• You must be logged in to see or use the Shoutbox. Besides, if you haven't registered, you really should. It's quick and it will make your life a little better. Trust me. So just register and make yourself at home with like-minded individuals who share either your morbid curiousity or sense of gallows humor.

Victoria

Intrepid Sojourner
Bold Member!
Breaking...

Several people died immediately when a pedestrian bridge collapsed over a roadway near Florida International university. Live video footage of the incident shows that 5 or 6 vehicles are crushed beneath.

A new pedestrian bridge scheduled to open near the campus of FIU collapsed on Thursday. Officials say there are multiple fatalities. The 174 foot bridge was scheduled to open to the public in early 2019.

Witnesses describe seeing vehicles under the collapse completely flattened and more fatalities are expected.

Multiple people have died as a result of a pedestrian bridge collapse at Florida International University in Miami, according to a spokesman with the Florida Highway Patrol.

Multiple agencies have responded to the scene.

Aerial footage from the scene showed cars crushed underneath the bridge.

The bridge was just installed Saturday. According to a fact sheet about the bridge on FIU’s website, it cost $14.2 million to build, and was funded as part of a $19.4 million grant from the US Department of Transportation.

http://ktla.com/2018/03/15/pedestrian-bridge-collapses-at-florida-international-university-in-miami/



Aside note ...

We have 54 thousand bridges in this country that are structurally unsound. I haven't been confident of what they will be replaced with if and when they get around to replacing them.

Ever look up when you drive under an overpass?
 
Last edited:
Hard to believe that there is 7 cars under the collapse as bring reported. They must be completely flattened.
 
There are some renderings of the bridge here:

https://news.fiu.edu/2016/02/fiu-se...ild-pedestrian-bridge-across-8th-street/97102

Here it is under construction:

https://news.fiu.edu/2018/03/first-of-its-kind-pedestrian-bridge-swings-into-place/120385

Apparently it was constructed with a brand new method, that clearly didn't work out too well...

The 174-foot, 950-ton section of the bridge was built adjacent to Southwest Eight Street using Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods, which are being advanced at FIU’s Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC). This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions. The main span of the FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge was installed in a few hours with limited disruption to traffic over this weekend.

“This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method,” said chair of FIU’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Department and director of FIU’s ABC-UTC Atorod Azizinamini, who is one of the world’s leading experts on Accelerated Bridge Construction. “Building the major element of the bridge – its main span superstructure – outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone.”

The FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge is the largest pedestrian bridge moved via Self-Propelled Modular Transportation in U.S. history. It is also the first in the world to be constructed entirely of self-cleaning concrete. When exposed to sunlight, the titanium dioxide in the concrete captures pollutants and turns it bright white, reducing maintenance costs.

The 174-foot, 950-ton section of the bridge was built adjacent to Southwest Eight Street using Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods, which are being advanced at FIU’s Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC). This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions. The main span of the FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge was installed in a few hours with limited disruption to traffic over this weekend.

“This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method,” said chair of FIU’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Department and director of FIU’s ABC-UTC Atorod Azizinamini, who is one of the world’s leading experts on Accelerated Bridge Construction. “Building the major element of the bridge – its main span superstructure – outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone.”

The FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge is the largest pedestrian bridge moved via Self-Propelled Modular Transportation in U.S. history. It is also the first in the world to be constructed entirely of self-cleaning concrete. When exposed to sunlight, the titanium dioxide in the concrete captures pollutants and turns it bright white, reducing maintenance costs.

156edkx.jpg

[doublepost=1521141813,1521141757][/doublepost]They got a bunch of praise for the new method and how it minimizes traffic delays.... so much for that plan.
 
We have 54 thousand bridges in this country that are structurally unsound. I haven't been confident of what they will be replaced with if and when they get around to replacing them.

Ever look up when you drive under an overpass?

We have a old viaduct in Seattle on the waterfront (three tiers of roadway stacked one over the other). I stopped driving on it after the Oakland earthquake when they showed that collapsed viaduct with cars and people flattened like pancakes.

2z54nqc.jpg

Seattle

2uqgm09.jpg

Oakland
 
Sad that the pedestrian bridge resulted from a number of student fatalities from crossing the heavily trafficked area.

So much for constructing a prefab bridge offsite so it doesn't interfere with traffic.
 
n the phony rigged bids and the lack of regulations because guaranteed wasn't anywhere next to up to spec
[doublepost=1521170360,1521170226][/doublepost]
We have a old viaduct in Seattle on the waterfront (three tiers of roadway stacked one over the other). I stopped driving on it after the Oakland earthquake when they showed that collapsed viaduct with cars and people flattened like pancakes.

Seattle


Oakland
I wouldn't get on it except on the top I think, that thing is horrendous looking and terrifying in rush traffic
[doublepost=1521174075][/doublepost]This is not the first walkway the company has built that has collapsed they are already being sued for one that collapsed in Ft Lauderdale in 2012:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...amis-instant-bridge-collapses-violations.html

  • Munilla Construction Management and Figg Bridge Group were the main contractors involved in building the instant bridge that collapsed in Miami
  • Both companies have a slew of violations against them, and each have been involved in the construction of bridges that have fallen
  • One of Figg's spans was under construction when a 90 ton slab of concrete crashed down injuring four workers
  • A temporary walkway Munilla constructed collapsed under a man's weight
  • FIU's bridge collapse killed as many as 10 people, crushing several cars below
  • The 950-ton walkway was installed last Saturday and had not yet been open to pedestrian traffic
  • FIU touted the bridge's construction as a huge success since it was installed in just six hours on Saturday

The two largest construction firms involved in building a newly-installed pedestrian bridge that collapsed, killing up to 10, have a history of serious safety breaches.

