Editorial: The Unspoken Messages in NTSB's Miami Bridge Collapse Report

The Engineering News-Record ^ | November 12, 2019 | ENR Editors

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING.

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

If I am not mistaken, the entire engineering team was female. Am I correct about that? That is what was reported during the follow-up to the collapse.

[Albion Wilde]

I saw an article that the design engineers responsible for the Miami collapse were all womyn. I saved the link; but it’s been scrubbed from the web. Doesn’t fit the narrative. And ain’t I a woman? But when I cross a bridge or drive under a bridge, I want it to stand.

[fuente]

You are correct...and it was not their first awful failure....the website talks about bridges as art. Seriously. Someone should be looking at the contract award....

[Balding_Eagle]

My understanding also.

[DUMBGRUNT]

NTSB said each member of the team had an “implied authority” to shut the road to all traffic or require reshoring—not spelled out in contracts but as tangible as the tons of concrete above the passing motorists. None acted on that authority.

IIRC The entire focus of this design and installation procedure was NOT TO IMPEDE TRAFFIC ON THE ROADWAY. Mid-span temporary support was vetoed because it might cause traffic flow problems.

And they need to ask why no one wanted to shut the road down?

[Hojczyk]

I am no engineer but spent a lot of time on construction projects...

Just looking at it..looked to me like it needed a beam down the middle for support..

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

If so, it was probably a larger team, then: the usual number of collaborating members for the project itself, plus 2 or 3 others going around saying, “I’m here to talk if you need to.”

[bkopto]

The second comment at the site says the bridge engineer was from China, for what that’s worth...

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I’m not sure that putting a support in the median of the road would have impeded traffic. It’s a wide road.

[KC_for_Freedom]

Safety takes over when a situation like this presents itself. In retrospect, the cost of the accident, the cost of the settlements, the cost to the company, none of these adds up to the concern over some people being late to their jobs because a road was closed.

So it gets back to ... what in h*ll were these people thinking?

Note, CSP in my tagline is for Certified Safety Professional (ret)

[KC_for_Freedom]

Safety takes over when a situation like this presents itself. In retrospect, the cost of the accident, the cost of the settlements, the cost to the company, none of these adds up to the concern over some people being late to their jobs because a road was closed.

So it gets back to ... what in h*ll were these people thinking?

Note, CSP in my tagline is for Certified Safety Professional (ret)

[Hojczyk]

I meet a beam in the poured concrete structure...

It was on huge flat span of concrete...

Like in a parking garage..

[NativeSon]

This analysis and identification of the forensic evidence is pretty good.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KtiTm2dKLgU

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

“The second comment at the site says the bridge engineer was from China, for what that’s worth...”

There are more females in China than males so that it still could be true that the engineering crew was all females. ;-)

[BenLurkin]

False.

[BenLurkin]

https://www.artba.org/foundation/hall-of-fame/full-inductee-list/w-denney-pate/

[grey_whiskers]

https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Documents/2019-HWY18MH009-BMG-abstract.pdf

[bkopto]

There are more females in China than males

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_sex_ratio

there are 1.06 men for every 1.0 women in China (total).