Stress test may have contributed to collapse of FIU pedestrian bridge

Miami Herald ^ | 15 March 2018 | By Jenny Staletovich, Rene Rodriguez And Joey Flechas

[frog in a pot]

Your description of the Hyatt failure is correct, of course. The reference was based on my understanding that the engineer reviewing the shop drawings had spilled coffee on that detail and it was missed. Admittedly, that may have been someone's joke.

[philman_36]

In almost all bridge or building collapses, he added, construction is at fault, not design.

This walkway component was a length of 175'. If the engineer/designer didn't allow for the full, finished 'service load'...see Florida.

You have to build the arc in.

And that's just the bottom deck. Add in the weight of the trusses and cover and imagine the arc needed. (there's a formula to figure this all out)

It's a good thing he said "almost"!

[trebb]

Thanks for restoring my confidence in engineers - just kidding, it’s nice to have an expert agree with me.

[csvset]

FIU Bridge Collapse Caught On Dashcam

My apologies if this has already been posted.

What the hell were they thinking? Someone needs to go to jail.

[Moonman62]

Thanks. It broke right where they were doing the tensioning work. I wonder if the crane was doing any temporary support.

[csvset]

Is that the “north end” that had the cracks as mentioned in the voicemail ? Unbelievable that they had open traffic lanes.

Spent lots of time in shipyards, where you would see massive structures being moved about. No way in hell should anyone have been allowed underneath the bridge.

[Moonman62]

If I’m looking at the map correctly it broke on the South end.