Miami footbridge collapse
03-15-2018, 05:00 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Miami footbridge collapse
Sadly Florida suffered another tragedy when a footbridge under construction collapsed onto cars below.
Miami FIU pedestrian bridge collapses, people trapped beneath | Miami Herald
The bridge eventually is supposed to be a suspension bridge.
Somehow, the engineers felt it could be self supporting until the suspension tower and cables were installed.
Obviously someone was wrong.
Miami FIU pedestrian bridge collapses, people trapped beneath | Miami Herald
The bridge eventually is supposed to be a suspension bridge.
Somehow, the engineers felt it could be self supporting until the suspension tower and cables were installed.
Obviously someone was wrong.
03-15-2018, 05:27 PM
#2
I trust that the engineering firm's liability insurance carrier will wake up with a large headache tomorrow.
03-15-2018, 06:24 PM
#3
Fortunately the bridge wasn't open yet, so no pedestrians were on it. But cars were crushed, people were hurt, and at least one engineer is now deservedly out of work.
03-16-2018, 04:49 AM
#4
Seems two of the contractors who built the bridge had some black marks against them. Plus it looks like a stress test was being performed or had been performed before the bridge collapsed. Steel suspension cables were being tightenend. A question is why were cars allowed to stop under that bridge before it was certified safe? Bad decision there. I saw a story this AM where a guy sitting in a car next to the girl driver escaped the bridge but she was crushed. Must have been horrifying.
Last edited by MsPerky; 03-16-2018 at 04:55 AM.
03-16-2018, 05:40 AM
#5
Horrible tragedy. There are still 8 cars trapped under it and the poor families must be devastated. Why would you select a contractor with black marks against them. Lowest bid comes to mind.
03-16-2018, 06:17 AM
#6
I heard one reporter say that the "main support" had not yet been installed. Maybe he was wrong, or maybe I heard wrong, but it looked like some temporary support was in place. The drawings of the final bridge looked different than what they showed in a video of the contractor discussing how they built it which was taken after the bridge was moved into place but prior to the collapse. I'm not sure the engineering firm that designed it has the problem here. Again, if the news reports I saw last night were correct, they were not involved in the construction.
03-16-2018, 06:52 AM
#7
Thread Starter
Typically this kind of failure is not a single cause event. It's almost always 6 or 8 related events that line up.
Example sequence:
Architect squeezes a design constraint to make it fit.
Supplier substitutes high strength component for usual materials to recognize cost savings.
Traffic jam causes concrete to sit in the truck too long but it still used.
Builder modifies assembly process to save a few weeks on the schedule.
We already know that were adjusting tension on the bridge stay cables without closing road to traffic.
Any single event is never seen or detected. Cascade them and they result in calamity.
Example sequence:
Architect squeezes a design constraint to make it fit.
Supplier substitutes high strength component for usual materials to recognize cost savings.
Traffic jam causes concrete to sit in the truck too long but it still used.
Builder modifies assembly process to save a few weeks on the schedule.
We already know that were adjusting tension on the bridge stay cables without closing road to traffic.
Any single event is never seen or detected. Cascade them and they result in calamity.
Trending Topics
03-16-2018, 07:16 AM
#8
Typically this kind of failure is not a single cause event. It's almost always 6 or 8 related events that line up.
Example sequence:
Architect squeezes a design constraint to make it fit.
Supplier substitutes high strength component for usual materials to recognize cost savings.
Traffic jam causes concrete to sit in the truck too long but it still used.
Builder modifies assembly process to save a few weeks on the schedule.
We already know that were adjusting tension on the bridge stay cables without closing road to traffic.
Any single event is never seen or detected. Cascade them and they result in calamity.
Example sequence:
Architect squeezes a design constraint to make it fit.
Supplier substitutes high strength component for usual materials to recognize cost savings.
Traffic jam causes concrete to sit in the truck too long but it still used.
Builder modifies assembly process to save a few weeks on the schedule.
We already know that were adjusting tension on the bridge stay cables without closing road to traffic.
Any single event is never seen or detected. Cascade them and they result in calamity.
35 Bridge Collapse Case at Robins Kaplan - Personal Injury
03-16-2018, 07:30 AM
#9
^ LB - were you involved in the case at all? It looks like from the articles that the firm did the work pro bono. Wow. 
03-16-2018, 07:35 AM
#10
Thanks Deb. I helped my partners in Minneapolis locate the right experts for the job. I have a good deal of experience in construction litigation, so that was my small contribution and we are talking about only a few hours of my time. I'm very proud of my partners and associates who worked thousands of hours to recover for all the injured victims and the survivors of those who perished. And yes, our firm did it pro-bono.