?