Posted on 10/22/2019 5:15:21 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The board determined a year ago that FIGG engineers overestimated how much stress the bridge could endure, the paper reported. Only two days before the brand-new structure went down, an engineer left a voicemail with officials and warned that some cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span.
n the voicemail, FIGG’s lead engineer on the project, Denney Pate, acknowledged that the cracking would need repairs, “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.”
Walsh also noted that the construction was at “high risk” due to the bridge’s complex design — but that the university was overseeing the project and the state Transportation Department was not required to have an inspector present.
“Our recommendations address this issue, that FDOT should have more authority on this type of project,” he added, according to the report.
The $14.2 million structure, which would have been 289 feet long and 109 feet tall at completion, was being constructed under the university’s “accelerated bridge construction” methods.
Under those methods, larger pieces are constructed away from traffic, instead of having several smaller pieces placed together above a busy road,
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Assigned to the lowest bidder or to a “diverse” engineering/architecture company?
(Hispanic) Woman-led designed team that may have prioritized looks over structural strength.
Cannot put lipstick on a pig.
(orca winfrey reference),
Add that it was also a post tension cable structure.
The board determined a year ago that FIGG engineers overestimated how much stress the bridge could endure, the paper reported.
These would seem to be rather gross errors for professional engineers to commit. Isn't calculating stress loading a basic engineering function. Freepers who have an engineering background please comment.
Affirmative Action bridge
Which is why it disappeared from the news so fast.
That was the first thing I noticed when I saw the photos of the aftermath.
I'm genuinely surprised that the bridge had design flaws, since the design phase is usually subject to far more scrutiny than the actual construction.
Load, Capacity Calculation Errors, Inadequate Peer Review Led to Pedestrian Bridge Collapse
10/22/2019
WASHINGTON (Oct. 22, 2019) — The National Transportation Safety Board determined, during a public board meeting held Tuesday, that load and capacity calculation errors made by FIGG Bridge Engineers, Inc., are the probable cause of the fatal, March 15, 2018, Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse in Miami.
Contributing to the collapse was Louis Berger’s inadequate peer review, which failed to detect FIGG’s calculation errors in its design of the main span truss member 11/12 nodal region and connection to the bridge deck. The FIGG engineer of record’s failure to identify the significance of structural cracking observed in this node before the collapse, and failure to obtain an independent peer review of the remedial plan to address the cracking, further contributed to the collapse.
Six people died and 10 others were injured when the partially constructed FIU pedestrian bridge catastrophically failed, sending the 174-foot-long, 950-ton, bridge span onto SW 8th Street 18.5 feet below, crushing eight vehicles that were under the bridge. Six of the eight lanes of the roadway traveling under the bridge were open at the time of the collapse.
The failure of FIGG, MCM, Bolton Perez and Associates Consulting Engineers, FIU and the Florida Department of Transportation to cease bridge work and close SW 8th Street to protect public safety contributed to the severity of the collapse outcome, said the NTSB during the meeting.
“Errors in bridge design, inadequate peer review and poor engineering judgment led to the collapse of this bridge,” said NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt. “The failure of all concerned parties, to recognize and take action on the threat to public safety presented by the significant observed bridge structure distress prior to the collapse, led to the tragic loss of life in this preventable accident.”
Through its investigation the NTSB made 30 findings including:
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More:
https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20191022.aspx
See also:
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HWY18MH009-investigative-update2.pdf
Then it collapsed and killed a bunch of people (9?) because they load tested it while allowing traffic to move underneath. But, then the live traffic was still underneath just not so alive when it collapsed?
- But, weirdly enough, all SJW references were removed/scrubbed almost immediately......?
“engineered by a team of all women?”
Yup. And it was all over the news until the collapse.
“engineered by a team of all women?”
No. See posts 5 and 14
IIRC, the towers and cables were for looks only, not support.
(Hispanic) Woman-led designed team that may have prioritized looks over structural strength.
...
I see that, as usual, very few FReepers will read the article.
Plaintiffs’ exhibit #1.
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