Florida Bridge Collapse Leaves Half a Dozen Dead
As federal officials began investigating the catastrophic collapse of a pedestrian bridge here, authorities made a grim announcement: The death toll has climbed to six — and more victims may be buried in the rubble.
The foot bridge was designed to connect the city of Sweetwater with the sprawling campus of Florida International University, and it was still being installed when it came crashing down. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said suspension cables on the bridge “were being tightened when it collapsed.”
The National Transportation Safety Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Highway Administration are investigating, as well as the county police department’s homicide detectives.
The pedestrian bridge, which had been hailed for its innovative construction method, collapsed over a busy road west of Miami, crushing numerous vehicles and leaving rescue workers racing to free victims from chunks of concrete and snapped metal. It had just been put in place across Southwest Eighth Street, on Saturday, and had not opened to pedestrians.
Vehicles were stopped at a red light when the bridge crashed down about 1:30 p.m. It had been designed to make it safer for students to cross the frenetic roadway.
The bridge collapsed during Florida International’s spring break. Some students brought food and water for emergency workers at the scene as rescue efforts wore on.
Florida International University on Saturday had touted the bridge’s “first-of-its kind” construction method, and hailed the permanent installation of the bridge’s main span. It stretched 174 feet and weighed 960 tons, according to an FIU news release, and was built using “accelerated bridge construction” methods that were being worked on at the university.
When the bridge was installed, crews using an automated process lifted the span from its supports, turned it 90 degrees across eight lanes and lowered it in place, the release said. The university said it was the largest pedestrian bridge moved by that method, known as self-propelled modular transportation, in U.S. history.
Last year, the Miami Herald reported that an FIU student was killed while crossing Southwest Eighth Street.
The university, a major state school that has experienced burgeoning enrollment in recent years, had announced Wednesday it would begin issuing fines as part of a pedestrian safety campaign to help protect students walking to campus from Sweetwater and nearby Westchester. The new bridge was scheduled to be completed in early 2019.
The main builder of the bridge, Munilla Construction Management (MCM), is a major South Florida construction firm that has been hired to rebuild expressways; update part of Miami International Airport; and construct a new test track for Miami’s Metrorail system.
Increasingly, MCM has also successfully bid on federal contracts, winning almost $130 million in work since 2013. The largest contract is for building a school at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.
MCM is a major contributor to politicians in Miami-Dade County and has been involved in dozens of lawsuits over the last decade, but often for much smaller issues. This month, the firm was sued for damages when a “makeshift bridge” collapsed under the weight of a security worker using it to access a restroom at Miami airport. The man suffered injuries to his elbow, shoulder and wrist, according to court records.
MCM has up-to-date business licenses and no recent code-enforcement violations reported to state authorities. Recent inspection reports for the site of Thursday’s collapse were not immediately available.
The bridge was funded through a federal TIGER grant, according to the university, a recession-era program created under the Obama administration that pays for road, rail and other projects.
Source: The Washington Post
