Posted on 03/15/2018 1:49:43 PM PDT by grundle
When I said “shoddy construction” I meant the term as a general term and intended it to apply not to just the construction operations, but everything about the construction, including materials used and the design as well.
A cursory look at the aftermath photographs begs suspect catastrophic compression member failure at mid span where there is maximum bending moment exacerbated by apparently slender poorly laterally supported top chord construction.
Somebody’s ‘PE’ (Professional Engineer) is in peril unless shortcuts by the constructors are found, which, given the absence of a designed support pedestal, appears likely. If there were completion bonuses and / or time failure penalties in the offing, then the constructors stand to be found wanting.
What is a given is that the tort/liability lawyers will be swarming in the area! In this case, this is not a totally bad thing. By the fact of this failure, someone or someones need to be fed to the flames.
Great sympathies for the victims and families. Perhaps it is time to re-read Thornton Wilder’s “Bridge of San Luis Rey”!
I.e. nothin’ was holdin’ the stupid thing up!
Is Florida engineering an oxymoron?
Ya know, nod-and-wink operations are like this — till they fall apart.
Somebody skipped a step, but again, almost like in the Parkland shooting, nobody noticed the building menace.
Who, with any kind of physics intuition, would have even looked at the bridge in that state without wondering how concrete could hold up to that configuration?
Why is it called Florida International University?
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