Oops.
Posted on 03/15/2018 1:49:43 PM PDT by grundle
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Florida International University’s (FIU) massive new pedestrian bridge collapsed, killing at least one person and crushing several vehicles under it.
The 950-ton bridge, located at 109th Ave and 8th Street, came crumbling down onto a number of cars.
Florida Highway Patrol told CBS4 that several people are dead due to the collapse.
Miami Dade Police Chief Juan Perez said 8 people have been taken to the hospital and eight vehicles are stuck under the bridge and the number of dead is undetermined.
An official told CBS4’s Jim DeFede, “At this point, we can’t even tell how many cars are under there. We won’t have a count on bodies for a while. It’s bad. It’s really bad.”
The cars were reportedly stopped at a red light when the pedestrian bridge collapsed.
“There were no warning signs. It looks like it just came down,” the official told DeFede.
Senator Nelson says the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is “launching and leading an investigation into the bridge collapse.”
Witness Aura Martinez who spoke with CBS4 said, “It was such a scary feeling because I saw [the collapse] and I didn’t know what to do,” she told CBS4. “It just literally killed people and so we ran out there and tried to help people we saw. One girl, her car, it was literally a miracle of God because her car was just squished at the back. … It was very traumatizing.”
Martinez is a sophomore who was trying to find her friend who was one of the victims in the car when the bridge collapsed.
FIU issued a statement to about the deadly incident, saying,
“We are shocked and saddened about the tragic events unfolding at the FIU-Sweetwater pedestrian bridge. At this time we are still involved in the rescue efforts and gathering information. We are working closely with authorities and first responders on the scene. We will share updates as we have them.”
Florida Governor Rick Scott will be at FIU this evening to get briefed by law enforcement and school officials. He says he’s spoken with Miami-Dade Police Chief Juan Perez and will stay in contact with law enforcement through the day.
A family reunification center has been set up at FIU’s campus in the SASC building, Room 100.
As for traffic in the area, 8th Street is shutdown in both directions. Traffic is being re-routed through 117th Ave and 7th Street.
The company that built the bridge, MCM, also issued a statement saying: “Our family’s thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life. MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way.”
FIGG Bridge Group also helped put together the bridge and issued a statement saying: “We are stunned by today’s tragic collapse of a pedestrian bridge that was under construction over Southwest Eighth Street in Miami. Our deepest sympathies are with all those affected by this accident. We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why. In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved.”
The bridge went up on Saturday . It was then lowered into its final position, just west of 109th Avenue that day. The main span was built next to Southwest 8th Street.
The bridge was meant to be part of a larger transportation initiative to create a safer path for students and local residents. It was constructed using an innovative approach to bridge construction – a technique meant to reduce potential risks to workers, commuters, and pedestrians and prevented traffic tie-ups in the area.
The positioning of the bridge Saturday was the largest pedestrian bridge move via Self-Propelled Modular Transportation, in U.S. history.
Funding for the $14.2 million bridge, connecting plazas and walkways is part of a $19.4 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Other funding agencies include the Federal Highway Administration, Florida Department of Transportation Local Agency Program, FIU and the City of Sweetwater.
Construction for the bridge began in the spring of 2017 and was expected to be completed in early 2019.
London Bridge fell down. Now a brand new bridge falls down and kills people. I think a really big investigation of the builder of the bridge is next, to determine if he cut corners and pocketed the money.
Willing to bet it was built by illegal alien labor
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Who knows but it’s true their work is not so good.
We always here about their “hard work” but it’s usually crappy.
Notice how the politicians, i.e. Scumbag Sniveler Scott, immediately huddle with other politicians, the mayor & police chief, rather than talking to people who might actually know what’s going on and what possible points of failure are being investigated. You know, people that speak in a language politicians will never understand, or at least, not since Herbert Hoover since he was actually an engineer.
I guarantee there is already somebody on that site that knows exactly where it went wrong and probably tried to point it out. It happened on 9/11 when FBI reports of Muslim students at pilot training centers were ignored and again when some tried to report the shooter at Parkland High School long before the incident only to get the cold shoulder from agencies tasked with responding.
Wow. I’m not trying to sound callous, but it appears the bar for what qualifies as a national tragedy has recently been reset lower than the limbo pole at a Caribbean street festival.
Must've been designed by a guy like the Richard Chamberlain character whose faulty electrical contracting led to The Towering Inferno.
Shoddy design isn’t likely to be the problem here. There are usually many eyes on the design process, especially in the design of a bridge structure.
Were any Muslims seen nearby?
I know I'll sleep better tonight now that I've been made aware that their approach was innovative.
That’s what I suspect.
Oops.
Check the original thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3639940/posts
Some lunatic decided to put the walkway up before the support towers were constructed. There were no cables supporting the span, just a concrete span over an active highway.
.. and very probably more that aren’t visible from photos so far.
Not to mention that the scene looks very unstable - like moving the downed debris is gonna cause big shifting problems with what’s still up in the air.
A horrible mess that’ll doubtless be traced to a massive fustercluck somewhere in the process . . .
Uh oh. Put another incident in the engineering historical studies of how not to design things.
-Takoma Narrows
-Comet
-KC hotel Hanging balconies
-FIU ped bridge
President of the university had pronounced at the bridge’s dedication last weekend that his school was all about “student safety and building bridges in the community” - typical high-aspiration/low-attainment BS coming off of our university campuses these days.....
Yes. It looks like there was no support in the middle only the sides. They just set the bridge section on Saturday but I don’t see the cables.
Why so heavy? A lighter bridge could be made of aluminum or even steel.
I might agree if I hadn't spent the past 20-years involved in construction management on YUGE mine projects. You, as was I, would be amazed.
Oh good grief!
I was just amazed that he got that key word in that presser.
He gets a bonus check!
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