Munilla Construction Management, a South Florida firm and Figg Bridge Group, a Tallahassee firm, partnered to build the Florida International University bridge in Miami.

Both companies have been accused of shoddy work in the past, after incidents in which they were each accused of being responsible for other bridges that have collapsed.

A 90-ton portion of the South Norfolk Jordan Bridge assembled by Figg collapsed during construction in 2012. It dropped 40 feet to the ground onto railroad tracks below, according to the Virginian-Pilot. Four people were injured, and authorities called it pure luck no one was killed.

A temporary walkway bridge built by Munilla collapsed under a Transportation Security Administrator's weight in 2016, severely injuring him.
4A3B4F9700000578-5507475-View_of_the_collapsed_pedestrian_bridge_on_the_Florida_Internati-a-14_1521163608741.jpg

Miami
more at link including a video I won't watch and more pictures of damage
 
Last edited:
Wonder why it collapsed. I didnt know it wasnt even open yet. This could be a construction related freak accident, an engineering disaster from the getgo that was always doomed, or somebody doing the construction cut an important corner or somehow fucked something up. Hard to know who to blame, but i would hope someone ends up being held criminally liable.

ANd someone(good job for the do nothing media) needs to investigate how this company, with its trash history, was able to land this job. Some city official is in somebodys pocket, surely.
 
If that's an outstanding example, then the method needs retiring.

Those poor, poor people. D=
 
Ya'll. A live update just said they retrieved 2 bodies but there are still more underneath.
That didn't even occur to me.
 
Ummmm....okay.o_O:confused:



I hope not.:bigtears:
Did They Use The New Math?
[doublepost=1521312490,1521312166][/doublepost]Heard the audio in the airport this morning.


http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2018/03/firm_involved_in_fatal_florida.html


Florida International University said the two firms responsible for the “instant bridge” that collapsed, killing six people, met hours before the tragedy to “discuss a crack that appeared on the structure” but determined there were no safety concerns.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/1...g-collapse-determined-no-safety-concerns.html
 
One can only feel sickened to have their suspicions confirmed.

For the life of me I don't understand why people and traffic were allowed thru when the engineers knew that the bridge was a fucking 'Sword of Damocles' hanging above anyone who passed beneath it.
 
A crack, in a massive overhead construction, is not a safety concern?

I wonder what color the sky is on their home planet.

--Al
 
A crack doesnt necessarily spell disaster. If it wasn't at a high stress point, if it wasnt at a location that would compromise the greater integrity of the bridge, it makes sense they deemed it not a pressing safety issue. Many houses have cracks in foundations, they aren't tumbling down. We'd prob be surprised how many structures we utilize day in and day out have some form of damage like cracks, yet theyre perfectly safe and usable.

What sucks is how much that will muddy the investigation and put the engineer in the crosshair. This could have been a result of a construction error, or a flaw in the design that doomed it from the getgo, but now first and foremost everyone is going to be thinkin, "that crack though, that is what do it"
 
All of that will come out in the NTSB wash, and we will have access to some raw data and conclusions the board reached. But brand-new construction that's cracking? That raises many questions. Questions like where did the stress come from that caused the crack, were there mechanisms in place to forestall crack propagation through the structure, was the material used in construction of sufficient quality to handle the stresses induced in the structure during use and after it had weathered, and many others.

I am reminded of the Hyatt Regency skybridge collapse in Kansas City, Missouri on 17 July 1981, which was determined to have been set in motion when the building contractor sought to save money and time by altering the plans for the elevated walkways in such a manner that the safety margin was eliminated. The revised plans made no allowance for the walkways having people on them, and during a tea dance the stresses placed on the structure exceeded its limits. The resultant collapse of the skybridge, ultimately, resulted in 114 deaths.

--Al
 
@JackBurton
. Many houses have cracks in foundations, they aren't tumbling down.
This was a bridge. A brand spanking new bridge.

Pretty sure they gave it a pass and a full speed ahead stamp of approval because they didn't want to lose money. Any repairs would have been at the contractor expense.
 
Last edited:
Seeing the school bus about to go under the bridge gives pause for thanks that the bridge collapse didn't claim even a higher number of victims.

~ @Brillig ~ Thanks for posting the video. I'll say it again, I'm fucking amazed that they were allowing traffic to continue to go under an unfinished, structurally unsound and unsecured bridge.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, Brillig.

The first deformation is visible at seven seconds immediately in front of the crane on the left side of the image, for what that is worth.

--Al
 
I am touched and impressed that so many people instantly got out of their cars and ran forward to try and help when the bridge collapsed. <3
 
I am touched and impressed that so many people instantly got out of their cars and ran forward to try and help when the bridge collapsed. <3

I was also struck watching that Brillig. There is one particular moment when a man gets out of his car and is rushing forward. As he nears the collapse he places his hands on top of his head as if trying to take in what he was seeing before him.
 
Back
Top