The final design still required a central pylon and cable stays. Construction of the main support/suspension pylon hadn’t even been started.
Was this skinny, long tensioner concrete span supposed to be supported by it’s ends for a year while the main pylon was erected, or did someone forget the assembly order instructions?
The design was OK.
Execution? not so much..
Agreed, crazy. The part that fell spanned 7 lanes of traffic. If the central pylon and the cables weren't necessary to support the span then what was their purpose? Aesthetics?
Also, I've read that it was undergoing some kind of test. Any test, by its very nature, has an outcome that is not 100% known. It seems to me it would've been a good idea to halt traffic for the duration of the test.
“The final design still required a central pylon and cable stays. Construction of the main support/suspension pylon hadn’t even been started.”
I have read that the pylon and cable stays were “aesthetic” and not structural — fake, I guess you could say.
Yes, that is at the heart of the failure. One can only guess why they thought it would withstand the stress for even a day. There is a reason for the center support. Now we all know what that reason was.
Some people are so stupid they don’t know enough to even ask the right questions
The pylon and suspension cables are the things that keep it from COLLAPSING
they are not there to make it look pretty, or for decoration.
There is a special kind of stupid that occurs in Miami construction, we get it built, but usually have to do it twice.